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Ted Bundy
Strange, non-mainstream account of Ted Bundy's life, crimes, and place in society. This account does not resemble anything found in any bookstore and encourages the reader to re-think what Bundy meant to the world.
It traces the author's 35 years of having Bundy as an off and on presence in his life, and what it has meant to his cognitive and social development.
It traces the author's 35 years of having Bundy as an off and on presence in his life, and what it has meant to his cognitive and social development.
71 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 15, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 9, 2015
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 1, 2016
My first reaction: WTF did I just read?
This book is mainly comprised of the author's very random thoughts. "One time I went to FSU, and Bundy was there once." "One time I went to a party and got a baseball from these random dudes that I just made fun of." "One time, I yelled at and re-traumatized a girl who had been through a very extreme rape, laughed about it, then called her fucked up." "Also, Ted Bundy wasn't really that smart."
OMG. I hate to write scathing reviews; I don't want to discourage anyone from having the courage to write again, because it takes a lot of guts to publish something for the whole world to see. But honestly, George, please don't ever write anything else. This book was a load of crap and I seriously couldn't be bothered to do more than half-assedly skim everything after the 30th page. A book has to be serious crap for me not to finish it and give it two stars for the benefit doubt (guess I'm a pity-reviewer). Yes, it was really THAT bad.
And what did I learn about Bundy that I didn't already know? Basically nothing. I learned a bunch of random facts about George Stietz, though, which is not what I had been going for.
I didn't pay for this book (monetarily, anyway), but I want that half an hour of my life back, please.
This book is mainly comprised of the author's very random thoughts. "One time I went to FSU, and Bundy was there once." "One time I went to a party and got a baseball from these random dudes that I just made fun of." "One time, I yelled at and re-traumatized a girl who had been through a very extreme rape, laughed about it, then called her fucked up." "Also, Ted Bundy wasn't really that smart."
OMG. I hate to write scathing reviews; I don't want to discourage anyone from having the courage to write again, because it takes a lot of guts to publish something for the whole world to see. But honestly, George, please don't ever write anything else. This book was a load of crap and I seriously couldn't be bothered to do more than half-assedly skim everything after the 30th page. A book has to be serious crap for me not to finish it and give it two stars for the benefit doubt (guess I'm a pity-reviewer). Yes, it was really THAT bad.
And what did I learn about Bundy that I didn't already know? Basically nothing. I learned a bunch of random facts about George Stietz, though, which is not what I had been going for.
I didn't pay for this book (monetarily, anyway), but I want that half an hour of my life back, please.
September 30, 2015
Do you ever wonder if you've crossed paths with a serial killer? Or if you would be able to pick one out of a crowd? Truth is, most serial killers know how to blend in. Contrary to how they are depicted in the public's eye, serial killers tend to act like normal people. That is, until they focus on a kill. If you ask people about Ted Bundy, most will reply with answers like "he was a disgusting excuse for a person" or "that man was so sick and twisted." However, George Stietz gives an entirely different viewpoint on the life of Ted Bundy. He paints Bundy as an everyday person who made a few wrong choices. Stietz also contradicts several portrayals of Ted's lifestyle. He mentions how caring Bundy was toward his girlfriend and her son. George Stietz gives readers a look at Ted Bundy in a way that no other author has.
In Ted Bundy, George Stietz tells about his experiences throughout his 20s. He spent time at FSU--the college where Bundy performed his last murders--as an intern. Stietz also stayed in a rental room that Bundy had previously resided in. George Stietz spent his time in Florida gathering as much information on Bundy as he could. He talked to people who knew Bundy, people who knew the victims, and even detectives who worked on the case. Stietz did all of this to be able to write a book that tells the story of the person behind the mask of a murderer.
I wanted to read this book because I wanted to read about a different viewpoint in the event of the Bundy Murders. I didn't really know what to expect, so I didn't have many expectations of this book to begin with. I thought it was a very intriguing read, and it gave an interesting take on Ted Bundy's life. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the story behind Ted Bundy and his murder spree. However, I would not recommend Ted Bundy to younger readers, because there is some inappropriate language throughout the book.
In Ted Bundy, George Stietz tells about his experiences throughout his 20s. He spent time at FSU--the college where Bundy performed his last murders--as an intern. Stietz also stayed in a rental room that Bundy had previously resided in. George Stietz spent his time in Florida gathering as much information on Bundy as he could. He talked to people who knew Bundy, people who knew the victims, and even detectives who worked on the case. Stietz did all of this to be able to write a book that tells the story of the person behind the mask of a murderer.
I wanted to read this book because I wanted to read about a different viewpoint in the event of the Bundy Murders. I didn't really know what to expect, so I didn't have many expectations of this book to begin with. I thought it was a very intriguing read, and it gave an interesting take on Ted Bundy's life. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the story behind Ted Bundy and his murder spree. However, I would not recommend Ted Bundy to younger readers, because there is some inappropriate language throughout the book.
March 13, 2019
Seems we all align by how we sorted out in the pile-up of puberty, and of all the Bundy authors I've read, Stietz is far and away the one who gives the impression of coming from a place closest to the bottom of that pile, which makes him the nearest I have to a next-of-kin. There are simple pathways to seeing Ted Bundy as being at once as sympathetic and heroic a figure as they come, but even Stietz has his own walls erected against viewing Ted in this light.
I would have hoped for a curbstomping, as it is child's play to defeat all of society in a fair fight if you have truth on your side (note what happened in Garry Kasparov vs. The World, when The World couldn't resort to smashing the chessboard over his head), but Stietz was not the man to deliver it, as too often he lacked in his facts (and to my mind, his interpretations), and embarrassed me, his teammate, in our tug-o-war.
We have here a series of vignettes, with a sprinkling of pullings of our legs, in which Stietz relates his own life to Bundy's in some way, or to what he imagines of Bundy's, (which, pranks aside, is in no small part how my own "Monstrous" was constructed). Metaphorically speaking, him and Ted go way back, and they keep bumping into each other at odd times along the way. There are definitely some fine observations and inferences to be made; I was especially impressed that he thought to treat us to an experience of his from a conscious state between dreaming and waking.
If you're like me, your eyes will glaze over his free verse poetry, but mercifully it doesn't last long, and the book itself is short, so in the worst case you haven't lost much. This was my first book in ages, and as an aside it opened me up to the wonderful world of Kindle whether you technically own a Kindle device or not. I am happy with my purchase and with having found something other to do than play Slither.io online.
I would have hoped for a curbstomping, as it is child's play to defeat all of society in a fair fight if you have truth on your side (note what happened in Garry Kasparov vs. The World, when The World couldn't resort to smashing the chessboard over his head), but Stietz was not the man to deliver it, as too often he lacked in his facts (and to my mind, his interpretations), and embarrassed me, his teammate, in our tug-o-war.
We have here a series of vignettes, with a sprinkling of pullings of our legs, in which Stietz relates his own life to Bundy's in some way, or to what he imagines of Bundy's, (which, pranks aside, is in no small part how my own "Monstrous" was constructed). Metaphorically speaking, him and Ted go way back, and they keep bumping into each other at odd times along the way. There are definitely some fine observations and inferences to be made; I was especially impressed that he thought to treat us to an experience of his from a conscious state between dreaming and waking.
If you're like me, your eyes will glaze over his free verse poetry, but mercifully it doesn't last long, and the book itself is short, so in the worst case you haven't lost much. This was my first book in ages, and as an aside it opened me up to the wonderful world of Kindle whether you technically own a Kindle device or not. I am happy with my purchase and with having found something other to do than play Slither.io online.
August 7, 2016
Different
The author wrote the book to please himself. It's highly subjective points about what he's heard and read about Ted Bundy, all through the lens of his life experience. To the extent you can tap into his meanderings, the book is interesting.
He makes a couple of good points. One is the fact that Bundy seemed to have empathy or signs of a conscience for certain people. He at least seemed sincere in remarks quoted by a range of authors, from Keppel to Rule and Nelson. He worried about the effect of his actions on his wife's son, who would be his stepson; on Liz; and on his mother.
The author wrote the book to please himself. It's highly subjective points about what he's heard and read about Ted Bundy, all through the lens of his life experience. To the extent you can tap into his meanderings, the book is interesting.
He makes a couple of good points. One is the fact that Bundy seemed to have empathy or signs of a conscience for certain people. He at least seemed sincere in remarks quoted by a range of authors, from Keppel to Rule and Nelson. He worried about the effect of his actions on his wife's son, who would be his stepson; on Liz; and on his mother.
April 27, 2015
This book goes way beyond the boundaries of conventional thinking about Bundy and it offers the author's lifelong experiences with Bundy in the periphery of his life. Like all of Stietz's books it is an acquired taste, but I am better off having read it.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews