Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good book, but too much material about David Waters, December 29, 2006
This is a pretty good book on O'Hair's life, although, like another reviewer, I did wonder why there was so much material on her murderer, David Waters. It is likely because the author interviewed him, wanted to used the material in the book, and the information is somewhat relevant to the story. However, it is really hard to read a book about O'Hair and really get a feel for the woman.
There is a radio interview/debate between O'Hair and Walter Martin, a Baptist minister, that occured in 1968 on the Long John Nevel radio show that is very illuminating, if you care to take the time to listen to it. If you go to the Wikipedia entry on Madalyn Murray O'Hair and scroll down to the "external links" section, there is an entry labeled "Baptist minister Walter Martin vs. Atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair". Click on it, and you'll get the entire three hour radio program in MP3 format. The first hour or so is the interview, and the last two hours is the debate and call-in part of the show.
Listening to this show after reading the book really gives you a feel for the facts presented in the book. For one, O'Hair really shows herself up to be quite the publicist in spite of her claims of not caring what other people think. As the book says, she needed these "other people" as a revenue stream. In this broadcast she claims that she is married to a "Mr. Murray", that he is Roman Catholic, and that both her sons are products of that marriage. Even O'Hair knew that, in 1960's America, most people would be much more willing to accept that she was an atheist than the fact that her sons had two different fathers and that she had never married either of them. She also makes the statement that if her son Bill decided to become a Christian minister that she would accept his decision. 12 years later when this actually happened, she took the attitude that he had commited treason. As the show wears on, O'Hair's end of the debate largely consists of name-calling, bullying, and claiming that "she had read every book Mr. Martin has read twenty years ago". In short, the radio program gives life to the facts presented in the book for those too young to remember what this woman was like in person.
If you want to read a biography of O'Hair, this is probably the one to get since it is the most unbiased and least sensational of the books written on the subject.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Goes the Distance, October 19, 2005
There aren't many who live their last days in more sensational and mysterious circumstances than Madalyn Murray O'Hair and her family. It is amazing that there hasn't been more attention, although the reason is probably due to the length of time between their disappearance and the discovery of the bodies (as well as the criminal trials). The publicity was victimized by the drawn-out nature of the series of events. The public simply doesn't have an attention span that can accommodate a five year time-frame between events.
But it's now ten years later and all of the facts that we're probably ever going to know are on the table, so it's a great time for anyone curious about the details of the life and death of this tragic family to take an interest in the case.
This is a well-researched book. The author really goes the distance in providing a deep sketch of the Murrays. I found myself detesting them and, at the same time, feeling sorry for them, particularly the children, who seemed incapable of resisting her gravitational pull, and, consequently, never had lives of their own.
My feeling is that Madalyn was never as bad as she pretended to be, but neither was she as good as her supporters thought her. She played a role to two different audiences and pulled the wool over each.
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21 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A flawed book about a flawed woman, January 10, 2006
For better and for worse, Ann Seaman's biography is now the definitive account of Madalyn O'Hair's life. Let's start with the worse.
The sensationalistic title might be confused with Jon Rappoport's hack piece. Perhaps O'Hair was America's most hated woman at one time, but Jane Fonda replaced her in the early 1970s, and various feminists and celebrities have since vied for the distinction. "Gruesome death" reveals the climax, implicitly letting reviewers do likewise.
This is yet another biography that starts at the end, with the burial of O'Hair's remains. The device has been done to death, and it never works. I hope that whoever started this trend met a gruesome death similar to O'Hair's. Authors take note; we're born, we live, and THEN we die.
O'Hair's life story is often interrupted by that of her killer David Waters. At one point, I yelled, "Whose bio IS this?" Waters certainly belongs here, but Seaman would better have waited until he entered O'Hair's life to begin his history.
O'Hair's son Bill Murray is quoted throughout this book. Like Waters, he's necessary to the plot, but his Christian agenda requires that he slag atheists, which he enjoys doing through his mother, never mind the Fifth Commandment (does he also preach "family values"?). By taking Murray's alleged "In Hoc Signo Vince" nightmare at face value, Seaman failed to recognize its origin in Eusebius' falsified Constantine biography, thus missing the irony of a Catholic propagandist turning Murray into a Baptist.
Occasional digressions promote Seaman's contention that state and church should commingle. When religion is the topic, opposing viewpoints are forbidden, but when freethought is discussed, religious replies are mandatory: with two exceptions, Seaman adheres to this mainstream dictum. The reader is left to wonder about the author's motives for writing this book.
While Seaman's writing is concise, she sometimes sacrifices clarity. Several threads are left dangling: When the Truth Seeker sued O'Hair and her attorney John Vinson under the RICO act, "Vinson quickly extricated himself, ultimately testifying against her". Two years later, after a scuttled agreement and a mistrial, Vinson was again her attorney. What happened in the meantime? Jon Murray's cellular phone reportedly went dead (meaning disconnected) on September 29, 1995, but "no one answered" it (meaning that it rang) on the following Monday. Exactly what became of the phone isn't revealed. The July 1995 American Atheist newsletter detailing David Waters' criminal history was faxed to Waters. By whom? Another disgruntled former AA employee? O'Hair herself? And with what devastating information did FBI agent Donna Cowling prompt Waters into entering a plea agreement?
Then there are the dozens of errors, including: "Lena even welcomed her daughter's recounting of DEEP THROAT one night after Madalyn had seen it in town." Lena died in 1967: DEEP THROAT premiered in 1972. That conversation didn't happen. "...in next November's U.S. Senate race, Texan Lloyd Bentsen, a conservative Republican, defeated longtime liberal incumbent Ralph Yarborough..." Bentsen was never a Republican; he defeated Yarborough in the 1970 Democratic primary. In November's general election, he defeated Republican George Bush. "David Waters was indicted on the same five counts as Karr had been." One of the counts was different: Karr wasn't charged with interstate transportation of a firearm by a convicted felon. Granted, many of the mistakes are minor, but collectively, they call the book's entire account into question.
In her favor, when Seaman sticks to O'Hair's story, her book is engaging. She comes closer than anyone to understanding O'Hair's behavior: "She learned early the value of being in control when others were not. It so marked her that she eventually sought out or created chaotic conditions so she could feel in control." "...she enjoyed outsmarting people and getting out of scrapes, and the only way to defeat her was either trickery or betrayal. She would navigate hundreds of close calls in her life, and develop an addiction to brinkmanship and even danger."
O'Hair's belligerence is also attributed to her wildly fluctuating insulin dosages; a potentially malfunctioning pituitary is mentioned, as is speculation that she may have been bipolar. Such an unstable individual shouldn't be considered a reliable advocate, yet the press made her the sole atheist representative because she was the perfect bad example.
Seaman has found more details about O'Hair's pre-fame decades than all of her prior biographers combined. One of O'Hair's jobs during World War II was to invent Allied victories for the newswires. From it, she learned a valuable lesson that later served her profitably: "The ability of those in power to manipulate the media, and to lie and get away with it, impressed her." Seaman's assertion that O'Hair "chronically lied about everything" isn't off by much.
During the McCarthy era, O'Hair's inability to hold a steady job generated resentment, which led her to communist circles. She abandoned her communist connections after her notoriety produced a healthy income.
Only two of O'Hair's dozens of lawsuits succeeded. The rest of them (aside from those that harassed former members and ex-employees) strengthened the religious opposition by establishing negative precedents. Seaman confirms that O'Hair used lawsuits primarily as publicity and fund-raising tools.
Seaman's sleuthing results in the most accurate account of the Murray O'Hairs' final days. Allegations of torture were apparently false; murder wasn't planned until one of the kidnappers lost his patience. Seaman also exposes holes in the gold thieves' story.
The book is well written, extensively researched, usually chronological, and probably the most complete and informative account of Madalyn O'Hair we'll see. I'd recommend it, but if it were a car, it would be recalled. Its publisher should cease current production, correct the errors, tie up the loose ends, replace the editorial digressions with facts, limit David Waters to the book's last third, change the beginning, and issue a new edition.
Or not - maybe such a severely flawed woman rates only flawed biographies. I hope this is the last one about O'Hair; atheists deserve better than to be continually smeared by her taint.
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