Recent true crime reads

The range of true crimes books, and ick that I felt while reading them, was something. I really think that I could do better in any situation, even though I have no expertise otherwise. Yet here I am about to say some shit.

Death in the Air is pretty inoffensive. The writer Kate Winkler Dawson approaches a serial killer acting during the Great London Smog as a journalist, interweaving the environmental, political, and societal factors at play. The bits that were most terrifying wasn’t so much the killer, I have read enough true crime to not be surprised that men are monsters who tend to get away with it numerous times before getting caught, but about the air quality conditions and how it killed thousands of people. Now I have to be worried about that too?

Yes. We all should be. But still. 

This is a quick read and great for historical context, but also clear that the writer had to fill out the book with other anecdotes and references, otherwise this would have been summed up succinctly in an in depth article or expose. 

On the other hand The Bling Ring takes an already questionable in depth article or expose and pads it out with the shit opinions of its journalist writer, Nancy Jo Sales. In my high school to college years, I wanted to be cultured so I go into Vanity Fair. Meaning I have read this, and many other articles by Sales, but always with a guffaw and hint of side eye. Of course hindsight and time shows that maybe she was too critical and cruel for the reads, but at the time she helped to push the narrative that rich druggies teens were stealing from rich druggie reality stars.

As a look at a crime that I followed on the blogs, in the magazine, and in the news it is nostalgia hardcore. I was part of the problem, and while I was not stealing money from the rich, I was rebelling and making bad decisions in my own way. 

Documentaries and years later, it is weird how two peripheral characters were made into mini supernovas, how one guy got to control the narrative of the story, and I can’t help but feel how the minor “gang affiliation” really screwed over the couple of the hispanic people involved. 

From the infamous thieves of LA to the infamous celebrities accused of murder we have If I Did It by O.J. Simpson. Yes I was crass enough to listen to this because: it was free on Audible, I believe he did it and knew that the proceeds of the book does not go to his estate, and because he passed away from cancer recently. My opinion did not change after listening to his so called confession, it doesn’t make sense to me why he would: try to pay his bills mocking the death of his ex wife, give details that makes sense of the crime scene, and give a clear motivation as to why he did it. 

What a cruel world we live in, and though I try to enjoy and move through life as a spectator I do wish everyone involved in all three stories (from writers to victims to the perpetrators involved) find some peace and compassion. But also I am aware these are empty words for catastrophic and devastating acts.