Man Slaughter

by Steven Englund

An in-depth chronicle of an act of killing--a woman shot and killed her husband--and the ensuing trial, in which the defendant, who claimed to be a battered wife, gained the active support of regional woman's coalitions

419 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1983

Reviews

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read about a once-famous spousal murder in Wisconsin. The author makes a great effort to be fair and logical as he looks at the available evidence and compares it to the defense strategy, the various stories in circulation about the victim and the accused, and the various takes on it offered by the experts involved. The result is a nuanced, well-thought-out discussion of all the issues he was able to get access to. The writing is very good, but odd in that he starts writing the story from one point of view and tells it using the language that person uses. Then he goes back to his own way of writing and it changes from biography to, almost, a philosophy text. From this point on the book is full of 5-dollar words that made even erudite moi go running for a dictionary. But the story never drags for a minute.