Scan barcode
A review by agnexperience
Fiend: The Shocking True Story of America's Youngest Serial Killer by Harold Schechter
3.0
An extremely thorough account of a young serial killer. I'm not really sure if his life merited such an expansive treatment because there is unfortunately nothing too remarkable about him - a deeply disturbed boy who killed and tortured - but here it is. And I guess he was legendary 100 years ago.
I think the most interesting part of the whole book was the meta-discussion on the historical context (people's views and attitudes) that affected how Pomeroy was seen.
But what really irked me were the sometimes voyeuristic descriptions of his victims' suffering. Sometimes, the same deed was described several times and in detail which seemed inappropriate for me. The book seemed to sort of linger on the vile details. It reduced the value for me.
All in all, a remarkable piece of investigation, but lengthy and cheap in a few areas.
I think the most interesting part of the whole book was the meta-discussion on the historical context (people's views and attitudes) that affected how Pomeroy was seen.
But what really irked me were the sometimes voyeuristic descriptions of his victims' suffering. Sometimes, the same deed was described several times and in detail which seemed inappropriate for me. The book seemed to sort of linger on the vile details. It reduced the value for me.
All in all, a remarkable piece of investigation, but lengthy and cheap in a few areas.