Of Men and Monsters: Jeffrey Dahmer and the Construction of the Serial Killer

by Richard Tithecott

Of Men and Monsters examines the serial killer as an American cultural icon, one that both attracts and repels. Richard Tithecott suggests that the stories we tell and the images we conjure of serial killers—real and fictional—reveal as much about mainstream culture and its values, desires, and anxieties as they do about the killers themselves.

Genres: True Crime, Psychology, Nonfiction, American, Politics, Crime

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Alexandra Eleftheriou]

really interesting subject matter and drew on a massive range of sources (which i loved). i found a lot of standout insights throughout the book in regards to criminology, law enforcement and dahmer as an individual case study. the use of dennis nilsen as a baseline and source of perspective was rlly effective. but i definitely think the individual lines of argument could have been more cohesive but still a unique dissertation w a really broad scope.

[Carol]

When this book actually focused on Dahmer, it was insightful. Unfortunately, the text seemed disjointed. Yes, there are similarities between Thomas Harris' characters and Dahmer, but there was a considerable lack of synthesis between these motifs. The speculation of a society that idolizes and fears "monsters" seemed forced. I did enjoy the ties to Shelley, Poe, and Stevenson, but the nucleus of this book did not seem as though it had enough gravity to keep its additional parts together. The author did utilize notions of the Gothic and Foucault's theoretical work to some effect, though.

On an unrelated note, I remain bitter that I couldn't read a nonfiction graphic narrative of Dahmer or Masters' account of Dahmer instead of this--especially as Masters is cited liberally throughout the book.

[Jane Conquest]

Although this book is a bit dated, I gained valuable knowledge on criminology, Jeffrey Dahmer, and psychology. VERY heavy book; you don't want to be tired when you read this book! Overall, very good; just a bit dated.

[Alyssa Petti]

I thought I would love this book, however I didn't. I felt that it was extremely opinionated, backed with research but I just didn't agree with it.

[Joshua Nomen-Mutatio]

I once had a typically-taboo-inspired turned budding-fascination-with-abnormal-psychology type of interest in the phenomena of mass murders, serial killers and insanity in general (wanting to know what makes people tick and what causes this ticking to go haywire, etc). I lost interest after about the of age fifteen but was just looking at the reviews for the extremely heart-wrenching book that Lionel Dahmer (his dad) wrote about his son and the discovery of his terrifying crimes. Anyway, I stumbled across this and the synopsis seems to describe a book that goes deeper into these questions than a lot of the typical "shock value"-based books that I read ten or twelve years ago on these subjects.

[Kathleen]

Not really about him.