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intothenitemare's review
4.0
I liked it. I had never heard of quite a few of them. Some of the chapters on each killer were a bit long and drawn out.
storysteph's review
4.0
I started reading this back around Halloween. I started it the Friday before, thinking, "Imma be hella metal and read about serial killers." I have a weird morbid interest in the psychology behind serial killers anyway, and this book promised me stories about murderers I'd never even heard of. Brutal.
trin's review
3.0
The interesting parts of this book attempt to analyze while some criminals and some crimes have stayed matters of public obsession, while others, just as horrific, have faded away. I wish the book were weighted somewhat more to this content, and not to the schlocky list of atrocities the cover suggests, but there was some fascinating media analysis in here. Also, as fucked up as a lot of modern true crime coverage has become, this book proves it has always been thus -- and at least no one is writing epic poems about popular murders anymore. At least I think -- I hope! -- they're not.
posies23's review
4.0
I went through a phase a few years back where I read a bunch of Schechter's true crime books.
The one thing I learned (aside from how terrible some human beings can be) is that Schechter does strong research, and does a nice job of distilling the various, sometime contradictory information about his subjects into a sensible, and linear explanation.
That's the real strength of PSYCHO USA, which tells the story of several American killers who were famous for a time, but have largely been forgotten by the modern public. (It also explains the paradoxical subtitle.) Spanning America's history, Schechter looks at the lives (and deaths) of these notorious folks, quoting from primary sources and filling in the gaps as best he can.
I couldn't help thinking that several of the chapters could have been fleshed out a bit more, but overall, it was a very interesting read and covered a lot of ground that hasn't really been covered before.
Parts of it are gruesome, of course, and there's a lot of disturbing content -- it is a novel about killers, after all -- but if this sounds like something you'd be interested in, I'd say it's really worth reading.
The one thing I learned (aside from how terrible some human beings can be) is that Schechter does strong research, and does a nice job of distilling the various, sometime contradictory information about his subjects into a sensible, and linear explanation.
That's the real strength of PSYCHO USA, which tells the story of several American killers who were famous for a time, but have largely been forgotten by the modern public. (It also explains the paradoxical subtitle.) Spanning America's history, Schechter looks at the lives (and deaths) of these notorious folks, quoting from primary sources and filling in the gaps as best he can.
I couldn't help thinking that several of the chapters could have been fleshed out a bit more, but overall, it was a very interesting read and covered a lot of ground that hasn't really been covered before.
Parts of it are gruesome, of course, and there's a lot of disturbing content -- it is a novel about killers, after all -- but if this sounds like something you'd be interested in, I'd say it's really worth reading.
theduchess93's review
5.0
Really interesting vignettes that provide excellent sources for further info.
audreychamaine's review
5.0
I may be a weirdo, but I love reading about murder and true crime. Maybe because part of me says, “This could never happen to me,” but then a small voice says, “Oh, but it could!” And the tiny bit of fear makes me want to know more, because the scariest thing is not knowing and not being prepared for the worst that life (and death) can throw your way. It might seem sometimes like vicious murders and serial killers are a product of our modern society, but Schechter shows that this worst of criminal acts has been at work since the earliest days of the American republic, and that as long as there have been murders there has been an audience clamoring to know more.
It would have been easy to give a rehash of the major historical murder cases that influenced our country, like the Lizzie Borden murders, or Harry Thaw’s shooting of Stanford White. However, Schechter has done his research and presents a book full of the murder cases that were huge in their days, but are now largely forgotten. Most were lauded in their time as being the crime of the century, although they’ve now dropped out of our collective conscience. Schechter also demonstrates how the crimes that best grabbed their audiences seemed to echo the fears of the age, much as terrorist attacks do for us now, or Manson did for the hippie culture fearing public in the late 60s.
What I loved about this book was the level of research that was done, and how well each chapter is presented. Schechter ties the crimes to other better known crimes, and situates each story in time. He also shares many of the murder ballads that were written to describe the crime for the general public, gives images of contemporary broadsides of the murderers, and speaks a bit about “murderabilia,” where people would collect items attached to the crime, often destroying crime scene evidence in an effort to take home a piece of the action.
Psycho USA is surprisingly readable and fascinating, working on both true crime and historical levels. Fans of the true crime genre will definitely want to pick this one up.
It would have been easy to give a rehash of the major historical murder cases that influenced our country, like the Lizzie Borden murders, or Harry Thaw’s shooting of Stanford White. However, Schechter has done his research and presents a book full of the murder cases that were huge in their days, but are now largely forgotten. Most were lauded in their time as being the crime of the century, although they’ve now dropped out of our collective conscience. Schechter also demonstrates how the crimes that best grabbed their audiences seemed to echo the fears of the age, much as terrorist attacks do for us now, or Manson did for the hippie culture fearing public in the late 60s.
What I loved about this book was the level of research that was done, and how well each chapter is presented. Schechter ties the crimes to other better known crimes, and situates each story in time. He also shares many of the murder ballads that were written to describe the crime for the general public, gives images of contemporary broadsides of the murderers, and speaks a bit about “murderabilia,” where people would collect items attached to the crime, often destroying crime scene evidence in an effort to take home a piece of the action.
Psycho USA is surprisingly readable and fascinating, working on both true crime and historical levels. Fans of the true crime genre will definitely want to pick this one up.