Synopses & Reviews
This new edition of Meyer Levin's classic literary thriller
Compulsion reintroduces the fictionalized case of Leopold and Loeb once considered the "crime of the century" to a new generation. With over one million copies sold since it was first printed, this incisive psychological portrait of two young murderers captured the imagination of an era from Norman Mailer to Orson Welles.
Compulsion forces us to ask what drives some further into darkness, and some to seek redemption.
Judd Steiner and Artie Straus have it all. As part of the elite, upper-crust Jewish community of 1920s Chicago, their privilege is the envy of Sid Silver, a fellow student at the University of Chicago. But Judd and Artie are decidedly different from their peers. Obsessed with Nietzsches idea of the superhuman, both boys decide to prove that they are above the laws of man by arbitrarily picking and murdering a Jewish boy in their neighborhood. After they commit their crime, Compulsion begins to slowly examine what compels us to our darker instincts.
Heartbreaking as it is gripping, Compulsion is written with a tense and penetrating force that lead Norman Mailer to call Levin, [t]he most significant Jewish writer of his time.”
Review
Heartbreaking as it is gripping,
Compulsion is written with a tense and penetrating force that lead Norman Mailer to call Levin, [t]he most significant Jewish writer of his time.”
Review
An "acclaimed roman à clef" that "holds up as a landmark legal thriller."
Publishers Weekly"Meyer Levins astonishingly good novel....As psychological thriller and as courtroom drama, [Compulsion] has few peers; it ascends to a Dostoyevskian level." Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal
"In many ways, Compulsion is a period piece, but its ability to communicate the horror of this famous crime gives it a lasting power." Adam Kirsch, Tablet Magazine
An "unforgettable, heart-wrenching story of murder." Mary Lignor, Suspense Magazine
"Paying close attention to historical detail, Compulsion is a deftly crafted novel that documents author Meyer Levin as a particularly gifted storyteller that will keep his readers total engaged from beginning to end." Midwest Book Review
"Nearly a century after this 'crime of the century,' Levins tale in this new edition, with a foreword by O.J. prosecutor-turned-novelist Marcia Clark is no less gripping or disturbing." JTA
Praise for Meyer Levin's Compulsion:
"Before In Cold Blood, before The Executioners Song, Meyer Levins Compulsion was the standard-bearer for what we think of as the nonfiction novel....Though this trial took place in 1924, the book raises issues pertaining to society and our justice systemsuch as popular biases, groupthink, and the inherent, perhaps unfixable, flaws in our legal systemthat are as much in evidence today as they were back then." Marcia Clark (from the foreword)
If only for its rightful place in American literary history, Compulsion is worth reprinting. But it is also valuable because of its authors novelistic giftsa convincing portrait of two brilliant psychopaths, a narrative capacity for a spellbinding tale, an authentic depiction of the 1920s Chicago moral and political landscape. Compulsion is a credible portrait of an era, and an early example of an infamous crime turned into compelling fiction.” Alan Lelchuk, author of American Mischief
Though Truman Capote claimed to have invented a new literary genre with In Cold Blooda form he called the nonfiction novelthat distinction truly belongs to Meyer Levin. For nearly a century now, the Leopold and Loeb case has maintained a firm hold on the popular imagination, generating histories, movies, stage dramas, even musicals and comic books. Of this seemingly endless stream of retellings, Levins lightly fictionalized masterpieceso true to reality that Leopold himself famously sued the authorremains the most gripping, psychologically penetrating, and purely readable account of one of Americas most sensational crimes.” Harold Schechter, author of The Mad Sculptor: The Maniac, The Model, and the Murder that Shook the Nation
Compulsion is a lost star in the pantheon of Americas golden age of Jewish fiction; its re-release should be welcomed by all. Despite prejudices and misconceptions about homosexuality that are inseparable from the time in which the story is set (and in which it was written), Levin brilliantly dissects the human heart in this classic of psychological realism a remarkably sympathetic portrait years ahead of its time. Its call for mercy instead of punishment, compassion instead of retribution, is one of the most powerful things Ive ever read.” Michael Lavigne, author of Not Me
Praise for previous editions of Compulsion:
"[Compulsion] is a masterly achievement in literary craftsmanship." Erle Stanley Gardner, The New York Times
A graphic and absorbing reconstruction of the crime of the century.” The Saturday Review
A book that can take its place with Dreisers An American Tragedy...Levin succeeds brilliantly in creating high suspense in his fictional retelling.” New York Herald Tribune
Compulsion is a significant and moving work. For, as one of the driven sufferers in Crime and Punishment puts it, though we do talk a lot of trash, and I do too, yet we shall talk our way to the truth at last. In his concern for his story, and in his understanding of the importance of the crime and the trial, Levin is writing his way to the truth. He has given us an important novel.” Charles Shapiro, The Nation
Synopsis
Compulsion presents both an incisive and sympathetic psychological portrait of two young murderers. Judd Steiner and Artie Straus have it all: wealth, intelligence, and the world at their feet. As part of the elite, upper-crust Jewish community of 1920s Chicago, their privilege is the envy of Sid Silver, a fellow student and fraternity brother at the University of Chicago. But Judd and Artie are decidedly different from their peers. While Artie is handsome, athletic, and popular, he possesses a hidden but powerful sadistic streak and a desire to dominate. Judd is a weedy introvert, a certified genius who longs for a companion whom he can idolize and worship.
Their fellow students and families think of the boys as merely best friends, but their relationship is founded upon much darker matter: a fateful desire to execute a perfect, motiveless crime. They construct an intricate plot to kidnap, ransom, and murder a randomly selected boy from their neighborhood, for the sheer sake of getting away with the crime.
Following the investigation, trial, and eventual outcome, Compulsion is a searing psychological portrait and tense thriller that contemplates some of the big questions.
Synopsis
Judd Steiner and Artie Straus have it all: wealth, intelligence, and the world at their feet as part of the elite, upper-crust Jewish community of 1920s Chicago. Artie is handsome, athletic, and popular, but he possesses a hidden, powerful sadistic streak and a desire to dominate. Judd is a weedy introvert, a genius who longs for a companion whom he can idolize and worship. Obsessed with Nietzsches idea of the superhuman, both boys decide to prove that they are above the laws of man by arbitrarily picking and murdering a Jewish boy in their neighborhood.
This new edition of Meyer Levin's classic literary thriller Compulsion reintroduces the fictionalized case of Leopold and Loeb once considered the "crime of the century" to a new generation. This incisive psychological portrait of two young murderers seized the imagination of an era and is generally recognized as paving the way for the first non-fiction novel. Compulsion forces us to ask what drives some further into darkness, and some to seek redemption.
Heartbreaking as it is gripping, Compulsion is written with a tense and penetrating force that led the Los Angeles Times to call Levin, the most significant Jewish writer of his times.”
About the Author
Meyer Levin (1905 - 1981) was called by the
Los Angeles Times "the most significant American Jewish writer of his time." Norman Mailer referred to him as "one of the best American writers working in the realistic tradition." Throughout his 60 years of professional work, Levin was a constant innovator, reinventing himself and stretching his literary style with remarkable versatility.
When Levin died in 1981 he left behind a remarkable and diverse body of work that not only reflected the incredible life he led but chronicled the development of the entire Jewish consciousness during the 20th century.