Best American Crime Writing 2004

Book Info


enlarge picture	*Best American Crime Writing 2004*
	Author:	Joseph Wambaugh (Introduction)
	ISBN:	0375713026
	Format:	Handover
	Publish Date:	June, 2005




Book Review


*From Publishers Weekly* Penzler and Cook's annual compendium of crime journalism showcases 20 essays on some notorious cases, as well as some major criminal justice and political issues, by well-known writers such as Scott Turow and James Ellroy and public figures such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Three pieces that first saw daylight in the pages of Atlantic Monthly stand out: Kennedy's defense of Michael Skakel, which will lead many open-minded readers to reasonable doubt about his guilt in the murder of Martha Moxley; James Fallows's "Who Shot Mohammed Al-Dura?," which challenges the conventional wisdom that the 12-year-old Palestinian boy killed in the early days of the second intifada was the victim of Israeli snipers; and Black Hawk Down author Mark Bowden's "The Dark Art of Interrogation," a discussion of coercive interrogation tactics that is especially timely given the Iraqi prison abuse scandal. The authorial commentaries that follows some of the articles give perspectives that would have been useful for all 20. The lack of a single piece on white-collar crime during a peak period of corporate corruption is regrettable. Still, the variety of subject matter and tone makes this an easy and thought-provoking read. Guest editor Joseph Wambaugh provides an introduction. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. *From Booklist* The third installment in this excellent annual series of nonfiction crime writing comprises 20 pieces culled from last year's issues of the New Yorker, esquire, and Vanity Fair, among other publications. As with the previous editions, this volume covers a good range of topics, including Jon Krakauer's profile of fundamentalist terrorism, not in the Middle East but rather in a small, prosperous community in central Utah, and Elizabeth Franck's study of a child-porn case involving a law school professor in New York. The perhaps unintended centerpiece here is Scott Turow's provocative look at the ethics of capital punishment; once an advocate of the death penalty, Turow explains how in the last two years he has reversed his position. "The quality of the writing is what matters most," the editors write in the preface. Quality here really means detail through exhaustive legwork. Joseph Wambaugh's introduction is a quirky but revealing essay on the severe legal risks these writers and their magazines face in publishing pieces such as these. A worthy successor to the first two volumes. Alan Moores Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved *Review* “Absorbing. . . . Memorable. . . . Makes financial thrillers seem tame. . . . As sad and spooky as a short story by Joyce Carol Oates. . . . More chilling, and believable, than a novel by Bret Easton Ellis.” —The Wall Street Journal “Like the best crime fiction, these true-life stories offer a mirror of society’s troubles and misdeeds . . . at once unnerving and compulsively readable.” —Pages Magazine “Excellent! I don’t think I have ever encountered such variety in any anthology, of styles, subject matter, points of view.” —Joyce Carol Oates *From the Inside Flap* A year’s worth of the most powerful, the most startling, the smartest and most astute… “Ciudad de la Muerte” by Cecilia Balli, from Texas Monthly “Code of Dishonor” by Clara Bingham, from Vanity Fair “Lord of the Drug Ring” by Charles Bowden, from GQ “The Dark Art of Interrogation” by Mark Bowden, from The Atlantic Monthly “Possessed” by Luke Dittrich, from Atlanta magazine “Night of the Bullies” by Robert Draper, from GQ “Stephanie” by James Ellroy, from GQ “Who Is the Boy in the Box?” by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, from Philadelphia magazine “Who Shot Mohammed al-Dura?” by James Fallows, from The Atlantic Monthly “The Professor and the Porn” by Elisabeth Franck, from New York magazine “The Old Man and the Gun” by David Grann, from The New Yorker “CSC: Crime Scene Cleanup” by Pat Jordan, from Playboy “A Miscarriage of Justice” by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., from The Atlantic Monthly “Watching the Detectives” by Jay Kirk, from Harper’s Magazine “For the Love of God” by Jon Krakauer, from GQ “Chief Bratton Takes on LA” by Heather Mac Donald, from City Journal “Not Guilty by Reason of Afghanistan” by John H. Richardson, from Esquire “Megan’s Law and Me” by Brendan Riley, from Details “Unfortunate Con” by Mark Schone, from The Oxford American “To Kill or Not to Kill” by Scott Turow, from The New Yorker *About the Author* Thomas H. Cook is the author of eighteen books, including two works of true crime. His novels have been nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award, the Macavity Award and the Dashiell Hammett Prize. The Chatham School Affair won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel in 1996. His true crime book, Blood Echoes, was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1992, and his story "Fatherhood" won the Herodotus Prize in 1998 and was included in Best Mystery Stories of 1998, edited by Otto Penzler and Ed McBain. His works have been translated into fifteen languages. Otto Penzler is the proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City. He was publisher of The Armchair Detective, the founder of the Mysterious Press and the Armchair Detective Library, and created the publishing firm Otto Penzler Books. He is a recipient of an Edgar Award for The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection and the Ellery Queen Award by the Mystery Writers of America for his many contributions to the field. He is the series editor of The Best American Mystery Stories of the Year. His other anthologies include Murder for Love, Murder for Revenge, Murder and Obsession, The 50 Greatest Mysteries of All Time, and The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century. He wrote 101 Greatest Movies of Mystery & Suspense. He lives in New York City. Best American Crime Writing 2004 SYNOPSIS A year’s worth of the most powerful, the most startling, the smartest and most astute… “Ciudad de la Muerte” by Cecilia Balli, from Texas Monthly “Code of Dishonor” by Clara Bingham, from Vanity Fair “Lord of the Drug Ring” by Charles Bowden, from GQ “The Dark Art of Interrogation” by Mark Bowden, from The Atlantic Monthly “Possessed” by Luke Dittrich, from Atlanta magazine “Night of the Bullies” by Robert Draper, from GQ “Stephanie” by James Ellroy, from GQ “Who Is the Boy in the Box?” by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, from Philadelphia magazine “Who Shot Mohammed al-Dura?” by James Fallows, from The Atlantic Monthly “The Professor and the Porn” by Elisabeth Franck, from New York magazine “The Old Man and the Gun” by David Grann, from The New Yorker “CSC: Crime Scene Cleanup” by Pat Jordan, from Playboy “A Miscarriage of Justice” by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., from The Atlantic Monthly “Watching the Detectives” by Jay Kirk, from Harper’s Magazine “For the Love of God” by Jon Krakauer, from GQ “Chief Bratton Takes on LA” by Heather Mac Donald, from City Journal “Not Guilty by Reason of Afghanistan” by John H. Richardson, from Esquire “Megan’s Law and Me” by Brendan Riley, from Details “Unfortunate Con” by Mark Schone, from The OxfordAmerican “To Kill or Not to Kill” by Scott Turow, from The New Yorker FROM THE CRITICS Publishers Weekly Penzler and Cook's annual compendium of crime journalism showcases 20 essays on some notorious cases, as well as some major criminal justice and political issues, by well-known writers such as Scott Turow and James Ellroy and public figures such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Three pieces that first saw daylight in the pages of Atlantic Monthly stand out: Kennedy's defense of Michael Skakel, which will lead many open-minded readers to reasonable doubt about his guilt in the murder of Martha Moxley; James Fallows's "Who Shot Mohammed Al-Dura?," which challenges the conventional wisdom that the 12-year-old Palestinian boy killed in the early days of the second intifada was the victim of Israeli snipers; and Black Hawk Down author Mark Bowden's "The Dark Art of Interrogation," a discussion of coercive interrogation tactics that is especially timely given the Iraqi prison abuse scandal. The authorial commentaries that follows some of the articles give perspectives that would have been useful for all 20. The lack of a single piece on white-collar crime during a peak period of corporate corruption is regrettable. Still, the variety of subject matter and tone makes this an easy and thought-provoking read. Guest editor Joseph Wambaugh provides an introduction. Agent, Nat Sobel. (Aug. 10) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. Library Journal Guest editor of a series edited by Otto Penzler and Thomas H. Cook, Wambaugh (The Onion Field) presents what he considers the year's finest writing on crime, and one can't argue with him. It is a superb collection, distinguished especially by the variety of writers, who include James Ellroy, Scott Turow, Jon Krakauer, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The subject matter is similarly varied. Some articles are true-crime stories (e.g., Kennedy's investigation of cousin Michael Skakel's conviction for the murder of Martha Moxley and Ellroy's revisiting of a long-unsolved homicide); others show the continuing effects of 9/11 (e.g., John H. Richardson's account of the murder of an Afghan American who might or might not have had terrorist connections and the examination by Black Hawk Down author Mark Bowden of how interrogation techniques have changed since the Twin Towers fell); still others describe life through the eyes of the criminal, transcending the genre altogether (e.g., a convicted sex offender's description of his life under the provisions of Megan's Law). Highly recommended for all public libraries.-Jim Burns, Jacksonville P.L., FL Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.