Customer Reviews

The Fatal Bullet: The Assassination of President James A. Garfield (A Treasury of Victorian Murder)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I ordered this book, I thought it was a short textual history of the assasination of President James Garfield. It turns out that this book is in comic book format with the story being told by dialogue and cartoon illustrations. However, I really enjoyed the book and learned a lot about Garfield, his assasin, Charles Guiteau, and Garfield's slow death.

Guiteau was basically a loser in life and had even served time in jail. He was constantly skipping out on creditors and and he showed signs of mental illness. He was dillusional and thought that Garfield would apppoint him to an ambassadorship. He literally stalked both Garfield and Secretary of State Blaine in an attempt to secure the appointment. When it was not forthcoming, he stalked Garfield (this was in the days before the secret service) until he had the opportunity to shoot the President.

The wound caused a rupture in an artery but an aneurism sealed off the opening so he did not bleed to death. Garfield lingered for many weeks until the aneurism ultimately ruptured and Garfield died. The location of the bullet had not been located and the aneurism had gone untreated. Today, Garfield's condition would have almost certainly been diagnosed through an MRI and he may have survived delicate surgery which would have saved his life.

In reading history, we generally get a line or two about Garfield being assasinated by a "disappointed office seeker." It was enjoyable to learn more about this event, particularly in such an unusual literary format.

This entry in Rick Geary's series on Victorian murders examines the assassination of President James Garfield by Charles J. Guiteau, a megalomaniacal failure at preaching, the law, and almost everything else he had tried. The drawings are evocative of the time and place, and give a clear idea of the events. The lives of Garfield and Guiteau are traced, and Guiteau's mental illness is made quite clear; today, he would almost certainly be sharing a room with John Hinckley. I'd like to see this whole series reprinted: one of them is out of print and apparently unavailable.

As a history buff, and a fan of Rick Geary's, I knew I'd enjoy this book, but I had no idea how much! The book tells the paralell stories of President James A. Garfield and his stalker (and eventual assassin) Charles Giteau, an abysmal failure in every aspect of life; indeed, his ONLY success in life was the murder of President Garfield, and he almost botched that up, too. Garfield lingered for months after the attack, dying perhaps more as a result of medical incompetence than Giteau's efforts.
Geary's wonderfully cartoony art is reminiscent of claymation; it gives a true illusion of depth and form. He is truly one of the underrated geniuses of the Comic art form. His meticulous research gives us many interesting facts, such as The President being allowed to walk around Washington D.C. unescorted (No Secret Service yet), Abraham Lincoln's son's association with Garfield, and too many others to count. Do yourself a favor- read the book!!

I think that all of Rick Geary graphic novels should be required reading at all
freshman classes nationwide. They are true stories written in a format that would entertain the student reader. I have found out a number of things that I had never learned in my school days from these books.

And this book is by far one of the good ones!

Another good one is "The Murder of Abraham Lincoln" that is very well written as well. Check for it here or at your local Barnes & Noble.

This book was interesting to read, and I learned about the history of Garfield, as well as that of his killer. However, as one reviewer said, this book really doesn't follow the format set out by Geary's other books in the series. The story is not unresolved, and it wasn't really a murder. A long slow drawn out death did occur due to complications of the bullet wound.

If you're okay with the book story following a different format, grab it and enjoy it. Its worth reading and the only reason I gave it four out of five stars is because I was really hoping for an unresolved case with some mystery to it. Still a good installment in the series.

Admittedly, not everyone will be drawn to a "comic book" version of the events surrounding the assassination of President Garfield. A "graphic novel," The Fatal Bullet interlaces the life stories of Garfield and his assassin Charles Guiteau. Geary provides the awkward Guiteau with occasional light touches of quaint, almost humorous, incompetence, and gives Garfield a nervous, darting look, as if catching now and again a glimpse of his doom out of the corner of his eye. Geary's accomplished engraving-style drawings give the project a suitably old-fashioned feeling (Tony Millionaire at his best might give Geary a run for his money, but few others) and a certain deadpan humor concerning the conventional pieties (see Garfield's ascension to Heaven at the beginning of part four) lends the project a welcome slightly subversive touch. Geary has unquestionably done his homework, but for those wanting more on the Garfield assassination Ira Rutkow's beautiful little book on Garfield James A. Garfield: The American Presidents Series: The 20th President, 1881 should be consulted.

On July 2, 1881, President James Garfield, whose term has just begun a mere 4 months earlier, was shot in the back by a delusional religious fantatic called Charles Guiteau. 2 months later Garfield would succumb to the bullet wound and shortly after Guiteau would be hanged.

The assassination took place just 16 years after Lincoln's death in Ford's Theatre and the details in Garfield's case pointed to the same mistakes that allowed Lincoln to be assassinated. Garfield had no escort, he walked about Washington D.C. by himself, unguarded. Guiteau followed him on a couple of occasions! On the fateful day, Garfield was taking the train for his holidays, walked through the waiting room with one of his ministers and his two sons, allowing Guiteau free access to stand up from one of the waiting room seats and shoot him as he passed! Amazingly it would take a third Presidential assassination - that of William McKinley in 1901 - for Congress to give the President an official guard, the Secret Service.

Geary tells the story in a strange way by comparing the lives of Garfield and Guiteau. Showing where one had a strong will to study and for hard work, and the other didn't, how people (in his eyes) are made either great or not. The story here isn't as compelling as Geary's other book on Lincoln's assassination with the background being less desperate and the assassin Guiteau acting alone on his own bizarre ideas. He was a deeply religious man who believed the "Deity" had told him to kill Garfield and somehow believed this act would lead to a consulship in Paris. Strangely, it didn't.

The other interesting point is the lack of medical knowledge at this time. The many doctors who attended the President didn't think to operate to try and remove the bullet, nor knew how, and in fact due to their many odd choices made the President's injuries worse.

A strange but interesting story, Geary's written another strong addition to the Treasury of Victorian Murder series, though perhaps it's not the best place to start. I'd recommend the book on Lincoln.

Rick Geary's new book "The Fatal Bullet..." explores an important event in American history in an unusual yet effective manner.

To summarize: the nation, which in recent times had dealt with the horrors of President Lincoln's assassination was once again shaken to its core the summer of 1881. On Saturday, July 2 in the near empty waiting room of a train depot, the twentieth U.S. President, Republican James Abraham Garfield was shot in the back. It would take a grueling two months before the President would succumb to his injury.

The assassin, one Charles Guiteau was quickly apprehended. He announced that he bore no ill-will toward the President but that his death was a "political necessity." During his trial Guiteau defended himself proclaiming to be an agent of deity. He would go on to state that the President's physicians should bear the burden of his death. He reasoned this because of the fact that they had decided the wound the President had suffered was not, in fact fatal and that he would soon recover. Guiteau was convicted of the assassination by a jury and was executed by hanging on June 30, 1882.

What sets Geary's book apart from other historical works is that it was written in a graphic novel. With illustration reminiscent of a comic book, Geary's book sets out to explore the Garfield assassination as well as to take a closer look at the events leading up to this significant point in the two men's lives.

Geary examines certain similarities in both lives. Some of these included are in regards to their home regions, the fact that both were the youngest in their family, both considered clergy as a career and that both were drawn to the law and politics.

Robert Frost wrote of two roads that diverged in the wood. This would certainly be applicable to the life paths taken by Garfield and Guiteau. While their lives bore some resemblances they each took different paths. Garfield had a "happy prosperous life" with a strong marriage and a "reputation for honesty, loyalty and fair dealing." Guiteau, on the other hand, took the "downward path" with a bitter and brief marriage and a reputation as a "cheat, charltan and hum-bug."

Geary's book is very interesting and unique. To take a piece of history put it in comic form and stay true to the serious nature of the event is quite the feat. This book will appeal to those young adults and teens who may otherwise have little or no interest in history. Teachers would do well to include this book in their curriculum.

I'm a fan of this series. There are good entries and less good entries. I discovered them with the Jack the Ripper volume which I like to read at night before bedtime. There are two aspects of that book I wish Geary would return to. The first is that the crime is scandalous and unsolved (as is the Borden case), the second is that none of the victims was a president!

This is really not about juicy, low Victorian murders which I would think is the appeal of a series with that title. Once a president is involved you're into assasinations, which to my mind are a different thing. Curling up with a book about an assasination in which the killer is known & villified for his failings, the victim lingers, and in which all the answers are found before you're done just doesn't hold the same appeal.

People who are seeking history seem to like the book.