Evil: An Investigation

by Lance Morrow

Essayist Lance Morrow investigates the nature of evil, is it inherint, preventbale, identifiable? The author explains, "...my real interest in evil derives from my olamentable instinct to moralize and from some sort of naive lifelong astonishment that people are capable of doing the things they sometimes do..."

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Lance Morrow was an American essayist and writer, chiefly for Time magazine, as well as the author of several books. He won the 1981 National Magazine Award for Essay and Criticism and was a finalist for the same award in 1991. He had the distinction of writing more "Man of the Year" articles than any other writer in the magazine's history and has appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and The O'Reilly Factor. He was a former professor of journalism and University Professor at Boston University.

Reviews

[Susan Fetterer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some books are, by author design, complex and tough to get through. Some books, because of the topic alone challenge the reader to grasp concepts, potentials, ideas, practices, rationales, historical thinking, extremes, justifiability, theories, perspectives, considerations and create opinions that can be stored for future use. It's a rare paragraph in Lance Morrow's EVIL AN INVESTIGATION that is not controversial and worthy of a substantial group discussion, thereby an investment of more than the average amount of time is necessary to plow through the contained information.

The back cover description of contents presents the book as a 'provocative analysis of its (evil's) role in the modern world.' Morrow covered the 9/11 disaster for TIME Magazine and later commented that letters (to the editor) reflected a surprising amount of negativity due to his referencing the events on that horrendous day as inspired by "evil", inspiring him to further explore the topic. So in 2003 this book was published...while events of 2001 were very fresh.
Stylistically conversational in places, lecture-worthy in other's, EVIL is almost more than one can absorb in one reading...at once compelling and reviling.
Difficult to comprehend, he says, "...evil is something we do not so much understand , as feel." Questions are posed....is there a global definition or standard for evil? Does evil require a victim? Is 'hardware' outperforming conscience---can vs shouldn't?
I cannot help but ponder the possibilities of revisiting the topic as world events play out in the coming years.

[სამფეხა ქვაბი · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simply didn't congeal into anything 'useful' in the realm of personal philosophy or understanding. But interesting tidbits scattered throughout it.

[Steven Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

"ARE WE ALL VOLCANOES WAITING TO ERUPT?"

Is evil real or a simplistic label that has no place in modern thinking? Mr. Morrow acknowledges that answering the question is as easy as nailing Jello to a wall, but the dude gives it the ole college try for 266 pages (paperback edition.) The author’s metaphysical exercise is bathed in academic examples that sometimes had me researching who a certain person or event was. His vocabulary is more extensive than mine, so the author also kept me busy looking up words he used in the book. While Mr. Morrow’s writing reflects his career as a reporter and columnist, I could see how all the abstractions in this book would have some readers’ eyes glazing over. ‘Evil’ required from me more concentration than finding the clues in an Agatha Christie mystery. The book was published in 2003 and it appears 9/11 had something to do with the author writing this thing.

Mr. Morrow argues that “The global development of our technology and weapons exceeds the speed of our moral development as a planet.” The statement seems prescient, here in the United States, when we now have witnessed conspiracy theories and tribalism on steroids due to Internet social platforms. They’ve led to the storming of our Capitol on January 6, 2021 as well as the widespread persistent wacky belief that the presidential election was stolen from Donald “Foghorn Leghorn” Trump. Mr. Morrow’s book is riddled with micro-and-macro-evils. The examples of human atrocities towards other people throughout history are plentiful and depressing. The author also ruminates about such things as why people commit evil; how persecution, fanaticism, prejudice, and brute stupidity propel the use of evil; is there or could there ever be a global standard of evil; the law of retaliation; the evil dynamics of mobs; are all victims innocent; does evil require a victim; moral traps that provoke acts of evil; the different generational perspectives of what constitutes evil; moral relativism; coercion into committing evil; its addictiveness; is being passively complicit in the face of evil an evil act; permissible evils based upon cultural, social, and political fashion such as the death penalty or slavery; evil in the workplace; cannibalism; and can evil exists without good? Mr. Morrow frequently references Nazis, the Holocaust, and Stalin’s butchery that exceeded even Hitler’s body count. The author, who is part of the Silent Generation (1928-1945,) also takes a few potshots at Baby Boomers’ mindset. I was disappointed that he did not investigate how humans and simians demonstrate similar acts of evil.

While reading the awful examples in ‘Evil’ it did not escape me that I was sitting comfortably on a couch in our safe home. I was far removed from the environments and actions that are displayed in Mr. Morrow’s book. There was no real way of knowing how any of us would react in such terrible situations unless we were actually in their shoes. We like to believe we’d answer to our better angels, but it is only wishful thinking. ‘Evil’ is about having the reader think outside their comfortable box. Evil is addictive and we are all susceptible to it. Mr. Morrow aptly writes that “we detect evil by instinct connected to moral sense.” The author is challenging readers to look beyond childish answers as Satan or completely dismissing evil’s actual existence by using intellectual sophistry. ‘Evil’ is a think piece. While the author does give a final answer to combating evil, most of his abstract questions are not meant to have conclusive answers. People who want easy simple solutions to life’s problems will hate the book. It was thought-provoking but I’m bummed it didn’t change me into Hannibal Lecter. I’ve been stockpiling fava beans and Chianti.

[Julio The Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You, Mr. Wells, begin with the assumption that all men are good, but I do not forget that many are evil".---Josef Stalin, speaking to H.G. Wells in Moscow

Ordinarily, I have as much use for Lance Morrow as Kanye West does for reality, but the topic of this book is too good to pass up. Although Morrow claims he is examining all forms of evil at all times in fact two horrific acts inform his "investigation"; the Columbine school massacre (1999) in Colorado, USA and the 9/11 attacks. The first involved meticulous preparation for an act that made no sense, while the second was equally, or more, carefully planned to produce a military and political outcome. What Morrow finds in common to both is the dramatic angle: "Evil has a gift and bent for the theatrical." He is right in asserting that the rise of mass media, from the internet to 24/7 cable news has given evil-doers an incentive they lacked before, and that is a global audience, or as Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh's sister yelled out "Timmy is all over CNN!" On the flip side of this symbiosis is "if it bleeds it leads." The media-Moloch must be fed regularly with evil and villains. Yet Morrow too often confuses the imagination of evil with the real thing. He rightly slams John Wayne's 1968 film THE GREEN BERETS as ":the worst film Wayne ever made" because it made Americans think they were winning an immoral war, but Lyndon Johnson and Congress and yes the U.S. media had more to do with that than Wayne. Likewise. Morrow labels the late Curt Cobain as "evil" for writing in his diaries, published posthumously, of wanting to have sex with dead fetuses. Lance, buddy, artists are strange people. They harbor dark thoughts, and besides Salvador Dali said worse things about dead babies, the Viet Nam War and his love for Franco. Perhaps Simone Weil said it best: "Imaginary evil is romantic, mysterious and alluring. Real evil is dull, mechanical and monotonous." EVIL is a provocative essay and well-worth reading provided the reader does not fall for the author's simplistic categories and conclusions.

[Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author admits that "What is evil?" always ends up as a religious question (or a philosophical/existential question, if you prefer) and will probably never have a fixed answer, so he doesn't aim to be the final word on the topic. I liked the poetry of the words. On the other hand, perhaps because it is poetic, the concepts aren't strictly organized and the sentences sometimes drift away and eventually contradict each other. If you are looking for a systematic investigation of philosophical buckets for evil, this may not be the right thing for you, but it will give you other language tools to discuss it. I read this in Fall 2003, when I began a journalism degree program where Lance Morrow was on the faculty, his book Evil having been published earlier that same year. I took Morrow's essay-writing class in Fall 2004. I re-read the book in 2021 and wrote about it for Books Are Our Superpower. Then I looked up to see what the author is doing these days. He is writing opinion columns in conservative media that disparage a group to which I belong and a life choice I have made, which makes me very sad. Be his current opinions only indirectly related to a book on evil he wrote 18 years ago, nevertheless I feel the need to mention my awareness of them.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is Donald Trump's vulgarity (2003) evil? [p93] What causes the brutalization of human relations? “The question is not merely political, but goes to the heart of the question of evil, and to the heart of the nature of culture.” Morrow concentrates on the obvious “I know it when I see it” aspects. Obvious are the industrialized holocausts of the world as well as atrocities such as rebels in sub-Saharan Africa mutilating children by cutting off their hands and feet. Then there are other stories and experiences: the mysterious hermit in the woods with mutilated dolls under the floors of his cabin, Morrow's own travels in war-torn Bosnia and hearing about Serb brutalities, office and academic departmental conflicts where one worker-colleague seeks to do another in. On and on; what a hodge-podge! Morrow attempts summation in book's final chapters. Not addressed are the hidden aspects of evil (for that see People of the Lie, a 1998 book by physician psychiatrist Scott Peck). Trump? Check Politifact for “pants on fire” lies.

[Jeff Pedersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I think of evil I usually think of a very vague concept that usually evolves into specific thinks that I think are "evil." what's interesting about this book is that the author doesn't flat out say this and this is evil. he says things like "I believe that this and this are evil" bringing up the idea that evil could just be a matter of perspective. I have a hard time with the concept of evil because it can be so vague and it makes me wonder just what a "good" person looks like.

[L · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly a book of rhetorical questions about evil, so nothing new really, although a few stories here and there are interesting.

But his obvious conservative bent is annoying and really cheapens the book overall. Everyone is biased, sure, but he didn't even try to be objective: letting us know as a side note that Clinton dodged the draft, and straight up insulting Jimmy Carter. But Joseph McCarthy was good, he was fighting Stalin and Communism and he was also an alcoholic ok. Pathetic.

[Kat Dixon · Rating 1 out of 5]

only useful as a drinking game: one shot for every "fatuous"

[Cas Redgrave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible look into human nature and its darkest corners. This one will have you pondering the condition of goodness and evil

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I use Lance Morrow's Time-Life article on evil in my AP Language and Composition class and it never fails to open up a large door for discussion. Anyone thinking they will find the ultimate answer to evil through a book is going to be disappointed, but Morrow's scope is thought-provoking and readable. Well-written and wide-ranging, this deserves more stars than others have given it in other reviews.

[Di · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book concerning the history of evil that has been a part of what man is as a species and how it has shaped cultures through the ages. The author also delves into the philosophy of what defines evil, as human perceptions are such a variable. I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in history and anthropology.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a thought- and discussion-provoking experiment than I had hoped for, although of course the concept of "evil" is a slippery one that doesn't lend itself to easy answers. Jumps around a lot from one question and topic to another, if this book was edited to any degree I'd hate to see how messy it was in first draft form.

[Patrick Maloney · Rating 1 out of 5]

I pushed myself about halfway through this book but my progress has since ground to a halt. The subject material is interesting but the book is generally not. The outline is very scattered and jumps around a lot. The writing is just clumsy. I doubt I'll get this one finished.

[SmarterLilac · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a strange little work that despite its bizarre qualities is still interesting enough that I passed it along to a relative. I especially like that Morrow bothered to write about everyday evil, mundane acts of cruelty, among the larger, more obvious kinds.

[Jeff Doleman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Evil is a greased pig in Morrow's hands, and it keeps wriggling free. His 'investigation' is mostly a series of rhetorical questions, but the book is a springboard for discussion.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simply didn't congeal into anything 'useful' in the realm of personal philosophy or understanding. But interesting tidbits scattered throughout it.

[Atchisson · Rating 3 out of 5]

More philosophy than theology, but still pretty interesting. The book studies cases as diverse as Timothy MacVeigh, Hiroshima, and Kurt Cobain. Thought-provoking.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not exactly what I was looking for, but still a good read. We'll try for a more..hmm...secular treatment later.

[Sherri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave up. Not worth the time to finish it.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Journalist's foray into the human problem of evil.