About book Mad Sculptor, The: The Maniac, The Model, And The Murder That Shook The Nation (2014)
This book is very well researched, in fact, maybe over researched. The thing about over researched books is that they tend to include copious amounts of superfluous information that slow reading to a crawl. Although the Mad Sculptor includes some anomalous bits, it is overall a very interesting and swift read.I would recommend it to anyone interested in early 19th century time pieces and lesser known psycho killers. DNF. Lurid, pulpy, and gruesome, reading this filled me with the same nagging guilt I get when I sneak over to Chik-Fil-A for the really good waffle fries, despite disagreeing with the company's politics. In the words of Tyler Perry, I know, "I can do bad all by myself," y'all. The book is well-researched, but the central subject is so creepy and terrifying that the book is difficult to finish. While he begins with several other murder cases, Schechter's main subject is Bob Irwin, a noted sculptor who committed a triple homicide in 1937. The first hundred pages I read documented Irwin's terrible childhood, unstable family, and tendency towards violence and obsession. Particularly sexual obsession--there are large hints that this will factor in the murders, but I didn't get that far into the book--and Irwin's belief that he could "harness his mind" by cutting off his own penis, his chronic, often violent fear of being mistaken for a gay man, and his anger towards women, etc. Spending time with Irwin is like being trapped at a long dinner party with the misogynist variety of internet troll circa 1930.
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2014: Amazon prime loan, ran out of time due to other books. May try again later.
—robert1234530
