Synopses & Reviews
andlt;Bandgt;andlt;Iandgt;The man who revolutionized the way we think about baseball now examines our cultural obsession with murderand#8212;delivering a unique, engrossing, brilliant history of tabloid crime in America. andlt;/Iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Celebrated writer and contrarian Bill James has voraciously read true crime throughout his life and has been interested in writing a book on the topic for decades. Now, with andlt;Iandgt;Popular Crime, andlt;/Iandgt;James takes readers on an epic journey from Lizzie Borden to the Lindbergh baby, from the Black Dahlia to O. J. Simpson, explaining how crimes have been committed, investigated, prosecuted and written about, and how that has profoundly influenced our culture over the last few centuriesand#8212; even if we havenand#8217;t always taken notice. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Exploring such phenomena as serial murder, the fluctuation of crime rates, the value of evidence, radicalism and crime, prison reform and the hidden ways in which crimes have shaped, or reflected, our society, James chronicles murder and misdeeds from the 1600s to the present day. James pays particular attention to crimes that were sensations during their time but have faded into obscurity, as well as still-famous cases, some that have never been solved, including the Lindbergh kidnapping, the Boston Strangler and JonBenet Ramsey. Satisfyingly sprawling and tremendously entertaining, andlt;Iandgt;Popular Crime andlt;/Iandgt;is a professed amateurand#8217;s powerful examination of the incredible impact crime stories have on our society, culture and history.
Review
“James is a rare combination of amateur logician and sociologist, stylist, humorist, and stern moralist.”—Time
Review
“Some people think Bill James is God. They overstate, but not by much."—Vanity Fair
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“Popular Crime will remind you of just how wonderful a writer Mr. James is. Incisive analysis and encyclopedic knowledge tempered by a sometimes morbid, but never jaded, dose of Americana: it’s sabermetrics meets the Coen Brothers.”—Nate Silver
Review
“I would read Bill James on anything. I would read him on the price of burlap in Des Moines. Yet here, as with baseball, he has found a subject worthy of his obsession. Popular Crime is the best kind of guilty pleasure: sure to inspire countless bar-stool digressions, and brimming with arguments about why these tabloid stories, and the ways we often misunderstand them, actually matter. James may be our foremost forensic historian.”—Ben McGrath
Review
“Bill James is an American original who has an original take on everything he writes about, on criminals as much as catchers. You may feel compelled to skip dinner, turning his pages, even when you think he’s out to lunch.”—Adam Gopnik
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“An engagingly written history of well-publicized deadly crimes.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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For true-crime afficianados, this book is a hoot. James has to be the least starchy serious writer I’ve run across in years. He has the gift of writing the way a person talks—no easy task, believe me—giving Popular Crime a folksy, conversational feel.”—
The New York Times Book Review
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“A very entertaining book, and it will instigate arguments even as it scores many important points.”—The Washington Post
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“Running through Popular Crime is an exploration of the enduring popularity of true crime. James' thought-provoking meditations elevate his book far above any routine recitation of facts.”—The Seattle Times
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"The book is a success, thoughtful and thought provoking. It is also gruesome, ghoulish, and appalling--and utterly fascinating."--andlt;Iandgt;The Daily Beastandlt;/Iandgt;
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"[An] insightfully unorthodox history of famous murders."--andlt;Iandgt;New Yorkandlt;/Iandgt; magazine
Review
"James turns out to be not just the most important writer/thinker on baseball of our generation but alsoand#8212;completely unexpectedlyand#8212;to have read more books in the true crime genre than maybe anyone else alive. In andlt;Iandgt;Popular Crimeandlt;/Iandgt; he works his way though every major true crime story of the last 200 yearsand#8212; from Lizzie Borden to JonBenet Ramseyand#8212;making (as one would expect) all kinds of brilliant, wildly entertaining and occasionally completely nutty Jamesian observations."and#8212;Malcolm Gladwell andlt;BRandgt;andnbsp;
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"Great, cozy bedtime reading."--Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl
Review
andlt;divandgt;"[An] insightfully unorthodox history of famous murders."--andlt;Iandgt;New Yorkandlt;/Iandgt; magazineandlt;/divandgt;
Review
"Great, cozy bedtime reading."and#8212;Gillian Flynn, author of andlt;iandgt;Gone Girlandlt;/iandgt;
Synopsis
The man who revolutionized the way we think about baseball now examines our cultural obsession with murder--delivering a unique, engrossing, brilliant history of tabloid crime in America.
Celebrated writer and contrarian Bill James has voraciously read true crime throughout his life and has been interested in writing a book on the topic for decades. Now, with Popular Crime, James takes readers on an epic journey from Lizzie Borden to the Lindbergh baby, from the Black Dahlia to O. J. Simpson, explaining how crimes have been committed, investigated, prosecuted and written about, and how that has profoundly influenced our culture over the last few centuries-- even if we haven't always taken notice.
Exploring such phenomena as serial murder, the fluctuation of crime rates, the value of evidence, radicalism and crime, prison reform and the hidden ways in which crimes have shaped, or reflected, our society, James chronicles murder and misdeeds from the 1600s to the present day. James pays particular attention to crimes that were sensations during their time but have faded into obscurity, as well as still-famous cases, some that have never been solved, including the Lindbergh kidnapping, the Boston Strangler and JonBenet Ramsey. Satisfyingly sprawling and tremendously entertaining, Popular Crime is a professed amateur's powerful examination of the incredible impact crime stories have on our society, culture and history.
Synopsis
From the one-of-kind mind of Bill James, famous for revolutionizing the way we think about baseball, comes an epic tour through American crime.
About the Author
Bill James made his mark in the 1970s and 1980s with his andlt;iandgt;Baseball Abstractsandlt;/iandgt;. He has been tearing down preconceived notions about America's national pastime ever since. He is currently the Senior Advisor on Baseball Operations for the Boston Red Sox. James lives in Lawrence, Kansas, with his wife, Susan McCarthy, and three children.