California Justice: Shootouts, Lynchings and Assassinations in the Golden State [Paperback]

David Kulczyk (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2007

Introducing the victims and perpetrators responsible for California’s most notorious shootouts, lynchings, and assassinations, this account shows how homemade justice is never black-and-white. In relating these histories, this discussion also analyzes how and why Hollywood storylines almost always follow the same skewed and unrealistic arc in which the bad guys abuse the good guys, the good guy take the high road until the bad guy has gone too far, and the good guy picks off the bad guys, one by one, in an increasingly dramatic fashion.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David A. Kulczyk is a Sacramento based freelance writer and award-winning author of short fiction. His work has appeared in the Sacramento News and Review, Chico News and Review, East Bay Express, and SF Guardian. He is also an associate editor for Maximum Ink Music magazine.

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Word Dancer Press (August 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1884995543
• ISBN-13: 978-1884995545
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #336,583 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born to first-generation Americans in Bay City, Michigan, David Kulczyk (pronounced Coal-check) is a Sacramento-based historian, freelance writer and award-winning author of short fiction. He entered college at the age of 40 after working as a factory worker, sous chef, musician, warehouseman, fish butcher, process server, barista and bike messenger. Kulczyk's work has appeared in the SF Guardian, the East Bay Express, the Chico News and Review, Maximum Ink Music Magazine, The Isthmus, Madison Magazine, the Seattle Times, Pop Culture Press, Strange Magazine and the Sacramento News and Review. He is the author of Death in California: The Bizarre, Freakish, and Just Curious Ways People Die in the Golden State and California Justice: Shootouts, Lynchings and Assassinations in the Golden State (available from Craven Street Books).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poetic Justice, November 12, 2007

By 

Klaus T "Opinionated" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: California Justice: Shootouts, Lynchings and Assassinations in the Golden State (Paperback)

California Justice is an well researched and eminently readable compendium of some of the most interesting cases of crime and punishment (often by mobs) in California from the 19th to the 21st century. Included are the more famous examples of Sirhan Sirhan killing Robert F. Kennedy, the mob rubbing out fellow gangster Bugsy Siegel, and the assassination of San Francisco's Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk by Dan White; but also more obscure though equally fascinating stories of the Golden Dragon Massacre, the (not so) Brite Brothers, and the last lynching in California in 1947.

The author does a great job of bringing these true sagas to life by adding just the right amount of detail and by keeping the stories moving along at a brisk pace. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in history, offbeat characters, or crime.

5.0 out of 5 stars We Were Out There Havin' Fun, In The Warm California Sun, April 15, 2009

By 

Patrick Palmer "Pat Palmer" (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: California Justice: Shootouts, Lynchings and Assassinations in the Golden State (Paperback)

Like many, I've done my time in California -- from a wide-eyed seaside / Disneyland vacationing kid in my Beach Boys shirt to a failure at any cost San Francisco rock star to a back of the hand L.A. style working class fool. People have been California Dreamin' since before the gold rush, pouring in from every corner of the globe, for some reason always expecting something better. There are more broken hearts in the Golden State than anyplace on earth.

In his excellent book CALIFORNIA JUSTICE, David Kulczyk gives us a fast paced, page turning foray into the dark side of the dream. As if he found a cache of secret documents hidden buried beneath the HOLLYWOOD sign, Kulczyk unveils the lurid and disturbing true history of lynchings, (based on their frequency, when it comes to guilty pleasures, evidently murder in the name of justice is hard to beat.), shootouts, assassinations, and guns in the desperate or sadistic hands of crazies, drunks, gangsters, punks, and heretofore decent citizens, all who for their own reasons just want someone dead. Like a kid glued to the rear window of your cursing Dad's car as he maneuvers past a smash-up - you can't look away.

Kulczyk's highly tuned, unforgiving prose gives hope that a detective novel or noir screenplay might be forthcoming from his pen. After all, the best noir is set in California. When things come apart in paradise, they come apart hard and fast. In the Promised Land it's just not supposed to be that way.

5.0 out of 5 stars Me write book review, March 3, 2009

By 

A. Souza (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: California Justice: Shootouts, Lynchings and Assassinations in the Golden State (Paperback)

This is a great book of criminal vignettes, kinda in the style of AJ Benza's E! series "Mysteries & Scandals." David, you should seriously consider pimping yourself out to E! or the Tru network for historical crime documentaries.

But seriously, this is a perfect introduction to some of California's most fascinating and important crimes. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and so did my lovely wife. The short chapters made it a quick read and perfect for the train. I only have one issue with the book - the time span leaps too much at the end of the text, jumping from 1978 to 1997 to 2003. Were you trying to pad out 150 years? Was anything cut? If so, can we expect an unabridged edition anytime soon?