Also of interest…in crimes and punishment
A Wilderness of Error; A Death in Italy; Life After Murder; Life After Death
A Wilderness of Error
by Errol Morris (Penguin, $30)
Errol Morris, whose 1988 film The Thin Blue Line helped exonerate a Texas man convicted of murder, has written a “detailed re-examination” of the 1970 case against ex–Green Beret Jeffrey MacDonald, said Laura Miller in Salon.com. Morris is “like a dog with a bone” when combing through old evidence, and though he can’t say MacDonald didn’t kill his family, Morris is convinced he was railroaded by MPs and prosecutors. “By the end of this consistently engaging book, I was, too.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A Death in Italy
by John Follain (St. Martin’s $26)
Investigative reporter John Follain has written a “remarkably” fair-minded account of the Amanda Knox murder case, said Alexander Theroux in The Wall Street Journal. Based on case files and hundreds of interviews, Follain’s version of the events surrounding the 2007 stabbing death of Knox’s British roommate is built around a vivid portrait of the young woman initially charged with the crime. Follain’s Knox is “eccentric, obnoxious, and astonishingly self-centered,” but she’s no killer.
Life After Murder
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
by Nancy Mullane (PublicAffairs, $27)
“Stepping back into society after decades behind bars can be exhilarating—and jarring,” said Steven Levingston in The Washington Post. Following five California murderers after they’ve been paroled, journalist Nancy Mullane “captures moments of startled re-entry with vivid detail” and uses the convicts’ stories to build a case for easing parole restrictions. Dangerous policy, perhaps, but of 1,000 murderers freed in California in the past 21 years, none have murdered again.
Life After Death
by Damien Echols (Blue Rider, $27)
Re-entry can be even more difficult for the innocent, said Antoinette Brinkman in Library Journal. Freed last year after years of appeals, Damien Echols spent 18 years on death row as the supposed ringleader of the “West Memphis Three,” teenagers wrongfully convicted of murdering three other boys in an alleged satanic ritual. “Though its chronology is sometimes choppy,” Echols’s memoir is a “bitterly lyrical portrayal of how an innocent man can slip through the cracks of the legal system.”
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Why are meteorologists worried Trump could ruin their forecasts?
Today's Big Question How a conservative push to dismantle a little-known government agency could lead to big headaches for anyone hoping to get a handle on their local weather
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'Such wrongdoing encourages foreign corrupt practices'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Can Japan's new prime minister govern effectively?
In The Spotlight A 'popular gadfly' gets the top job
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Also of interest...in picture books for grown-ups
feature How About Never—Is Never Good for You?; The Undertaking of Lily Chen; Meanwhile, in San Francisco; The Portlandia Activity Book
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Author of the week: Karen Russell
feature Karen Russell could use a rest.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
The Double Life of Paul de Man by Evelyn Barish
feature Evelyn Barish “has an amazing tale to tell” about the Belgian-born intellectual who enthralled a generation of students and academic colleagues.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Book of the week: Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis
feature Michael Lewis's description of how high-frequency traders use lightning-fast computers to their advantage is “guaranteed to make blood boil.”
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Also of interest...in creative rebellion
feature A Man Called Destruction; Rebel Music; American Fun; The Scarlet Sisters
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Author of the week: Susanna Kaysen
feature For a famous memoirist, Susanna Kaysen is highly ambivalent about sharing details about her life.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
You Must Remember This: Life and Style in Hollywood’s Golden Age by Robert Wagner
feature Robert Wagner “seems to have known anybody who was anybody in Hollywood.”
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Book of the week: Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire by Peter Stark
feature The tale of Astoria’s rise and fall turns out to be “as exciting as anything in American history.”
By The Week Staff Last updated