Compulsion (Tr) [Paperback]

Meyer Levin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1996

The basis of the award-winning film starring Orson Welles, Compulsion gives a shocking fictionalized account of the Leopold-Loeb murder case--in which two young graduates of the University of Chicago kidnapped and killed a child for the intellectual challenge. "A graphic and absorbing reconstruction of an infamous crime".--Saturday Review.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Before, we had thought the boys could only have committed the murder under some sudden dreadful impulse. But now we learned how the deed had been marked by a long design developed in full detail. What was new to us was this entry into the dark, vast area of death as an abstraction." The mid-'20s Leopold-Loeb case, called "the crime of the century," introduced Americans to a new type of murder: two privileged college students picked a child at random and killed him without a conventional motive, simply as an intellectual experiment. Meyer Levin's 1956 novel is historical fiction in the tradition of Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy--both a compelling story and a meticulous analysis of the different psychologies of the two youths. Compulsion was called "a masterly achievement in literary craftsmanship" by Earle Stanley Gardner in the New York Times Book Review, and it inspired an award-winning film starring Orson Welles as Clarence Darrow.

Product Details

• Paperback: 412 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers (April 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786703199
• ISBN-13: 978-0786703197
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #879,124 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Abnormal Psychology and the Judiciary, December 21, 1999

By 

K.Goldberg (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Compulsion (Tr) (Paperback)

I enjoyed Meyer Levin's sentimental and fictional account of the 1924 Leopold-Loeb murder of Bobby Franks as a fascinating study of abnormal psychology and the judiciary. A former classmate of the killers at the University of Chicago, the author's sympathetic treatment of likely psychopath Leopold ("Judd") may have aided the latter's parole in 1958 (Loeb was killed in prison). Nevertheless, Leopold sued the author over this book. Compulsion is a great novel, but for a starkly realistic view of this brutal crime readers should consult Hal Higdon's superb non-fictional account, Leopold and Loeb: Crime of the Century.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating. Dramatized history; a study of evil., February 23, 2001

By 

David Rolfe (Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Compulsion (Tr) (Paperback)

This book is a novelization of the infamous Loeb & Leopold murder case of 1924. The murder was considered at the time to be the crime of the century (like O.J. Simpson was to us). Why would a pair of rich young geniuses kill a randomly selected child? This is a fascinating psychological study of evil. Levin knew the perpetrators personally, so he was in a strong position to tell this story. And he has a brilliant writer's ability to get inside the head of a human being who has lost his way, morally speaking. The book is old and the story is old, but the tale remains relevant and powerful.

Factoid #1: It was made into a movie, "Compulsion", with Orson Welles. The murder also inspired a play and a Hitchcock movie based upon that play (which pre-date this book), "Rope". And yet a third movie (which I didn't "get"): "Swoon".

Factoid #2: Levin opens the book with this line: "Nothing ever ends, and if we retrace every link in causation, it seems there is nowhere a beginning." That's a succinct, intriguing observation, isn't it?

Factoid #3: This book was written in 1956, long after the crime and trial. Levin decided to tell the tale at that point because Leopold, still in prison, was being considered for parole, and it seemed appropriate for the case to be revisited.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Abnormal Psychology and the Judiciary, December 21, 1999

By 

K.Goldberg (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Compulsion (Tr) (Paperback)

Meyer Levin's sentimental fictional account of the 1924 Leopold-Loeb murder of Bobby Franks is a fascinating study of abnormal psychology. A former classmate of the killers at the University of Chicago, the author's sympathetic treatment of Leopold ("Judd") may have aided that probable-psychopath's parole in 1958 (Loeb was killed in prison in 1936). Nevertheless, Leopold sued the author over this book. Compulsion is a great novel, but readers wanting a more realistic view of this brutal crime should consult Hal Higdon's superb and starkly non-fiction account, Trial of the Century.