Blood and Ink: An International Guide to Fact-Based Crime Literature [Hardcover]

Albert Borowitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0873386930 | ISBN-13: 978-0873386937

Albert Borowitz provides a guide to "fact-based crime literature" focusing on two principal groups of works: non-fictional accounts of crimes and criminal trials, including essays, monographs, journalism, editions of court transcripts, prison histories, and criminal and police biographies and memoirs; and works of imaginative literature, such as novels, stories, or stage works, based on or inspired by actual crimes or criminals.

Blood and Ink, with forewords by Jacques Barzun and true-crime writer/historian Jonathan Goodman, will prove to be an invaluable resource to true-crime aficionados as well as to students and scholars of literature, cultural studies, and social history.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This bibliography provides extensive annotations of a broad selection of accounts of actual crimes (e.g., American State Trials) as well as literary works based on actual crimes (e.g., Truman Capote's In Cold Blood), generally excluding Wild West and organized crime cases. Though books on murder get substantial coverage, Borowitz is interested in a wide range of criminal activity from almost all times and places, heavily stressing literary achievement within the genre rather than the crimes themselves. The coverage includes titles from the Anglo-American, French, and other traditions (extending to ancient Greece and Rome), though African traditions were excluded because of "language barriers." Borowitz's 40-page introduction provides an excellent and informative overview of the subject. Over the past few decades, Borowitz has published many well-received books on crime literature (e.g., Innocence and Arsenic: Studies in Crime Literature), and this unique book, suitable for any library whose patrons are interested in reading about crime, is a very successful culmination of his efforts in this field. (Index not seen.) Peter Dollard, Alma Coll. Lib., MI
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Albert Borowitz is a graduate of Harvard University with a B.A. in classics, M.A. in Chinese regional studies, and a J.D. He is also the author of Terrorism for Self-Glorification: The Herostratos Syndrome (The Kent State University Press, 2005). He is a retired partner from the international law firm of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 524 pages
• Publisher: Kent State Univ Pr (April 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873386930
• ISBN-13: 978-0873386937
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,282,898 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tremendous Achievement, December 10, 2002

By 

John Stark Bellamy II - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood and Ink: An International Guide to Fact-Based Crime Literature (Hardcover)

How many bibliographies are a pleasure to read? How many would you put on your "desert isle" reading list? Astonishingly, long-time crime writer Albert Borowitz has perpetrated a volume that fits both of these rare categories splendidly. An instant true-crime classic and a literate treat, "Blood and Ink" will inform and charm its readers for decades to come.
The bulk of Borowitz's volume is given over to 500+ annotated bibliographic entries, wherein he crisply describes and critiques true-crime classics from around the world (excepting only Africa). As is the case with his own true-crime studies ("The Thurtell-Hunt Murder Case," "The Woman Who Murdered Black Satin" et al.), Borowitz's scholarship is impeccable, his style beguiling and his critical judgment unfailing. Compounding these delights are the author's introductory survey of world crime literature (a graduate course itself for the criminously inclined, plus lesser but worthy contributions by no less than Jacques Barzun and Jonathon Goodman.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Tremendous Achievement, November 29, 2002

By 

John Stark Bellamy II - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood and Ink: An International Guide to Fact-Based Crime Literature (Hardcover)

How many reference book can be read for pleasure? How many bibliographies would you include in your "desert island" list of indispensable titles? Astonishingly, Cleveland true-crime scholar/enthusiast Albert Borowitz has produced a magisteral volume that splendidly qualifies in both categories.
True crime aficionados take note: this is a book you cannot live without. In almost five hundred pages of crisply perceptive text Borowitz provides a lovingly annotated list of the world's true-crime literature. And, while the bulk of his text is taken up with English language items, the multilingual Borowitz also surveys works from around the world, excepting only Africa.
Erudite, witty and flecked with a dry humor,Borowitz's 654 choice entries will henceforce comprise every crime connoisseur's library or bibliographic lust list. Not the least of the delights herein is Borowitz's 40-page introductory survey of true-crime literature, which is as good a pocket-history of the genre as you will find. It is an additional measure of Borowitz's standing in his field that "Blood and Ink" also boasts prefatory contributions by both Jacques Barzun and Jonathan Goodman. As Sam Spade himself might say, "A toast to Albert Borowitz--and success to crime!"