"All-American Monster": The Unauthorized Biography of Timothy McVeigh (Hardcover)

by Brandon M. Stickney (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
A reporter for the Lockport, N.Y., Union-Sun and Journal, Stickney is well suited to write a biography of accused Oklahoma City bombing suspect and Lockport native McVeigh, since he is a lifelong resident of the area. He utilizes that advantage in this admirable search for the influences that shaped the personality of his subject. Stickney reveals a young man of average abilities and no particular distinction except for a fascination with guns and comic books, distraught by the divorce of his parents and the exposure of widespread corruption among government officials in his home county. McVeigh served in the Army and participated in Desert Storm but failed to stay the course in training for the Special Forces. After leaving the service, he was drawn into the orbit of the radical right. It is clear that Stickney considers McVeigh and his friend Terry Nichols guilty of the bombing, but he admirably retains his focus on the formative factors in his subject's development. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The alleged perpetrator of the Oklahoma City bombing is the subject of a skin-deep journalistic treatment that nonetheless will have to stand as the biography of Timothy McVeigh until something more substantial comes along. The author is a reporter and native of McVeigh's hometown. "Tim came from a small, upstate New York town," Stickney writes, "was trained to fight by the military, later came to believe that the government he served was corrupt, and allegedly blasted a hole in the heart of middle America." In filling in the details of that basic outline of McVeigh's life, and often adding filler to make a longer story, Stickney offers a glancing psychological interpretation of how McVeigh came to be who he was. More adept character analysis eventually will rise from a better writer's pen, but for the time being, this book gives us a preliminary overview of McVeigh's life. Is that enough to draw a large audience? The publisher thinks so, given the 75,000 copy first printing. Order with care. Brad Hooper

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (September 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573920886
• ISBN-13: 978-1573920889
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #978,426 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Review of biography about Timothy McVeigh, February 11, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Toronto Canada) - See all my reviews

'All American Monster', by Brandon M. Stickney, chronicles the life of convicted Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh, from childhhood up to, but not including, his trial. Keeping in mind that his trial had not yet occured, I found it incredulous that the entire book was written on the assumption that McVeigh was guilty. The author even went as far as telling us what McVeigh was thinking as he watched the Murrah building explode. I'm sure writers need to make some assumptions when doing an unauthorized biography, but I found the assumption of guilt a bit unsettling. One has to wonder about how much editing was done from interviews with those that know McVeigh, in order to fit the bias of the author. To his credit, Stickney seems to have put a lot of legwork into this book, and interview numerous people. You get a general idea of who Tim McVeigh was as a teen, but from there on, I don't think the author was able to get past his own political ideas to give the reader an accurate view. Mr. Stickney even went as far as 'correcting' the political views expressed by Jennifer McVeigh, Tim's sister, in a letter she wrote to her local newspaper. A biography shouldn't be used as a personal forum for an author's own beliefs. I found it both irrelevant and unprofessional. Perhaps there just wasn't enough information available, or those who know McVeigh just didn't want to talk about him, but there was a fair amount of repitition throughout the book, and I felt it could have been 100 pages shorter, and nothing would have been missed. In short, although the book had quite a few facts, and a fair amount of research was done, I found the book much too biased to be a truely accurate story of Timothy McVeigh. Thanks, Kary

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars american made monster, October 25, 2002

By	angel (alaska) - See all my reviews

Although this book is does not take a sympathetic approach to McVeigh's story, it becomes pretty apparent how McVeigh may have been lead astray. He was abandoned by his mother, had an emotionally detatched father, etc. Shows both sides of this tragedy. The tragedy of the bombing and the trajedy of McVeigh's disenchantment with America; especially after he was treated like a human guinea pig by the army. Very interesting book, I couldn't put it down.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars an unauthorized bio, July 13, 2001

By	andrea somers (jack, AL United States) - See all my reviews

I got this because I wanted some insight into how the story all came about and definitely more information.I got it here.A lot of questions were answered here,so if you want insight and revelation into what happened and why this book is a good place to start.I liked it because it was so informative.I considered that a book should have a certain amount of information to be able to be fair and the writer is fair to all sides.