Synopses & Reviews
What happened to Catherine “Kitty” Genovese? Slain on her front stoop in New York City just before the 1964 World’s Fair—a murder the New York Times called “a frozen moment of dramatic, disturbing societal change”—Kitty became an urban martyr, butchered in plain sight of thirty-eight witnesses who “didn’t want to get involved.” Her killing crystallized a new psychological concept: the “Bystander Effect.”That’s the story told by the Times’s legendary A. M. Rosenthal, Malcolm Gladwell, the authors of Freakonomics, and countless psychology textbooks. But it isn’t true. As Kevin Cook demonstrates, the tale of “thirty-eight witnesses” is a myth. The truth is more compelling—and so is the crime’s young victim. Now, on the fiftieth anniversary of the Genovese murder, Cook offers a riveting, suspenseful account of what really happened that night in Kew Gardens, Queens. Drawn from newly discovered documents and revelatory interviews with Kitty’s lover and other key figures, Kitty Genovese redefines a story America thought it already knew.
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"This is not a good book. This is a GREAT book. I don't think I've read its compelling equal in twenty years. Every page reveals astonishing new facts about one of the most paralyzing events in the flawed soul of the American character. This is modern history at its storytelling best, ignored at the reader's peril." The Wall Street Journal
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"As much social history as true crime, this is an insightful probe into the notorious case." Kirkus Reviews
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"At the time of the killing my Uncle Sammy told me, 'It could only happen in Queens, where they're soft.' He couldn't have been more hopelessly wrong. The murder of Kitty Genovese paralyzed the city. Now, finally, Kevin Cook's book connects all the dots, giving us answers instead of myths and half-truths. This is a must-read." Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels
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"Kevin Cook rips the cover off an enduring urban myth. He's done a first-rate reporting job, one that delivers the truth at last about an infamous murder that came to define an age." Publishers Weekly
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"An engrossing true-crime tour de force." Kirkus Reviews
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"Gripping." Amy Finnerty
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"Provocative." New York Times
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"Cook is [an] adept storyteller. His peppy knowing style calls to mind pop-culture products from the time of the murder...he is firmly and persuasively in the revisionist camp." New York Times
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"Cook debunks the whole parable of the 38 Bad Samaritans and puts forth the real story of what happened." The New Yorker
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"Provocative... As much about the alchemy of journalism as urban pathology." AARP
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"An engrossing true-crime tour de force." Edward Kosner The Wall Street Journal
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"Kevin Cook is raising big questions." Kevin Baker, author of The Big Crowd and Paradise Alley
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"Cook's restoration helps make Kitty human, not merely iconographic." NPR
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"A fully-realized portrait of Kitty... Readers won't forget that she was a person, not a player in an anecdote." Cleveland Plain Dealer
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"Smart...suspenseful. [Cook's] reporting...is rich and deep." Michael Washburn Boston Sunday Globe
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"[I]mpressive..." Tampa Bay Times
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"Well written and often gripping." Jordan Michael Smith Christian Science Monitor
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"A grim and fascinating history and discussion of the "bystander effect"...this book asks hard questions of human nature." The Times (London)
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"Cook's take on events is intelligent, superbly researched and truly unsettling, making this one of the best true crime books I've read in the last few years." Diva
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"Provocative." The Wall Street Journal
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"An ever important reminder that we never know as much about a story as we think." The Sunday Herald (UK)
Synopsis
That s the narrative told by the Times, movies, TV programs, and countless psychology textbooks. But as award-winning author Kevin Cook reveals, the Genovese story is just that, a story. The truth is far more compelling and so is the victim.
Now, on the fiftieth anniversary of her murder, Cook presents the real Kitty Genovese. She was a vibrant young woman unbeknownst to most, a lesbian a bartender working (and dancing) her way through the colorful, fast-changing New York of the 60s, a cultural kaleidoscope marred by the Kennedy assassination, the Cold War, and race riots. Downtown, Greenwich Village teemed with beatniks, folkies, and so-called misfits like Kitty and her lover. Kitty Genovese evokes the Village s gay and lesbian underground with deep feeling and colorful detail.
Cook also reconstructs the crime itself, tracing the movements of Genovese s killer, Winston Moseley, whose disturbing trial testimony made him a terrifying figure to police and citizens alike, especially after his escape from Attica State Prison.
Drawing on a trove of long-lost documents, plus new interviews with her lover and other key figures, Cook explores the enduring legacy of the case. His heartbreaking account of what really happened on the night Genovese died is the most accurate and chilling to date.
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Synopsis
At last, the true story of a crime that shocked the world.
Synopsis
New York City, 1964. A young woman is stabbed to death on her front stoop--a murder the called "a frozen moment of dramatic, disturbing social change." The victim, Catherine "Kitty" Genovese, became an urban martyr, butchered by a sociopathic killer in plain sight of thirty-eight neighbors who "didn't want to get involved." Her sensational case provoked an anxious outcry and launched a sociological theory known as the "Bystander Effect."
Synopsis
The untold truth behind the sensational murder that cast a shadow over 1960s America.
About the Author
Kevin Cook is the award-winning author of Kitty Genovese, Titanic Thompson and Tommy’s Honor. He writes for Sports Illustrated, Playboy, Men’s Health, and other magazines and has appeared on ESPN, Fox TV, and CNN.