Customer Reviews

American Tragedy

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I was amused by one reviewer who considered Schiller an appalling human being for capitalizing on such a tragedy. There were similar, if not quite as vitriolic, opinions expressed by other reviewers. All I can say is -- if you were so offended by the Simpson case, and an author who chose to write about it - why on earth would you buy a 900+ book about the subject? I, on the other hand, found this book absolutely absorbing. At the start I should say that nothing in this book swayed my opinion that O.J. Simpson committed both murders. This book was not dedicated to the defense. It did appear that Mr. Schiller got a lot more assistance from the defense side, but he writes a fairly balanced narrative, showing the strengths and the weaknesses of both sides. The one character who actually comes out looking pretty bad is O.J. himself. He is egotistical, narcissistic, termperamental and fully in denial of what he has done. This comes out clearly in the book. I work in the local District Attorney's Office where I live, and was thoroghly captivated by the intense coverage of the trial, as well as the behind the scenes activities of both sides. I learned as much about some of the key witnesses as I did about the key players. If anything from this book affected my outlook on the case, it gave me a little more understanding about the jury. Even will compelling and undeniable evidence (specifically the blood evidence), they were so bombarded with conflicting facts from both Prosecution and Defense, that as typical, ordinary citizens, they lost sight of the big picture. In short, they were pretty much overwhelmed with facts. As you read this book, you begin to feel their frustration. A highly educated person could probably have read between the lines and sifted through the junk to find the truth, but these people had been sequestered for months. They wanted to go home. They had had enough. I read Mr. Schiller's other book: "Perfect Murder, Perfect Town", and am still amazed by his ability to take minute facts and somehow make the story interesting. One can almost pretend this is novel taken from someone's overactive imagination. But the bottom line is - Mr. Schiller sticks to facts. He does not choose sides, and he does not paint Mr. Simpson as a victim. The facts speak for themselves, and if we don't like them, well, that is not Mr. Schiller's responsibility. He did an admirable job with an awful lot of information. I could not put it down, even knowing the ending. And I was pleasantly surprised to find that the last part of the book dealt with the civil trial, which I knew very little about. If you have already formed a strong opinion about Simpson's guilt or innocence, this book will probably not change that. You will, however, get a fascinating look into what made everyone tick, what went wrong, and what tricks drove the verdict of the criminal trial. And be honest with yourself that this will always be a compelling and fascinating piece of history, and there is no shame in having an interest in it. I recommend this book whole-heartedly.

I decided to read this book and expected a very detailed inside account of the so called "Dream Team". Overall the book exceded my expectations. It is an almost daily account of what went on in the trial and the behind the scenes details are the most interesting. Especially insightful are the thoughts of Robert Kardashian and his "evolving" thoughts on O.J. Kardashian, Carl Douglas (Cochran's associate) and Shawn Chapman (another Cochran assoc.) are the main sources of the information for the book. The events surrounding the verdict and O.J.'s worries about his security after the trial is something I never thought about. There really was concern for the lawyers' safety as well. Of all the characters involved in the dream team, Bailey comes out looking the worse. His drinking and hand tremors make him an almost pathetic figure. Barry Scheck, even w/his doubts of Simpson's innocence, looks the best without any doubt. O.J. should thank him for his acquittal. After 600 pages, you start wondering when it will end but it was necessary to make it that long because it gives you a sense of the unbelievable length of the "trial of the century".

The real reason why I bought this book on OJ was because I had a free coupon for the bookstore and there was really nothing else on OJ to buy. I actually wanted Bugliosi's "Outrage". Now I am glad that I did buy "American Tragedy". It was a real page turner for a non-fiction book!

Not being familiar with the authors I was interested to see where they stood on the matter. When it was revealed that Schiller had helped OJ write his book before the trial I groaned, "Alright, I guess we know who's side he is on." Though centered mostly on the defense's story, I was surprised to see that Schiller only lays out what happened and who the characters involved were. As a matter of fact, by the end of the book, we see the author lay out evidence that portray OJ's guilt more that his innocence.

Schiller really makes no assumption about whether or not OJ was guilty. Rather, he shows the obvious evidence that the defense had to overcome. He does not state whether the actions of the defense were right or wrong, or whether the evidence was true or not. Rather, it is as if Schiller takes the reader inside closed quarters as a fly on the wall to observe and come to his own conclusions.

This book reads like a fictional crime story and it was interesting, illuminating and entertaining. Just when you thought OJ's guilt or innocence was determined, a loop hole or damning revelation is thrown in.

On the whole, I felt that alot of the blood evidence was tampered with (whether deliberately or not I am unsure on). The defense did raise many doubts about Furhman's actions and words, and the bloody socks. I think that the hair, fibre, and shoe print evidence, along with OJ's lies at the civil trial point more to OJ as the individual responsible for Nicole and Ron's deaths.

As a matter of fact, it was the civil trial presented near the end of the book, more than the criminal trial which proved to me that despite my doubts concerning the blood evidence, OJ was guilty of murder.

Even though everyone knows the outcome, Schiller presents the book as if the outcome could go either way by the end of the book. A very good read!

I don't understand the reader comments who say this is a pro-OJ book.
This book, by the co-author of OJ's "I Want to Tell You," is a LENGTHY almost-700-page detailed version of how OJ's defense team strategized, fought with each other, and raised reasonable doubt with the jury. This book provides one of the best presentations of the evidence FOR OJ -- what EXACTLY was unreliable about the prosecution's evidence -- and it's not just speculation! The part after page 250 (hardback version) is the more worthwhile than the first exhaustive account of OJ's activities after the murders, before his arrest.
That said, a lot of the book is consumed with repetitive themes. There's a lot more trees than forest; you'll need an overall understanding of the case to "get" this verbose book. And some of the easily-available trees are missing from the book -- it's largely devoid of what the prosecution argued.
Toobin's book is still the best book.
This book is so objective it fails to provide a conclusion. What IS the so-called "American Tragedy" ?? Is it the murders themselves? (Not likely -- there are many murders in the country.) Is it that a guilty man got off? Or that an innocent man was persecuted? The author declines to say. The author does repeatedly bring forth OJ's talent for self-delusion about OJ's OTHER acts toward Nicole, and OJ's skill at deflecting objective inquiries -- leaving open the possibility that OJ actually committed the murders, but OJ himself believes he didn't. OJ was telling his children that he wasn't under arrest, but helping the police find the real killer. As said in other books, it IS possible to "frame a guilty man."

This is the best O.J. Simpson trial book out there. It is encyclopedic in its detail, comprehensive and exhaustive enough to satisfy any detail-lover's appetite for "trial of the century" tidbits.

Schiller and Willworth are slightly biased in favor of the "guilty" side, but so am I...those who are sure O.J. is innocent may object to some of the editorializing.

But there is no question that if you want the best chronicle of this extraordinary legal and cultural event, this is the place to get it. Well worth the money by page count alone! :)

I'm not a counter of facts and inconsistencies, but this book caught my eye. Just when you thought that the OJ Period had been laid to rest, another book appears! I decided to read it and see what it was about.

There are several interesting points about the tyrannical Robert Shapiro, the ever cunning, out-to-get-a-dollar F. Lee Bailey, and the smooth vernacular of Johnnie Cochran. While the evidence declaring his innocence is supposed to be presented as concrete, the sly attacks thrown at the defense team for covering up key evidence and especially the "conversion" of the Simpson house prove to offer another side of the story.

As with many books and cases, there is a slight bias in my opinion to the Simpson guilt, but Schiller and Willwerth try dilligently to present a case of equal weight. An interesting read if you have spare time, and you don't mind re-living the 6 months of "OJ Mania".

An American Tragedy was extremely well written, very interesting and, easy to read. It was put together in a fashion which peaked curiosity as well as having the ability to teach someone about the falicies within our own judicial system. The lessons it taught were found between the lines, not out in the open. It was a real eye-opener for me

The book is a chronological telling of O.J. story, starting around the time of the murders and going right through to the end of the trial. It includes a lot of detril or trivia that is fascinating to the trial folowers - that we did not see through the regular media coverage.

O.J. never says to Schiller, "okay I killed her now are you happy?" No he never says that but reading between the lines it is clear that O.J. acts like he has done it; his friends act like he has done it; the defense team acts like he has done it; and, on and on the story goes. Clearly the defense team and O.J. and his friends thought he might be found guilty and there seems to be a degree of surprise that he gets off free and clear of the criminal charges.

I read the 1000 page book cover to cover and found it to be well written with lots and lots of insights, inside knowledge, lots of new detail, and generally one of the better books on the O.J. trial. Frankly it is very good up to a certain point in time, that being the moment when he finished writing the book. Even with 1000 pages he misses many things. Is it fair and 100% accurate? Probably not. But it makes for a good read and it is one of the best books on the subject.

I was very much looking forward to this book, but was disappointed to find that this so-called insider's account revealed very little that was new or thought-provoking. Over and over I got the feeling that the author was teasing the reader with implicit promises of more to come, only to tread a maddeningly non-committal road throughout. For someone with such intimate access to the principal players in this drama, he seems to withhold a great deal of his own observation or opinion that would be truly interesting. You get the feeling that he's trying not to alienate anyone on OJ's team so that he won't burn his professional/personal bridge to them. An unfortunate cop-out.

It may be true that a very appropriate subtitle for this book would be "Skunkman tells all...the book Bob Kardashian would have written if it weren't for that nasty attorney/client privilege", but I enjoyed every page of it. After reading both Bugliosi's and Darden's book, my first impression as I began reading AMERICAN TRAGEDY was that I was peeking through the back of a two-way mirror...viewing the events with the eyes of Simpson's friends. This is an entirely different view of the events leading up to and including, the trial of the century. It is a worthy read for anyone who has been otherwise captivated by this case...and there are lots of us. This is not to say buying the book means you have to buy the story. There are few sources cited so don't swallow with big gulps, but when you overlook the conscience cleansing motivations of one or more of the sources, you are still left with an interesting perspective on this most fascinating case.