A concise, no-holds-barred retelling of the Robert Durst investigation and murder trial from the woman who pursued justice...
The district attorney who reopened a 17-year-old cold case tells her side of the story.
The HBO show The Jinx and the movie All Good Things showed two perspectives on the life and crimes of Robert Durst. Now former DA Pirro (Clever Fox, 2013, etc.), who reopened the case regarding the disappearance of Durst’s wife, Kathleen, chronicles the years she spent pursuing justice for all of Durst’s victims. In this pithy account, the author holds back none of her feelings toward the man she tried to prove had committed murder. “This book is the history of my mission as part of the insanity, from the first time I heard the name Durst in 1999 to today, right now,” she writes. “It’s the insider perspective of exactly what went down during my fifteen-year investigation of this serial murderer, this pathological liar, this narcissistic, disgusting, fascinating, brilliant, evil little bastard.” Pirro elaborates on the details of each moment of her quest, including the obstructions and sexism she faced from a number of men involved in multiple aspects of Durst’s cases[b1] , simply because she was a woman in a position of power. The writing is fast-paced and informative without being too heavy with judicial jargon. Throughout, Pirro repeatedly informs readers of her true feelings toward Durst and others who hindered her progress during the investigation. Bits of humor, sometimes black, are interlaced throughout the narrative, providing much-needed levity to the sinister tale of Durst’s depravities. Pirro’s account also provides readers with an insider look at how the American justice system works and shows how certain men, who have considerable influence and money, can literally get away with murder.
A concise, no-holds-barred retelling of the Robert Durst investigation and murder trial from the woman who pursued justice to the bitter end.Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2500-3
Page Count: 326
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular...
A neurosurgeon with a passion for literature tragically finds his perfect subject after his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.
Writing isn’t brain surgery, but it’s rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former. Searching for meaning and purpose in his life, Kalanithi pursued a doctorate in literature and had felt certain that he wouldn’t enter the field of medicine, in which his father and other members of his family excelled. “But I couldn’t let go of the question,” he writes, after realizing that his goals “didn’t quite fit in an English department.” “Where did biology, morality, literature and philosophy intersect?” So he decided to set aside his doctoral dissertation and belatedly prepare for medical school, which “would allow me a chance to find answers that are not in books, to find a different sort of sublime, to forge relationships with the suffering, and to keep following the question of what makes human life meaningful, even in the face of death and decay.” The author’s empathy undoubtedly made him an exceptional doctor, and the precision of his prose—as well as the moral purpose underscoring it—suggests that he could have written a good book on any subject he chose. Part of what makes this book so essential is the fact that it was written under a death sentence following the diagnosis that upended his life, just as he was preparing to end his residency and attract offers at the top of his profession. Kalanithi learned he might have 10 years to live or perhaps five. Should he return to neurosurgery (he could and did), or should he write (he also did)? Should he and his wife have a baby? They did, eight months before he died, which was less than two years after the original diagnosis. “The fact of death is unsettling,” he understates. “Yet there is no other way to live.”
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8129-8840-6
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
PERSPECTIVES
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
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