Customer Reviews

The Shoemaker: The Anatomy of a Psychotic

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

THE SHOEMAKER is a rarity amongst books that deal with killers, in that it's not tabloidish or sensational. Additionally, Flora Schreiber does what no genre book has done, truly get behind the mind of her subject. The psychotic killer, Joe Kallinger, is the subject that Schreiber (who penned SYBIL..that many know of from the Sissy Spacek movie) so thoroughly and convincingly covers. At points you feel as if you're reading an autobiography; so in depth this book is. The portrayals of Kallinger's "visions," his lapses into the surreal and unreal, are so vivid, so real, that the reader themselves will feel as if they were in a trance or on a mind-altering narcotic. While Schreiber certainly feels for her subject, she doesn't lose sight of the fact that this man, despite his mental shortcoming that were bred from an odd childhood, did take the lives of others, including that of his own seed. Tough to find, you can't go wrong with seeking it out.

I also read this book years ago in my early teens. As an adult, this book has left a large impression on my mind. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in psychology or serial killers.

The Shoemaker : The Anatomy of a Psychotic
I first read about this book in the US fanzine SLEAZOID EXPRESS. The writer there said that you couldn't open the book without wanting to take a shower afterwards, I tend to agree, but who ever said that reading true crime should be EASY?!
Jospeh Kallinger (who died in jail some years ago) was one sick puppy. Whether it was his castration fantasies, sexual hang-ups, paranoia,having sex with holes in walls, making of shoes for hamsters (you had to be there) or full blown psychosis he was a well rounded NUTJOB. Author Schreiber does a good job of tracing his madness all the way back to his MONSTEROUS adopted parents (what I would give to see pics of these two freaks)..it's up to the reader to decide if the abuse and torture he went through MADE him crazy or just added to a pre-existing condition and he would have been psychotic anyway. Either way, his "parents" certainly didn't help matters.
The book isn't fun reading, isn't a light read, but is challenging, depressing and confronting. All the things a good true crime book should be.

I work in the mental health field and have just read this book. I was hoping that by the end of it I would be convinced that Joseph was either suffering from a psychosis or from a personality disorder, in particular antisocial personality, however I am still uncertain! My view is that he was suffering from a bit of both and this is why psychiatrists' found it so difficult to decide whether he was legally insane or not. It is definitely surprising that there was no apparent history of mental illness in his biological family. I recommend this book as enjoyable reading, however, if you are in the mental health profession you will find the terminology used outdated at times and "attempts of suicide" dramatized. I guess we'll never really understand whether Joseph was sick or simply evil.

This is a true crime story that sticks with you after it is read. My kind of book! The author really gets into the mind of this killer and it's very interesting, but scarey! great, great read!

I also read this book about 20 years ago, whenI had time to read. I couldn't put it down. It was amazing in how the author was able to get inside the killers mind. What amazed me the most was how parents actions can totally effect a childs thinking and whole life and perspective on life. All the sad events that took place that caused him to be the person he became are quite insightful and informing. Out of the many books I have read, I too must say this has left a very lasting impression on me and also how I speak to my kids and deal with them.

Joseph is a man who was clearly made. The details to his forming are incredible. I read this book twice which I NEVER do. Any psychology interested person should read this. Some people are born bad. This guy was cultivated.

I was really looking forward to reading this book.
I thought it was just ok, but the author repeats herself so much and you get the feeling that she feels sorry for this man. Hs should be executed I can not imagine anyone who thinks he should ever be free again! Insane or not he needs to be locked away forever!!

I, too, read this book long ago - in my early 20's - and have never been able to forget it. Unfortunately i judge other books weak in comparison. I still wonder if this guy is locked up, and what happened to his poor kid? He is now an adult - and a good cause for worry. It should be deemed a classic in this genre, and kept on the shelves.

In THE SHOEMAKER, author Flora Rheta Schreiber has created a fascinating study of a true madman. Joseph Kallinger was adopted at a young age by a rigid German-American couple who had no business adopting so much as a gerbil. They expressly stated that they had adopted Joseph so that he could learn and eventually take over his father's shoe repair business so as to support them in their old age. Joseph was physically - and to a greater extent emotionally - abused by the couple. He was regularly told how inadequate he was and was routinely threatened that he would be returned to the orphanage. He was forbidden to play with other children, being made to work instead, and he was denied love. In this upbringing the seeds of Joseph's murderous madness germinated and ultimately flowered in the form of a seriously deranged sexual psychotic.
Schreiber describes Joseph's life, his crimes, and his lunacy, in great detail, having gleaned the information from many hours of interviews with Joseph himself and supplemented it with documentary evidence. The intricate picture Schreiber paints of Joseph's life is fascinating.

There are flaws in the book. Schreiber is given to continual analysis of Joseph in the narrative of THE SHOEMAKER, and some of it seems facile to me. For example, she describes a neologism as "an invented word typical of a schizophrenic" and uses as examples Joe's writing the words "wonder lust" and "preform" for "wanderlust" and "perform". She then ascribes subconscious significance to these misspellings. This strikes me as over the top and unsupported since Joseph's writing has already been quoted extensively; he is uneducated and cannot spell well; and it seems as least as likely that these "neologisms" are actually just innocuous misspellings.
Schreiber also regularly repeats information. She describes Joseph's psychotic hallucinations at their every occurrence even though they are all pretty much the same. This eventually becomes skimmable material.
And she continually writes that Joseph, who was fascinated with knives and castration, always stabbed people with his left hand as it was that hand which restored to him his sexual power. Nowhere is it evident in the book that any consideration has been given to the idea that he may have simply been left-handed.

But despite the flaws, Schreiber has worked hard on THE SHOEMAKER and the result is an intelligent, interesting, and well-written book. The brutal emotional deprivation Kallinger endured as a child produced a psychotic monster as a man and those who are interested in "nature versus nurture" discussions about personality development will want to read this book, as will fans of true crime.