Customer Reviews

Lullaby For Morons

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This was a book I could not put down - it kept me up late because I just had to finish it. Based on the actual 1914 murder trial of 16 year old Jean Gianini, Dr. Siegel has woven a tale which is at once a psychological thriller, a murder mystery, and an indictment of medical misdiagnosis in the early 1900's. I strongly recommend this as a fascinating "can't-put-down" read. My sister, to whom I lent the book, had the same experience as I did, by the way- she also could not put it down!

This book is shocking in that it reveals the prejudices & dearth of understanding still prevalent into the 20th century. I live in the area of the crime and I'm acquainted with the very fine present-day members of the G. family. Just by coincidence, when I was a child, I met the expert witness Dr. Bernstein as I had close relatives who worked in the colony system of the Rome State School.

Although a fictionalized account, this is a truth revealing book. Self-proclaimed experts, hysteria, and a full range of human behaviors emanating from ignorance, fear, compassion, bewilderment and pain are explored. A shocking testimony to what has been allowed to occur, and an awakening to be wary of similar manipulations of hysteria in our own time and place, for although the book cover calls this is a story of a "Dark Age," it is neither so long ago nor far from occurring again in another guise. I highly recommend this book for the historical rendering, the good story telling, and for further reflection.

This was a part of history I was not aware of until I found this book well into my 40s. I grew up in Poland, NY and graduated form PCH. My Dad and his Dad also did. Can't believe this part of our local history eluded us all. Know Buck Hll very well. And now know how Beecher Road got its name. Knew (as child) some of the people mentioned in the book, and that only stunned me all the more. Aside from my personal connection, this is a great book delving into the psycology of a grim murder and how the courts and psycologists dealt with it in "that time". This is a fast read that you can't put down.