Albert Fish In His Own Words

by John Borowski

On December 13, 1934, Albert Fish was apprehended by Detective William King for the kidnapping and murder of ten-year-old Grace Budd. Fish’s defense attorney obtained the services of Dr. Fredric Wertham for Fish’s psychiatric examination. Dr. Wertham’s files were ordered closed until 2010. Documents from Wertham’s files, including confessions and writings by Albert Fish, are published here for the first time in history.FULLY ILLUSTRATED - AND OTHER WRITINGSIncludes never before seen documents handwritten by Albert Fish. FISH’S OWN STORY OF WEIRD LIFEWritten by Albert Fish for the NY Daily Mirror Newspaper.FROM THE FILES OF DR. WERTHAMFish’s Psychiatric Examinations and Rorschach Test Results.MASKS HAVE NO EARSFrom Dr. Fredric Wertham’s Book, The Show of Violence.ALSO INCLUDESCourt Documents, Correspondence, Grace Budd & Billy Gaffney Confessions, newspaper excerpts, photographs, and Fish's Vile Letters.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Horror, Biography

348 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 5, 2014

Reviews

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compilation of primary-source materials on the Albert Fish case, including a long autobiography Fish wrote for the New York Daily News. The editor thoughtfully photocopied the letter in full but transcribed everything to make reading easier. I can't imagine what the newspaper did with it -- even the Daily News will go only so far and no farther. There are some court transcripts, a collection of the obscene letters Fish wrote to women applying to matrimonial agencies, excerpts from Frederic Wertham, quotes from Fish's children and various doctors who treated him over the years, and some wonderfully cutting correspondence from defense counsel, Mel Heimer, a publisher, and various other interested parties. There are also all kinds of photos from the crime scene, the newspapers, you name it, all the way through the book. This book really needed an index and photo captions, but there is still all kinds of information in here you won't find elsewhere.

[S.M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This includes a lot of content, so if you're interested in Fish it's a good resource, but stick to the paperback version. The Kindle version's formatting and editing are so appalling that the book is barely readable.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book publishes doctors reports and confessions made by Fish that show what a monster he was. Would have liked a little bit better labeling and transitions but very interesting

[Thomas St. Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't even finish it

I have a morbid curiosity and have read quite a bit about serial killers and the like. This man's tale is truly twisted and I almost regret being aware of it. The book reads ok until you get to the records towards the end. I very rarely decide not to complete a book when I'm so close to finishing but it became too much of a chore at 98% completed. Don't bother is my recommendation.

[leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing

The most detailed and intriguing true crime book I've probably ever read. A lot of it was a bit repetitive, but it was refreshing to know I was reading the actual words of both Fish's doctor and Fish himself.

[catherine rennie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not worth reading

The book is full of photocopied pages of letters, statements, news articles etc. The script is illegible in places. Very off-putting. Bizarre overall.

[Tatiana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Of all the crime stories I have learned of over the years, Fish's is one that has stuck out on the account of its utter obscenity. Since he lived in the early 20th century, he's not a figure with the most extensive documented biography, so to find a primary source is a lucky occurrence indeed.

I would be utterly embarrassed to have my name on a book cover and present this as my final product. Though I've known of this story through several sources, I had trouble following because this collection of transcripts, missives and quotations is not the least organised. There is nothing to guide you. No biography intersected or followed by the sources, no timeline. Worse yet, parts of this work are images of typed text — impossible to read, not to mention a lazy decision. If you take pride in your work as an editor (as per the book cover), the minimum you can do is to do a clean copy of the original texts so you can edit it with whatever software you're using for the rest of the book. The lack of formatting was also a very questionable choice.

The one good thing about this book is that it does contain words by Fish and his psychiatrist, and I find that precious (by which I'm not making light of the topic but to underline the scarcity of primary sources that can come up with some of these older stories and accounts and how insightful they are).

Don't bother. Listen to any true crime podcast for a story of Albert Fish with an actual structure. All I've listened to include the letter to the Budds and some to the women Fish liked to terrorise.

[Jordon Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darkk

Its a really good book and very informative! I appreciate the fact that the book tried explaining how Albert Fish's mind could be so twisted. However some parts of this book is EXCRUCIATINGLY dark. So much so I couldn't read it in public without feeling guilty. All in all it was a very good book!

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very repetitive. I appreciate that they tried to keep it factual and have actual letters he wrote, etc. The whole thing could have been reduced down to keep from repeating the same information over and over though. I usually love this kind of thing and have read other books about Albert Fish but I started getting bored halfway through with all of the same info.

[Roxanne Alvarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay

It was mostly transcripts of the court hearing of Albert Fish, some of his perverse writings to women, confessions. At times I felt like I was reading things again and again as the same story line was told multiple times throughout the book.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love true crime books and couldn’t resist the curiosity to dive into this book. It’s constructed a little different and at times gets repetitive but it didn’t leave out any details.

I suggest having a strong stomach and a desire to lose a few pounds if you’re going to pick up this book.

[John Funk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Incredably mentally ill man and worth reading about.

[Sharron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disturbing

[Sandra Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sane or not

Fascinating story with disgusting details. Wish some of the court records had been rewritten. Many of the pages were difficult to see.

[Courtney Gibbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good account of personal correspondences about and from a very disturbed man.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disgustingly dark. Hard to read because of graphic content. Repetitive at times. A true monster

[Jackie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

By God, what a depraved novel. If you want to see what the most sexually depraved child rapist's mind looks like just read this novel. It is explicit.

[Will Hatfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s interesting to read Fish’s story from his firsthand accounts, but it’s a lot of the same information over and over again.

[Large Marge]

He certainly said some things.

[Jared Malone · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really an interesting read, diving into the twisted and disturbing persona of Albert Fish. The book is full of copies made of actual letters and documents that Fish himself wrote, as well as from his lawyers and court cases. It’s quite chilling to see his handwritten letters and confessions.

I give the book a 4-star because of the grammatical errors that the editor missed. The grammatical errors made by Fish aren’t a bother as it adds to the authenticity, but the unfortunate typos don’t do any good for the reader.

I noted as follows:

“This man, Cat=ptain Davis on arriving…” (p. 7)

“He told me that he was concerned bout his children…” (p. 9)

“At first, he said, he had only stuck these needles in and then pulle dthem out again” (p.14)

“To execute a sick man is like burning witched” (p.25)

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read another book about Fish, this one does not reveal too much more. There are some additional confessions that are not mentioned in detail in other book I read - this being in his own words, there are lots of typos and grammatical mistakes and it includes lots of photos as well as letters (which are difficult to read on a Kindle - reproduced from old typewritten pages so not always clear - some of the letters are transcribed in larger font but many are not). There is some repetition within the book of him recounting what he did.

[Robin Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book. Very well-written and includes several historical documents.

[andrew y]

not a book that can be good or bad, it just is.

too much voyeurism for me.