Scan barcode
A review by jennymrphy
Foxcatcher: The True Story of My Brother's Murder, John du Pont's Madness, and the Quest for Olympic Gold by Mark Schultz, David Thomas
1.0
I don't know what there is to say about this book that previous reviews haven't already mentioned, but suffice to say if I was Mark Schultz I would ask for my money back on the ghost-writing services. There is obviously a very complex and interesting story hidden somewhere in here, but it's hidden under waves and waves of superfluous, mind-numbing detail. It's messily, messily put together- often people Schultz has known throughout his career are often referenced only by name, as if the reader is supposed to already know who they are, followed by a real introduction chapters later. The "true story of my brother's murder" referenced by the title only really accounts for a tiny chunk of the narrative, the rest is a fairly dry, almost statistical account of Schultz's various wins and losses: clearly there is some evidence of the publisher looking to cash in on public interest in this case, as I can't imagine the autobiographical parts of this book could have stood alone as publishable without having some connection to a famous murder case.
Schultz has clearly been through a very traumatic ordeal, and it almost seems unfair to criticise what may well have been a cathartic writing experience for him. However, I also can't ignore that I found his narrative voice to be incredibly self-centred, egotistical and at times misogynistic - his descriptions of his girlfriends and wives almost always only describe them as being "incredibly hot" or are based on the fact that every other man was jealous of him for having a hot girlfriend. At one point he even describes his brother as hero when, while flirting with women at a bar, Dave "takes one for the team" by taking home the least attractive girl - ick. From reading this book, I can now understand why Schultz withdrew his support for the film version of Foxcatcher after hearing some suggested it had homo-erotic tones.
If you're looking to find more information on John du Pont, this is probably not the book for you, as it doesn't really give you any insight into him except as a comic book villain. I would struggle to recommend it to anyone except dedicated college wrestling fans.
Schultz has clearly been through a very traumatic ordeal, and it almost seems unfair to criticise what may well have been a cathartic writing experience for him. However, I also can't ignore that I found his narrative voice to be incredibly self-centred, egotistical and at times misogynistic - his descriptions of his girlfriends and wives almost always only describe them as being "incredibly hot" or are based on the fact that every other man was jealous of him for having a hot girlfriend. At one point he even describes his brother as hero when, while flirting with women at a bar, Dave "takes one for the team" by taking home the least attractive girl - ick. From reading this book, I can now understand why Schultz withdrew his support for the film version of Foxcatcher after hearing some suggested it had homo-erotic tones.
If you're looking to find more information on John du Pont, this is probably not the book for you, as it doesn't really give you any insight into him except as a comic book villain. I would struggle to recommend it to anyone except dedicated college wrestling fans.