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Reviews tagging 'Violence'
Blood Will Out: The True Story of a Murder, a Mystery, and a Masquerade by Walter Kirn
1 review
henrygravesprince's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
2.5
If I hadn’t picked up this book for rather specific research purposes in the first place, I think I would’ve put it down before the first or second chapter was up and looked for another book about Clark Rockefeller. I dislike the author’s attitude and energy — this book, paired with the Journalist and the Murderer, which is much better but had similar issues, has made me wonder if there’s a particular brand of journalistic arrogance that really grinds my gears.
It also frustrated me, maybe more than it should have, that Kirn perpetuates a misunderstanding regarding the definition of “circumstantial evidence”. His provided definition is the opposite of what it actually is (it does, in fact, include things like “trace DNA” that he describes as the opposite of circumstantial evidence). I understand that this is a very common misconception, but an experienced journalist, let alone one who seems to pride himself on his work, should both 1) know better than to define something explicitly in a work without double checking the definition first, and 2) have fact-checkers and editors to take note of these things and prevent misinformation from being published like this. I think his smug attitude overall made that misstep rub me even worse.
Ultimately: I wouldn’t recommend this to someone who just wants to know about the Clark Rockefeller case. There are quite a few other books about it out there, and I’m sure there’s at least one that handles the subject matter a lot better. Unfortunately for me, it’s the dynamic of a confidant and friend of someone who was revealed to be far from who they said they were, as well as the journalist-subject dynamic, that I came to this book for insight on, so it was more productive to finish this than look for another.
It also frustrated me, maybe more than it should have, that Kirn perpetuates a misunderstanding regarding the definition of “circumstantial evidence”. His provided definition is the opposite of what it actually is (it does, in fact, include things like “trace DNA” that he describes as the opposite of circumstantial evidence). I understand that this is a very common misconception, but an experienced journalist, let alone one who seems to pride himself on his work, should both 1) know better than to define something explicitly in a work without double checking the definition first, and 2) have fact-checkers and editors to take note of these things and prevent misinformation from being published like this. I think his smug attitude overall made that misstep rub me even worse.
Ultimately: I wouldn’t recommend this to someone who just wants to know about the Clark Rockefeller case. There are quite a few other books about it out there, and I’m sure there’s at least one that handles the subject matter a lot better. Unfortunately for me, it’s the dynamic of a confidant and friend of someone who was revealed to be far from who they said they were, as well as the journalist-subject dynamic, that I came to this book for insight on, so it was more productive to finish this than look for another.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Kidnapping, and Violence
Moderate: Classism, Excrement, Gaslighting, Racism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness
Minor: Ableism, Death of parent, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Stalking, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and Animal cruelty
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