Who Killed Christopher Goodman?: Based on a True Crime ~ By Allan Wolf – 2.5 Stars

Tags

1970s, Coming-of-age stories, Murder Mystery, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

288 Pages

Synopsis: Everyone likes Chris Goodman. Sure he’s a little odd. He wears those funny bell-bottoms and he really likes the word ennui and he shakes your hand when he meets you, but he’s also the kind of guy who’s always up for a good time, always happy to lend a hand. Everybody likes Chris Goodman, which makes it especially shocking when he’s murdered. Here, in a stunning multi-voiced narrative including the perspective of the fifteen-year-old killer and based on a true and terrible crime that occurred when he was in high school, author Allan Wolf sets out to answer the first question that comes to mind in moments of unthinkable tragedy: how could a thing like this happen?

Who Killed Christopher Goodman is the first book I’ve read by Allan Wolf. I started it about 4:00 yesterday afternoon and finished it just after 11:00 last night. This wasn’t because it had a fast pace however. It was more that I found myself skimming through it. Right now I’m feeling so guilty about not liking it more, mainly because the story is based on the murder of a friend and classmate of the author’s, back in 1979. The story mainly focuses on the events leading up to the murder from the perspective of six of the characters.  They’re stereotypical of characters found in most coming-of-age novels: Sweet shy girl, football player, disabled genius, likable boy next door, juvenile delinquent, etc. The problem is their voices are indistinguishable from one another. There are definitely signs of the possibility of deeper depth being given to them such as the football player being an animal lover and amateur taxidermist, but the author never completely follows through. I think part of the problem is this book is too short to support this kind of story with so many voices. It alternates so fast between the teens that you’re never able to establish a connection with any of them. Ironically, the one character who I found fascinating was the murder victim, Christopher Goodman, but we never hear from him. There are only these tantalizing glimpses of him through the others’ eyes, which was disappointing. The author does a fabulous job capturing the setting and nuances of a small town nearing the end of the 1970s though. From the clothes, to the cars, and the music, I was instantly transported back in time. And for all the faults I found with the book, I’m glad I kept reading because the author’s afterword touched me in a way the story did not. Wolf talks about how the death of his friend has haunted him his entire life, until finally he felt like he had to write this book. It’s emotional and beautiful, and had me tearing up a bit. Okay. Now I feel even more horrible. I have to be honest though and say, Who Killed Christopher Goodman is a promising story, but ultimately unsatisfying. 

 

 

 

American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst ~ By Jeffrey Toobin – 4.0 Stars

Tags

1970s, Adult Non-Fiction, Patty Hearst, Stockholm Syndrome, Terrorist Groups, True Crime

Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

384 Pages

Synopsis: On February 4, 1974, Patty Hearst, a senior in college and heiress to the Hearst family fortune, was kidnapped by a ragtag group of self-styled revolutionaries calling itself the Symbionese Liberation Army. The already sensational story took the first of many incredible twists on April 3, when the group released a tape of Patty saying she had joined the SLA and had adopted the nom de guerre “Tania.”

The weird turns of the tale are truly astonishing–the Hearst family trying to secure Patty’s release by feeding all the people of Oakland and San Francisco for free; the photographs capturing “Tania” wielding a machine gun during a bank robbery; a cast of characters including everyone from Bill Walton to the Black Panthers to Ronald Reagan to F. Lee Bailey; the largest police shootout in American history; the first breaking news event to be broadcast live on television stations across the country; Patty’s year on the lam, running from authorities; and her circus-like trial, filled with theatrical courtroom confrontations and a dramatic last-minute reversal, after which the phrase “Stockholm syndrome ” entered the lexicon. 

The saga of Patty Hearst highlighted a decade in which America seemed to be suffering a collective nervous breakdown. Based on more than a hundred interviews and thousands of previously secret documents, American Heiress thrillingly recounts the craziness of the times (there were an average of 1500 terrorist bombings a year in the early 1970s). Toobin portrays the lunacy of the half-baked radicals of the SLA and the toxic mix of sex, politics, and violence that swept up Patty Hearst; and recreates her melodramatic trial. American Heiress examines the life of a young woman who suffered an unimaginable trauma and then made the stunning decision to join her captors’ crusade. Or did she?

Stockholm Syndrome: An emotional attachment to a captor formed by a hostage as a result of continuous stress, dependence, and a need to cooperate for survival.

~ Dictionary.com ~

I was only nine-years-old when the insanity surrounding Patty Hearst exploded, so for years I really didn’t know much about what happened. But then, in 1984, I was in a college abnormal psychology class and the professor began discussing Stockholm syndrome and used her as the quintessential example of how this could happen. After that, I found myself fascinated by Patty Hearst and the question over her guilt or innocence. I’ve read a few books over the years but none as meticulously researched as this one by Jeffrey Toobin. He does a wonderful job setting the stage with the reexamination of the turbulent 1970s. I had absolutely no idea how many violently radical groups there were here in America during that time. The SLA was actually pretty tiny and rather inept by comparison. Toobin then goes into how overwhelmed the FBI was in dealing with this style of terrorism. The main bulk of the story though focuses on Patty, before and after the kidnapping, and the trial and its aftermath. Toobin’s many years of being a lawyer and legal analyst are definitely on display as he discusses the different arraignments, trials, and appeals. I was completely engaged and never once found my attention wandering. What I didn’t care for was his presumption of what was actually going on in Patty’s head. He did not talk to her personally (she doesn’t give interviews) nor is he a mental health expert. I have to be honest and admit that the parts of the book where he’s attempting to analyze her got a little annoying. However, from a historical and legal context, I think American Heiress is a thought-provoking book. I also liked how he ended the book by catching the reader up on where all the key players are today. If you’ve never heard of the Patty Hearst phenomenon but you like true-crime novels, I definitely recommend this. If you’re familiar with the case and you’ve already made up your mind regarding Hearst’s guilt or innocence I’m not sure that this will change your mind one way or another, but it’s a fascinating read nonetheless.