Justice: Crimes, Trials, and Punishments [Hardcover]

Dominick Dunne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 19, 2001

For more than two decades, Vanity Fair has published Dominick Dunne's brilliant, revelatory chronicles of the most famous crimes, trials, and punishments of our time. The pursuit of justice has become his passion — a passion that began during the trial of the man who murdered Dunne's daughter and who was sentenced to six and a half years and released in less than three. Dunne's account of that trial and its shocking result became the first of his many classic essays on justice.

Dominick Dunne's essays do much more than simply describe; his investigations have shed new light on those crimes and their perpetrators — and demonstrated how it is possible for some to skirt, even flout, the law. His persistence and personal involvement in the matter of Martha Moxley's murder was an important catalyst in bringing a dormant case back to life.

Here in one volume are Dominick Dunne's mesmerizing tales of justice denied and justice affirmed. Whether writing of Vicki Morgan's hideous death; Claus von Bülow's romp through two trials; the media frenzy of Los Angeles in the age of O.J. Simpson; the death by fire of multibillionaire banker Edmund Safra in Monaco; or the ominous silence surrounding the death of Martha Moxley in Greenwich, Connecticut, and the indictment — decades later — of Michael Skakel, Dominick Dunne tells it honestly and tells it from his unique perspective. His search for the truth is relentless. His courage and his storytelling skills shine from every page.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"In my everyday life over the last fifty years, it has been my curious lot to move among the rich and famous and powerful, always as an outsider, always listening, watching, remembering."

Writing about the crimes of the rich and famous for Vanity Fair with this insider's status, Dominick Dunne has borne witness to the often bizarre personalities who surround high-profile cases and their telling intimacies. Andrea Reynolds, for instance, dressed only in a negligee and jewelry, insists that her jewels are finer than those of the comatose woman in whose apartment she resides and whom her lover, Claus von Bulow, is charged with attempting to murder. The essays in Justice offer a fascinating, disturbing, and wry look at the cast of a half dozen high-profile trials, including Lyle and Erik Menendez, who murdered their affluent parents; Marvin Pancoast, who beat the $18,000-a-month mistress of Alfred Bloomingdale to death with a baseball bat; the multibillionaire banker Edmund Safra, who suffocated in his own bunker-like bathroom in Monaco; and the gossiping members of Los Angeles society during "All O.J., All the Time."

The most moving story by far is the title piece, about the murder of Dunne's daughter, the actress Dominique Dunne, by her ex-boyfriend, who walked away with a pitifully light sentence thanks to the extremes taken by his defense lawyer and the vanity of the judge. While the succeeding stories don't have the same poignancy, Dunne still makes them personal--after all, he knows many of those involved, and justice truly is personal for him. In fact, it is this moral authority that enables him to enter the strange universe of high-society crime and write about it with no pretense of objectivity, but rather with rage toward the short shrift justice is so often given in celebrity cases. The counterpoint to his anger is a delicious irony in the form of fascinating subplots, jet-set gossip, and terrific quotes straight from some of the horses' mouths. Dunne has both a sharp sense of the absurd and a trenchant eye for injustice in any form. --Lesley Reed

From Publishers Weekly

Dunne, the bespectacled crime reporter for Vanity Fair who has long specialized in the sins of high society, is not a spectacular writer. He is, however, a master storyteller, particularly in his ability to place telling details. As is evident in this collection of high-profile reportage that spans more than two decades, Dunne is famously connected, an adept listener and sometimes plain lucky. That combination makes reading even his dispatches on the O.J. Simpson trial feel fresh. Here, Dunne documents how that saga burrowed deep into the consciousness of Los Angeles. He incorporates into the narrative snatches of overheard conversations, answering machine messages, courtroom chatter, anonymous letters, even death threats and street dialogue: "You're the first white person to give me money since the verdict," a black panhandler is quoted as saying. Dunne further chronicles the murder cases of such figures as the Menendez brothers, Claus von Blow, social climber Wayne Lonergan and Christopher Moseley, the husband of Lisa du Pont. The common thread running through this collection is the notion of the trial being the last business of the victim's life, something this author knows all too well: in 1981, Dunne's daughter, Dominique, was murdered by her estranged boyfriend. He opens Justice with a moving account of that trial, describing the helplessness, rage and degradation that often envelop loved ones. Of course, the misdeeds of the elite make inherently good copy, but it's reassuring to know that someone like Dunne is out there keeping his ears pricked in those upper echelons, letting us know when its members have flown too close to the sun.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Crown; 1 edition (June 19, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609608738
• ISBN-13: 978-0609608739
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (88 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #970,020 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #23 in Books > Law > Current Affairs

More About the Author

Dominick Dunne (1925-2009) was the author of five bestselling novels, two collections of essays, and "The Way We Lived Then," a memoir with photographs. His final novel, "Too Much Money," will be published in December 2009. He was a Special Correspondent for "Vanity Fair" and lived in New York City and Hadlyme, Connecticut.

Photo (C) H. Thompson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great Dunne book!, June 19, 2001

By 

"dazey" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Justice: Crimes, Trials, and Punishments (Hardcover)

I have to say I was wishing for fiction but after reading the introduction I knew I was hooked. I love Dominick Dunne! I have read everything he's written including his Vanity Fair articles and once again I am not disappointed. He tells these stories as if he were talking to you. His honesty and openess related to his daughter's murder gave me goosebumps. It's a quick read. I bought it yesterday and could not put it down. I finished it early this morning. Now I'm disappointed that it's over. What am I going to do until he writes the next one? Keep up the good work Mr. Dunne! And I hope you are feeling better.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ultimate Book of Murder Mysteries, July 5, 2001

By 

Dominic Smith (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Justice: Crimes, Trials, and Punishments (Hardcover)

This is a fascinating book told from an insider's perspective about some of the most high-profile cases ever. At times, Dunne is scathing in his criticism of the so-called justice handed out for some of the crimes committed. It opens with the poignant, at times heart-rending account of his own daughter's murder and my attention was absolutely rivetted.

This book reads like the ultimate murder mystery short-story collection. All the more disturbing because they actually happened. Dunne has a compelling style that drew me in and urged me to read on, and on, and on.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book - Great Read, July 14, 2001

By 

Milton (FRESNO, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Justice: Crimes, Trials, and Punishments (Hardcover)

Dunne's new book is fascinating and difficult to put down. It is a collection of stories he wrote for Vanity Fair, covering the trials of O.J. Simpson, the Menendez brothers, and other cases.

My only complaint -maybe "suggestion" is a better word since the book was so good- is that he should have included a timeline and synopsis of each case. The stories make sense only if you really followed the case.

I think everyone would not have a problem with the OJ chapters, but I got lost on some of the other cases while reading his stories. He should have put the dates his stories appeared, so the reader can see where in the timeline of events the story fits.

Other than that, I thought it was a great book. Dominick Dunne is eminently interesting, and I love the way he writes. He would be a great dinner guest!