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Let Me Take You Down: Inside the Mind of Mark David Chapman,the Man Who Killed John Lennon
A top crime journalist reveals precisely how the world-shattering murder of John Lennon happened—and why
In Let Me Take You Down, Jack Jones penetrates the borderline world of dangerous fantasy in which Mark David Chapman stalked and killed
Mark David Chapman rose early on the morning of December 8 to make final preparations. . . . Chapman had neatly arranged and left behind a curious assortment of personal items on top of the hotel dresser. In an orderly semicircle, he had laid out his passport, an eight-track tape of the music of Todd Rundgren, his little Bible, open to The Gospel According to John (Lennon). He left a letter from a former YMCA supervisor at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, where five years earlier, he had worked with refugees from the Vietnam War. Beside the letter were two photographs of himself surrounded by laughing Vietnamese children. At the center of the arrangement of personal effects, he had placed the small Wizard of Oz poster of Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion.
“I woke up knowing, somehow, that when I left that room, that was the last time I would see the room again,” Chapman recalled. “I truly felt it in my bones. I don’t know how. I had never seen John Lennon up to that point. I only knew that he was in the Dakota. But I somehow knew that it was it, this was the day. So I laid out on the dresser at the hotel room . . . just a tableau of everything that was important in my life. So it would say, ‘Look, this is me. Probably, this is the real me. This is my past and I’m going, gone to another place.’
“I practiced what it was going to look like when police officers came into the room. It was like I was going through a door and I knew I was going to go through a door, the poet’s door, William Blake’s door, Jim Morrison’s door. . . . I was leaving what I was, going into a future of uncertainty.”
Praise for Let Me Take You Down
“Jack Jones has written a beautiful book, rare in its attention to the social context giving rise to stalkers and assassins of celebrities . . . celebrity worship is ambivalent—admiration shares the altar with envy. When the worshipped disappoints, a ‘nobody’ can become a ‘somebody’ by killing the pop culture idol. Let Me Take You Down is both fascinating and brilliant.” —Ladd Wheeler, Professor of Psychology, University of Rochester, Former President of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology
In Let Me Take You Down, Jack Jones penetrates the borderline world of dangerous fantasy in which Mark David Chapman stalked and killed
Mark David Chapman rose early on the morning of December 8 to make final preparations. . . . Chapman had neatly arranged and left behind a curious assortment of personal items on top of the hotel dresser. In an orderly semicircle, he had laid out his passport, an eight-track tape of the music of Todd Rundgren, his little Bible, open to The Gospel According to John (Lennon). He left a letter from a former YMCA supervisor at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, where five years earlier, he had worked with refugees from the Vietnam War. Beside the letter were two photographs of himself surrounded by laughing Vietnamese children. At the center of the arrangement of personal effects, he had placed the small Wizard of Oz poster of Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion.
“I woke up knowing, somehow, that when I left that room, that was the last time I would see the room again,” Chapman recalled. “I truly felt it in my bones. I don’t know how. I had never seen John Lennon up to that point. I only knew that he was in the Dakota. But I somehow knew that it was it, this was the day. So I laid out on the dresser at the hotel room . . . just a tableau of everything that was important in my life. So it would say, ‘Look, this is me. Probably, this is the real me. This is my past and I’m going, gone to another place.’
“I practiced what it was going to look like when police officers came into the room. It was like I was going through a door and I knew I was going to go through a door, the poet’s door, William Blake’s door, Jim Morrison’s door. . . . I was leaving what I was, going into a future of uncertainty.”
Praise for Let Me Take You Down
“Jack Jones has written a beautiful book, rare in its attention to the social context giving rise to stalkers and assassins of celebrities . . . celebrity worship is ambivalent—admiration shares the altar with envy. When the worshipped disappoints, a ‘nobody’ can become a ‘somebody’ by killing the pop culture idol. Let Me Take You Down is both fascinating and brilliant.” —Ladd Wheeler, Professor of Psychology, University of Rochester, Former President of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology
308 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
June 27, 2008
LiveJournal Review from 03/22/2008:
Shove me in the shallow water before I get too deep ....
I finished that book about Mark David Chapman. That alone would fit, but tonight I sat down and watched "The Number 23" over dinner. What the fuck is with my choices of dark, violent, and crazy lately. Not only that but falling into books, falling into characters, books with one chapter yet to come.
"The Number 23" is that Jim Carey movie where the lead character gets obsessed with the number 23. He uses numerology and finds 23 in everything. But along with the number is this creepy tale of obsession and murder. Crazy movie. I imagine there is some crazy book it was based on. Not feeling the desire to search out that one at the moment.
The book "Chapter 27" was based on was creepy enough. ("Let Me Take You Down" by Jack Jones.) And it's all real. You know what they say about the truth being stranger than fiction. All those people that claim Mark David Chapman killed Lennon for fame haven't a fucking clue. It's so much deeper and more convoluted than that.
When you have a mental illness, is it usually just one? Because I swear he had hallmarks of several. He sounds schizophrenic and manic depressive (bi-polar) above and beyond this personality disorder he has, this lack of personality.
I think he was born either mentally ill or more susceptible to it. He rocked as a child to comfort himself. His father was cold and distant and physically abused his mother. His mother was more a friend than a mother, then she clung to young Mark when her husband abused her. She hid in his room. She also fed him delusions of grandeur.
As a child Mark had this imaginary world, his Little People, that looked up to him. But he wasn't a beneficent ruler. When he had no other outlet for his anger, the Little People would be killed.
Mark got into drugs as a teenager. Not just a little pot, but hard drugs right off the bat. Then he flip flopped and found religion and went all born again Christian zealot.
He started working at the YMCA with children. I think this was his niche. He was praised for his work with children. He even worked with refugees escaping to the US in the early 1970's. He said he shook hands with two presidents.
But after the refugees had all been processed, he went away to college. Going from big fish in small pond to small fish in big pond crushed his fragile ego. He thought himself a nothing, so he made himself a nothing. Working as a security guard, giving himself way too much time to think and dwell on things better left un-thought.
When he moved to Hawaii, it was one last adventure before committing suicide. He tried, but failed. The hose he used to pipe carbon dioxide into the rental car melted and a local fisherman knocked on the window, jarring him back to consciousness.
He then checked himself into a psychiatric facility. They treated and released him, thinking him one of their success cases. He stayed on doing menial jobs at the facility and becoming friends with the doctors. It's amazing that he flew under their radar so smoothly for so long.
I won't hit every plot point, but for someone who considered himself a nobody, he lived a very full life for a 25 year old.
I have about 20 bookmarks in the book, passages that were just "wow", but I will quote just this one:
Devoid of a personality of his own, Chapman says that at an early age he developed a parasitic, mirrorlike survival skill. He learned to capture and reflect the character traits of people whose affection and friendship he sought.
"Even without knowing it, I would reflect people's own personalities back at them," he recalls. "I was almost always charming to people, until I started reflecting back to the parts of themselves they didn't want to see. Then, they didn't want to be around me anymore.
"I remember, even when I was very young, something that my mother told me: "Mark, you don't wear well with people." (p 152)
Chapman had no personality of his own, so he co-opted those around him. When he was with the YMCA he was noble and caring. When he found himself in low paying, low value jobs, he was that looser he saw in himself. And when there was no person to reflect back, he pulled his personality from literature. He was the "Catcher in the Rye".
For those, like me, who were too young to really follow the story at the time, Chapman pled guilty for his crimes. Sounds like it was a rare moment of clarity. By the time he was to be sentenced, he had convinced himself that the book, "Catcher in the Rye", was the reason Lennon had to die. He held the book for photographers to capture and he read passages from the book during his sentencing hearing.
In a way, at the time, he thought killing Lennon would be that 27th chapter. Lennon would die and he would melt into the pages of the book.
Does he belong in jail? Yes, to protect himself and the community. Obviously he fooled the doctors with his charm.
Is he guilty? Yes, he committed the crime.
Is he crazy? Certainly. Certifiably.
Do I feel sorry for him? Yes, in a way. For the horrible childhood. For the chances that people had to save him. For being that broken.
He's a fascinating case study for anyone interested in psychology or true crime. His story brings light to what is celebrity and what it has come to mean to modern society.
"Celebrities have taken the place of heroes and they exist in a culture where it seems almost impossible for heroes to exist. They're pure figures of fantasy from the beginning. Almost all of them arise out of the entertainment industry, which traffics in fantasy. They hardly have any existence, actually, aside from their celebrity and the celebrity status is quite devoid of substance or content. That of course is an exaggeration but it does serve to distinguish heroes from celebrities and to distinguish the kind of feelings they evoke in people, which is a much more intense kind of identification. And that's where the distinction between the celebrity and the fan seems to get obliterated. It's hard to remember they're not you, because they're so fully invested with your fantasies and they are addressing them so directly, invoking them, asking for just that kind of identification. (pg 252)
*****
Messes with your mind, doesn't it?
Since Jared started this little journey by his role in "Chapter 27", seems fitting that I wrap things back around to him. It makes me feel better that Jared isn't in this for celebrity or fame or money. I think he's still a very grounded individual in this for the art. In this for the connections he inspires in people. I'm happy my hero chooses to forgo the ivory tower. Yes, hero, in whatever way you want to take that term. Thanks for leading me on that journey.
(x)
Shove me in the shallow water before I get too deep ....
I finished that book about Mark David Chapman. That alone would fit, but tonight I sat down and watched "The Number 23" over dinner. What the fuck is with my choices of dark, violent, and crazy lately. Not only that but falling into books, falling into characters, books with one chapter yet to come.
"The Number 23" is that Jim Carey movie where the lead character gets obsessed with the number 23. He uses numerology and finds 23 in everything. But along with the number is this creepy tale of obsession and murder. Crazy movie. I imagine there is some crazy book it was based on. Not feeling the desire to search out that one at the moment.
The book "Chapter 27" was based on was creepy enough. ("Let Me Take You Down" by Jack Jones.) And it's all real. You know what they say about the truth being stranger than fiction. All those people that claim Mark David Chapman killed Lennon for fame haven't a fucking clue. It's so much deeper and more convoluted than that.
When you have a mental illness, is it usually just one? Because I swear he had hallmarks of several. He sounds schizophrenic and manic depressive (bi-polar) above and beyond this personality disorder he has, this lack of personality.
I think he was born either mentally ill or more susceptible to it. He rocked as a child to comfort himself. His father was cold and distant and physically abused his mother. His mother was more a friend than a mother, then she clung to young Mark when her husband abused her. She hid in his room. She also fed him delusions of grandeur.
As a child Mark had this imaginary world, his Little People, that looked up to him. But he wasn't a beneficent ruler. When he had no other outlet for his anger, the Little People would be killed.
Mark got into drugs as a teenager. Not just a little pot, but hard drugs right off the bat. Then he flip flopped and found religion and went all born again Christian zealot.
He started working at the YMCA with children. I think this was his niche. He was praised for his work with children. He even worked with refugees escaping to the US in the early 1970's. He said he shook hands with two presidents.
But after the refugees had all been processed, he went away to college. Going from big fish in small pond to small fish in big pond crushed his fragile ego. He thought himself a nothing, so he made himself a nothing. Working as a security guard, giving himself way too much time to think and dwell on things better left un-thought.
When he moved to Hawaii, it was one last adventure before committing suicide. He tried, but failed. The hose he used to pipe carbon dioxide into the rental car melted and a local fisherman knocked on the window, jarring him back to consciousness.
He then checked himself into a psychiatric facility. They treated and released him, thinking him one of their success cases. He stayed on doing menial jobs at the facility and becoming friends with the doctors. It's amazing that he flew under their radar so smoothly for so long.
I won't hit every plot point, but for someone who considered himself a nobody, he lived a very full life for a 25 year old.
I have about 20 bookmarks in the book, passages that were just "wow", but I will quote just this one:
Devoid of a personality of his own, Chapman says that at an early age he developed a parasitic, mirrorlike survival skill. He learned to capture and reflect the character traits of people whose affection and friendship he sought.
"Even without knowing it, I would reflect people's own personalities back at them," he recalls. "I was almost always charming to people, until I started reflecting back to the parts of themselves they didn't want to see. Then, they didn't want to be around me anymore.
"I remember, even when I was very young, something that my mother told me: "Mark, you don't wear well with people." (p 152)
Chapman had no personality of his own, so he co-opted those around him. When he was with the YMCA he was noble and caring. When he found himself in low paying, low value jobs, he was that looser he saw in himself. And when there was no person to reflect back, he pulled his personality from literature. He was the "Catcher in the Rye".
For those, like me, who were too young to really follow the story at the time, Chapman pled guilty for his crimes. Sounds like it was a rare moment of clarity. By the time he was to be sentenced, he had convinced himself that the book, "Catcher in the Rye", was the reason Lennon had to die. He held the book for photographers to capture and he read passages from the book during his sentencing hearing.
In a way, at the time, he thought killing Lennon would be that 27th chapter. Lennon would die and he would melt into the pages of the book.
Does he belong in jail? Yes, to protect himself and the community. Obviously he fooled the doctors with his charm.
Is he guilty? Yes, he committed the crime.
Is he crazy? Certainly. Certifiably.
Do I feel sorry for him? Yes, in a way. For the horrible childhood. For the chances that people had to save him. For being that broken.
He's a fascinating case study for anyone interested in psychology or true crime. His story brings light to what is celebrity and what it has come to mean to modern society.
"Celebrities have taken the place of heroes and they exist in a culture where it seems almost impossible for heroes to exist. They're pure figures of fantasy from the beginning. Almost all of them arise out of the entertainment industry, which traffics in fantasy. They hardly have any existence, actually, aside from their celebrity and the celebrity status is quite devoid of substance or content. That of course is an exaggeration but it does serve to distinguish heroes from celebrities and to distinguish the kind of feelings they evoke in people, which is a much more intense kind of identification. And that's where the distinction between the celebrity and the fan seems to get obliterated. It's hard to remember they're not you, because they're so fully invested with your fantasies and they are addressing them so directly, invoking them, asking for just that kind of identification. (pg 252)
*****
Messes with your mind, doesn't it?
Since Jared started this little journey by his role in "Chapter 27", seems fitting that I wrap things back around to him. It makes me feel better that Jared isn't in this for celebrity or fame or money. I think he's still a very grounded individual in this for the art. In this for the connections he inspires in people. I'm happy my hero chooses to forgo the ivory tower. Yes, hero, in whatever way you want to take that term. Thanks for leading me on that journey.
(x)
December 29, 2021
I thought this was an excellent, scary book which could be interesting to psychologists as well as those who have any interest in knowing the tangled motivations and mindset which led Chapman to shoot Lennon dead.
Based on interviews with the killer, the book is a long, frightening tour of an identity robber, someone who has no real idea of who they are and who becomes other people as they pass through life - in Chapman's case this means a model citizen, born-again Christian and Holden Caulfield surrogate murderer of phoneys - all the while consulting with a world of Little People who live in his world and head.
Grim but fascinating stuff.
Based on interviews with the killer, the book is a long, frightening tour of an identity robber, someone who has no real idea of who they are and who becomes other people as they pass through life - in Chapman's case this means a model citizen, born-again Christian and Holden Caulfield surrogate murderer of phoneys - all the while consulting with a world of Little People who live in his world and head.
Grim but fascinating stuff.
March 17, 2010
Let Me Take You Down gets inside the head of Mark David Chapman. The author did hours upon hours of interviews with him at Attica prison in New York. At times it reads like a self analytical bad acid trip from Chapman. On one hand I can accept that what is presented in this book is reasonably accurate for how Chapman remembers things I personally believe that Chapman was probably under some sort of "Manchurian candidate" mind control when he killed Lennon.
There are many questions about Chapmans background and much that fits the protocol of how these Manchurian candidates are created. From mysterious figures visiting Chapman at random times, to his work for the YMCA, which is known to often be used as a front for the CIA, his stays in various mental hospitals, to him being globetrotted around the world to some very off the wall locations by the YMCA when he was just a very average to mediocre college kid/dime a dozen employee. He also spent time working at a military base as well as after becoming a patient at a mental he was soon thereafter hired as an employee, which is unheard of that a mental hospital would do something like that. Theres just too much that doesn't add up about Chapman as well as what was going on at the time with Lennon being monitored and harassed by the FBI for me to not view the Lennon murder as being very fishy. You also have a lot of wacky theories out there about the Lennon murder which is a common tactic to discredit the idea that all is not right with the official version. For example there is actually a book written that claims Stephen King killed John Lennon!
There are many questions about Chapmans background and much that fits the protocol of how these Manchurian candidates are created. From mysterious figures visiting Chapman at random times, to his work for the YMCA, which is known to often be used as a front for the CIA, his stays in various mental hospitals, to him being globetrotted around the world to some very off the wall locations by the YMCA when he was just a very average to mediocre college kid/dime a dozen employee. He also spent time working at a military base as well as after becoming a patient at a mental he was soon thereafter hired as an employee, which is unheard of that a mental hospital would do something like that. Theres just too much that doesn't add up about Chapman as well as what was going on at the time with Lennon being monitored and harassed by the FBI for me to not view the Lennon murder as being very fishy. You also have a lot of wacky theories out there about the Lennon murder which is a common tactic to discredit the idea that all is not right with the official version. For example there is actually a book written that claims Stephen King killed John Lennon!
February 17, 2023
Let Me Take You Down is crime reporter Jack Jones’ lengthy examination of the “thinking” behind Mark Chapman’s murder of John Lennon. It does not tell us the reason for Chapman’s crime because no one, including the criminal himself, now knows why he did it. Chapman didn’t understand his own motivation at the time he shot Lennon and his memory/understanding since then has been increasingly affected by factors external to his thinking. The book is nevertheless interesting, and having read it I’ll offer my own opinion of what “caused” the killing. There is widespread conflation between the words famous and infamous, leading to (and/or being led to by) a frightening general willingness to regard the very concepts as identical. Both men wanted fame, one for his person rather than mere performances and because at some level seeing sacrifice as a necessary prerequisite to sainthood, routinely risking his life by eschewing security measures commensurate with its perceived value. The other, forever denied fame by the arbitrary and unjust operation of genetics/“Fate,” attempting to seize it by an intimate association with one who already had acquired it without, as he saw matters, deserving it. Let Me Take You Down is an interesting exploration of how both found what they were looking for.
Recommended for Beatles/Lennon fans as well as true crime readers.
Recommended for Beatles/Lennon fans as well as true crime readers.
April 16, 2023
I read this for a class pls no judgment 🫡
July 12, 2015
Waaaaaaay too much airtime given to narcissistic rambling without clarification or explanation by a qualified outside source; more commentary by a psychologist or psychiatrist would've helped untangle some of the underlying current of Chapman's chapter-length statements.
April 11, 2017
Author, newspaper reporter and investigative writer on crime and mental health, Jack Jones has this reader's admiration for enduring the five years of exclusive interviews that he held 'inside the mind of Mark Chapman'. It is certainly not easy reading to follow the killer's narcissistic story, taken from some two hundred hours of visits in Attica State, unfortunately it is this psychotic dialogue that limits my rating to just three stars.
'Let Me Take You Down' was obtained from Amazon.uk for just 1p, so I can't say it wasn't worth the money. I was hoping that Mr Jones could shed some light on the shady areas of Fenton Bresler's 'Who Killed John Lennon'. Jones provides six interview statements taken by NYPD detectives and officers which doesn't include anything from Dakota doorman Jose Perdomo. Surely he must have been the principal witness, so why no statement?
Bresler also claimed Chapman made a stop over in Chicago on his trip to New York from Honolulu but although Bresler's book is listed in the Bibliography, this book does not refute this claim. So in certain aspects of this tragic case, I remain none the wiser. So I am not sure that this book 'rips through the myths, lies and rumours' as the rear sleeve blurb claims it does.
The Appendix tells us that the 'nowhere man' is rid at last of his demons and he remains anchored in a spiritual world where he describes a near constant dialogue with God.
And I've seen all your pedestal values, your good and your bad,
If you really believe them your passing is going to be hard.
And I've thought through our thought and I know that its blind silly season,
occurs when our reasoning is trying to fathom a reason.
And if you really know it's all a joke but you're just putting me on,
well it's sure a good act that you've got 'cos you never let on.
But if all of that super sale overkill world is for real
well there's nowhere to go kid so you might as well start to freewheel.
'Let Me Take You Down' was obtained from Amazon.uk for just 1p, so I can't say it wasn't worth the money. I was hoping that Mr Jones could shed some light on the shady areas of Fenton Bresler's 'Who Killed John Lennon'. Jones provides six interview statements taken by NYPD detectives and officers which doesn't include anything from Dakota doorman Jose Perdomo. Surely he must have been the principal witness, so why no statement?
Bresler also claimed Chapman made a stop over in Chicago on his trip to New York from Honolulu but although Bresler's book is listed in the Bibliography, this book does not refute this claim. So in certain aspects of this tragic case, I remain none the wiser. So I am not sure that this book 'rips through the myths, lies and rumours' as the rear sleeve blurb claims it does.
The Appendix tells us that the 'nowhere man' is rid at last of his demons and he remains anchored in a spiritual world where he describes a near constant dialogue with God.
And I've seen all your pedestal values, your good and your bad,
If you really believe them your passing is going to be hard.
And I've thought through our thought and I know that its blind silly season,
occurs when our reasoning is trying to fathom a reason.
And if you really know it's all a joke but you're just putting me on,
well it's sure a good act that you've got 'cos you never let on.
But if all of that super sale overkill world is for real
well there's nowhere to go kid so you might as well start to freewheel.
July 18, 2015
All the Lonely People
This was a very interesting book that I read with some misgivings. Chapman was compelled to kill Lennon, and in a way was clearly insane, but was also able to plot and carry out his plan. Also, was able to blend in with other Lennon fans and appear to be just another devoted fan wanting John's autograph. John gave him the autograph and was nothing but nice to him. Chapman had even met John's son, Sean Lennon, then just a toddler, the day before. Chapman was a borderline personality who fastened upon Holden from The Catcher in the Rye as a fictive personality he adopted to give him some identity. Holden was having trouble reconciling himself to reality, the adult world that he would soon have to settle into. He couldn't accept the phonies. From there it was quite a stretch, but Chapman decided John Lennon was a phoney & would have to die. He then wanted to use his own murder trial as a platform to promote J.D. Salinger's book: The Catcher in the Rye. But there was no trial, as he plead guilty instead. This book takes you inside the mind of Chapman. I really didn't want to forgive him, but can now understand how pathetically messed up he was, and why this great tragedy happened. He was given a 20 year sentence--which must have passed by now. Still, I don't think he will ever get out, nor should he. Though he does exhibit remorse, he is also a master of manipulation, and could still be a danger to society were he to be released. This book by Jack Jones presents the facts so you understand how this and similar tragedies happened, though it never lets Chapman off the hook, never forgets that he shoulders the blame, and should be locked up for the rest of his life.
This was a very interesting book that I read with some misgivings. Chapman was compelled to kill Lennon, and in a way was clearly insane, but was also able to plot and carry out his plan. Also, was able to blend in with other Lennon fans and appear to be just another devoted fan wanting John's autograph. John gave him the autograph and was nothing but nice to him. Chapman had even met John's son, Sean Lennon, then just a toddler, the day before. Chapman was a borderline personality who fastened upon Holden from The Catcher in the Rye as a fictive personality he adopted to give him some identity. Holden was having trouble reconciling himself to reality, the adult world that he would soon have to settle into. He couldn't accept the phonies. From there it was quite a stretch, but Chapman decided John Lennon was a phoney & would have to die. He then wanted to use his own murder trial as a platform to promote J.D. Salinger's book: The Catcher in the Rye. But there was no trial, as he plead guilty instead. This book takes you inside the mind of Chapman. I really didn't want to forgive him, but can now understand how pathetically messed up he was, and why this great tragedy happened. He was given a 20 year sentence--which must have passed by now. Still, I don't think he will ever get out, nor should he. Though he does exhibit remorse, he is also a master of manipulation, and could still be a danger to society were he to be released. This book by Jack Jones presents the facts so you understand how this and similar tragedies happened, though it never lets Chapman off the hook, never forgets that he shoulders the blame, and should be locked up for the rest of his life.
February 11, 2021
This book goes into the life and thought process of Mark David Chapman, who murdered John Lennon just hours after getting his autograph. He just shot him four times on the street and hung out until the police arrived to arrest him. He was absolutely obsessed with The Catcher In The Rye, which he claimed was his manifesto and that he saw himself as the main character of the book. I have watched some interviews with Chapman, and he seems like he has some serious mental problems of some variant just from those tapes. Learning about him in this book confirmed that theory of mine. There is an episode on Mark David Chapman on The Last Podcast On The Left, and this book was featured on the reading list. The book was written nicely, but reading some of the drivel that Chapman came up with eventually got irritating to me.
December 14, 2009
I did a report on Mark in HS based on this book, because I used to be fixated on all things Beatles. I decided also to read Catcher in the Rye to see what could possibly have altered Mark's trajectory so dramatically; he clung on to that book as the inspiration for his action. I still don't understand. want to understand why he killed John Lennon. At the time, I had even considered writing Mark directly, but what does one write that would not give him some sort of twisted satisfaction? I am sure many many people have already do this.
February 2, 2020
A haunting and tragic look at the mind of profoundly disturbed individual. Will keep you up at night. Highly recommend.
February 1, 2021
I'm halfway through the book - or a little more- and will come back and add more once I'm completely finished but wanted to write my thoughts so far. First off; this is more than I ever wanted to know about Mark David Chapman. But it's a book on Mark David Chapman -so what did I expect? It is interesting though - as he seems to go from extreme saint to extreme sinner --- helping children, refugees, being loved as a counselor ---- and then to gun someone down who he doesn't even know for no reason. But, there is a reason - whether it makes sense or not. Which is why I wanted to read the book. The Catcher in the Rye illicits a response because it touches on so many poignant nerves. The world IS phony. People ARE full of sh%t and they DO clap for the wrong things. (Not always, of course but a lot of the time) And of course, hypocrisy is nothing new. (as a side note; I think of two instances that I know of personally that were infuriating -- One, I knew the granddaughter of a huge televangelist who told me that her grandfather would laugh at the letters sent to him from people who wrote in telling their woes and sending him checks, even once saying to his granddaughter, "If you want to get a good laugh - read these!" (but of course, he didn't find their money funny) --- another thing, I had a friend's daughter who went to school with a horrible "mean girl" who went on one of those very popular talent shows to show off her singing ability, and brought a family member of hers who had a brain tumor or something so that every time the host came strolling through she would push her family member in front of the camera and use it as a way to (mostly get camera attention) and also to look like a loveable girl who loved her family and others but was an absolute devil at school to other girls. So I get that people get upset at hipocrisy. Although, you don't kill over it.
Him showing up at the Dakota and seeing the grandeur that John Lennon lived --- I get it. My father was a HUGE John Lennon fan and I think he also, stupidly thought the man had no possessions and all this hippie stuff that I don't think John Lennon was exactly living. (Singing about peace and love while abandoning his son, Julian always seemed pretty hateful to me) Well, whatever -- people are full of it - you see it everywhere -- But I wanted to read the book and see why he would KILL over this. And I understand now. Mark David Chapman was just nuts. And that's a really scary thing. Because you never know what's going on in someone's head. And it is terrifying to think of people walking around thinking they're Holden Caulfield or whatever. And scary too, that he (Mark David Chapman) could be so sweet and loving as a counselor to children and refugees. Another interesting thing about the book that really struck me, was how, when Mark David Chapman went to Hawaii to kill himself and it didn't work out, how he walked into the mental health facility showing them the melted vacuum hose which he'd tried to use to kill himself but failed and how they were immediately like, "We have to get you help ASAP!" and gave him free counseling, found him a bed in the hospital where he spent time getting free room and board and therapy and eating enormous amounts of food (according to him) then even gave him a job at the place once he was discharged. That is amazing to me as that would never happen now. Now they would want to know if you have money or insurance or how you're going to pay for this help you're receiving and if you can't, too bad so sad. I doubt nowadays you could even walk into a place and get a free counseling session, although, maybe you can somewhere. But it really amazed me that not too long ago, people seemed to really CARE about people and their mental health and now crazy people roam the streets with no place to live, talking to themselves, suffering and they're just in the background.
Still, even with the help given him, he still could not overcome the issues he had and for no reason at all, gunned down John Lennon.
I'll post more when I finish the book. I'm especially looking forward to MDC's short story at the end of the book. Omg....
Him showing up at the Dakota and seeing the grandeur that John Lennon lived --- I get it. My father was a HUGE John Lennon fan and I think he also, stupidly thought the man had no possessions and all this hippie stuff that I don't think John Lennon was exactly living. (Singing about peace and love while abandoning his son, Julian always seemed pretty hateful to me) Well, whatever -- people are full of it - you see it everywhere -- But I wanted to read the book and see why he would KILL over this. And I understand now. Mark David Chapman was just nuts. And that's a really scary thing. Because you never know what's going on in someone's head. And it is terrifying to think of people walking around thinking they're Holden Caulfield or whatever. And scary too, that he (Mark David Chapman) could be so sweet and loving as a counselor to children and refugees. Another interesting thing about the book that really struck me, was how, when Mark David Chapman went to Hawaii to kill himself and it didn't work out, how he walked into the mental health facility showing them the melted vacuum hose which he'd tried to use to kill himself but failed and how they were immediately like, "We have to get you help ASAP!" and gave him free counseling, found him a bed in the hospital where he spent time getting free room and board and therapy and eating enormous amounts of food (according to him) then even gave him a job at the place once he was discharged. That is amazing to me as that would never happen now. Now they would want to know if you have money or insurance or how you're going to pay for this help you're receiving and if you can't, too bad so sad. I doubt nowadays you could even walk into a place and get a free counseling session, although, maybe you can somewhere. But it really amazed me that not too long ago, people seemed to really CARE about people and their mental health and now crazy people roam the streets with no place to live, talking to themselves, suffering and they're just in the background.
Still, even with the help given him, he still could not overcome the issues he had and for no reason at all, gunned down John Lennon.
I'll post more when I finish the book. I'm especially looking forward to MDC's short story at the end of the book. Omg....
December 31, 2023
I have read all the "best "crime books over the years and many of them don't match the hype but this like many of the books that go under the radar is in the top ten best crime books ever written.
It is a very well written and extensively researched book on the murder of lennon by a nobody. Anyone interested in crime or human psychology will find much in it. I would suggest parents too would find it interesting in the bringing of young kids, for me the stand out lesson in that respect is the most important aspect of a child is social skills as opposed to books, a ball is better than a book.
imo books to a young child at the expense of mixing with peers is the road to stunted social skills and that leads to exclusion and god knows what that can lead to, the book makes an interesting statement of something like "knowledge is only of use if it is to the benefit of the individual", in other words you can be very well read on perhaps the Roman empire but what use in life is that? and you can add the fiction genre to that, do you really want a kid with all these imaginary thoughts from the mind of a stranger?.
Ultimately Chapman had many chances to succeed in life, i always thought he was a dead beat loner with no life experience, he was not, he fucked his own life up.
The book also takes an interesting look at the cult of celebrity and once you read this you do wonder if it is worth the risk or they understand the rules, chapman basically stalked Lennon one way or the other for 15 years and Lennon never knew it. It states that celebrity now has taken the role once occupied by hero's, baring in mind this book was written thirty years ago and this has now come home to roost with the internet generations who have replaced socially and politically unacceptable heros the western world once had ie churchill, Nelson etc and filled it with people with not one ounce of talent Lennon might have had in the 60's or 70's. Bottom line is if you want attention buy a bullet proof jacket.
That said as far as Lennon goes i really couldn't have cared less i was not a fan of him of the Beatles (and when i saw that final photo of him naked in the feotal position on the bed hugging Woko's leg, ha), he was a hypocrite he did speak about having nothing when he had everything, he was the one who would sit for hours Ten floors up in his multi million dollar apartment watching the normal people struggle through life below in his plastic world then write a song about have nothing. The irony of course was that he thought he was the one observing others unseen unnoticed.
It is a very well written and extensively researched book on the murder of lennon by a nobody. Anyone interested in crime or human psychology will find much in it. I would suggest parents too would find it interesting in the bringing of young kids, for me the stand out lesson in that respect is the most important aspect of a child is social skills as opposed to books, a ball is better than a book.
imo books to a young child at the expense of mixing with peers is the road to stunted social skills and that leads to exclusion and god knows what that can lead to, the book makes an interesting statement of something like "knowledge is only of use if it is to the benefit of the individual", in other words you can be very well read on perhaps the Roman empire but what use in life is that? and you can add the fiction genre to that, do you really want a kid with all these imaginary thoughts from the mind of a stranger?.
Ultimately Chapman had many chances to succeed in life, i always thought he was a dead beat loner with no life experience, he was not, he fucked his own life up.
The book also takes an interesting look at the cult of celebrity and once you read this you do wonder if it is worth the risk or they understand the rules, chapman basically stalked Lennon one way or the other for 15 years and Lennon never knew it. It states that celebrity now has taken the role once occupied by hero's, baring in mind this book was written thirty years ago and this has now come home to roost with the internet generations who have replaced socially and politically unacceptable heros the western world once had ie churchill, Nelson etc and filled it with people with not one ounce of talent Lennon might have had in the 60's or 70's. Bottom line is if you want attention buy a bullet proof jacket.
That said as far as Lennon goes i really couldn't have cared less i was not a fan of him of the Beatles (and when i saw that final photo of him naked in the feotal position on the bed hugging Woko's leg, ha), he was a hypocrite he did speak about having nothing when he had everything, he was the one who would sit for hours Ten floors up in his multi million dollar apartment watching the normal people struggle through life below in his plastic world then write a song about have nothing. The irony of course was that he thought he was the one observing others unseen unnoticed.
January 5, 2021
In this case of forensic literacy, the author uncovers the dangers of reading. Let's let Mark David Chapman speak for his own adventure at the Dakota: "It was a little kid that did the act of killing John Lennon. A little kid on his Don Quixote horse went charging up to a windmill called the Dakota with an insane, irreparable, tragic mission: to put holes through one of the sails of that windmill of phoniness." (page 42, Chapter Six) I'd never heard of John Lennon described as a "windmill of phoniness," a remarkable comparison. Or perhaps it was the whole schtick, the Lennon coolness that was so phony, not the man himself. We've heard about the way John Lennon died and most of us feel bad about that, especially given Lennon's openness and approachability.
Now, a few pages earlier we see how pathology and literacy can interact to create a situation that is insane, irreparable (?) and tragic, a mission to end phoniness. In Jack Jones' words, we have the following: "As he slipped the stiff, new paperback into the left pocket of the trench coat, Chapman felt the inky words of J.D. Salinger begin to mingle with his own blood. (Chapman) was able to visualize with crystal clarity his mission...caressing the book with his left hand and the tips of his fingers, he began walking north to the Dakota. (Here Jones introduces the thoughts of Chapman) 'I remember actually feeling, thinking perhaps I would become Holden Caulfield. Not that I would become crazy. That I would actually become Holden Caulfield. The book is poignant and strong, almost spiritual...I remember going into the fetal position, a coma, and this vivid image of a man who wouldn't have anything more to do with the world around him.'"
Here are all the elements of literary insanity and the object of forensic literacy. How do reading and writing make contributions to the age old art of murder? First, the fantasy of words on a page. Then the image in the mind. Then the seeping of ink into the bloodstream. "Something was awry and I was caught up in it." Mary David Chapman is someone who understands the power of seduction.
Now, a few pages earlier we see how pathology and literacy can interact to create a situation that is insane, irreparable (?) and tragic, a mission to end phoniness. In Jack Jones' words, we have the following: "As he slipped the stiff, new paperback into the left pocket of the trench coat, Chapman felt the inky words of J.D. Salinger begin to mingle with his own blood. (Chapman) was able to visualize with crystal clarity his mission...caressing the book with his left hand and the tips of his fingers, he began walking north to the Dakota. (Here Jones introduces the thoughts of Chapman) 'I remember actually feeling, thinking perhaps I would become Holden Caulfield. Not that I would become crazy. That I would actually become Holden Caulfield. The book is poignant and strong, almost spiritual...I remember going into the fetal position, a coma, and this vivid image of a man who wouldn't have anything more to do with the world around him.'"
Here are all the elements of literary insanity and the object of forensic literacy. How do reading and writing make contributions to the age old art of murder? First, the fantasy of words on a page. Then the image in the mind. Then the seeping of ink into the bloodstream. "Something was awry and I was caught up in it." Mary David Chapman is someone who understands the power of seduction.
June 15, 2023
I revere The Beatles and I loved John Lennon. On the night of his murder, December 8, 1980, I was a 20 year old college student studying for exams at Slippery Rock State College north of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania with a bunch of friends when we heard the news on the radio that he’d been shot in New York City outside of his home at the Dakota. We immediately stopped what we were doing, and began mourning and celebrating him by playing Beatles music all night long. It was a horrible time for all of us and for music fans around the world.
I have been mourning Lennon ever since that dreadful night. I simply couldn’t get my head around his murder nor his murderer Mark David Chapman. Then as the 42nd anniversary of his death approached last year I happened upon a movie called Chapter 27. It starred Jared Leto as Chapman and vividly portrayed his obsession with John and his descent into the madness that unfolded that fateful day nearly 43 years ago now.
That movie led me to this book, from which it was adapted. Though as most book and movie combinations tend toward, the book is far more in depth and revealing. It tells the story of a very sick and strange boy then man who at 25 years old became one of the most hated and reviled men in the world.
He lives now in New York’s Attica State Prison, where the author had complete access to him for interviews and to his life story. It’s a very interesting and sad story indeed. Well worth the read.
For years I’ve hated the killer and wished him dead. I’ve visited the spot where it happened a few times since then and it feels like an evil stained place. It evokes such powerful sadness standing in the place where John Lennon lived and died.
But now, after reading this book, I can honestly say my feelings for Chapman have changed. Although I will never forgive him for killing John Lennon I now pity him. He should live the rest of his days behind bars. He is simply a sad, sick little boy who couldn’t escape his demons. And with five bullets shot into the back of a musical hero and legend he took so much from me and the world.
I have been mourning Lennon ever since that dreadful night. I simply couldn’t get my head around his murder nor his murderer Mark David Chapman. Then as the 42nd anniversary of his death approached last year I happened upon a movie called Chapter 27. It starred Jared Leto as Chapman and vividly portrayed his obsession with John and his descent into the madness that unfolded that fateful day nearly 43 years ago now.
That movie led me to this book, from which it was adapted. Though as most book and movie combinations tend toward, the book is far more in depth and revealing. It tells the story of a very sick and strange boy then man who at 25 years old became one of the most hated and reviled men in the world.
He lives now in New York’s Attica State Prison, where the author had complete access to him for interviews and to his life story. It’s a very interesting and sad story indeed. Well worth the read.
For years I’ve hated the killer and wished him dead. I’ve visited the spot where it happened a few times since then and it feels like an evil stained place. It evokes such powerful sadness standing in the place where John Lennon lived and died.
But now, after reading this book, I can honestly say my feelings for Chapman have changed. Although I will never forgive him for killing John Lennon I now pity him. He should live the rest of his days behind bars. He is simply a sad, sick little boy who couldn’t escape his demons. And with five bullets shot into the back of a musical hero and legend he took so much from me and the world.
September 5, 2023
Making all his nowhere plans for somebody
Nobody should care about the deranged mind of a psychotic killer. I remember when it came out and my disgust in thinking anyone should want to “ know” Mark David Chapman. My understanding had always been that this narcissistic nowhere man murdered John Lennon because he was a sitting duck for a nobody to become a somebody. It was as simple as that. As pointed out in the book, Lennon led a completely unsheltered life, coming and going as any anonymous New Yorker would, believing, perhaps naively, that world famous people could live freely in a city that was known for not harassing its most prominent citizens. And indeed it was not a New Yorker who leveraged Lennon’s desire to be free to be a somebody in captivity. The only reason I decided to read this book in 2023, nearly 30 years after it was published was to see for myself whether there was any basis at all for Chapman to be an MK-Ultra victim as the recent stirrings of some people seem to once again suggest. The book made clear to me that Chapman was not in any way involved with government sponsored psyops and that contrary to what people were led to believe Chapman never hated John Lennon. What comes out in Chapman’s babbling is that he used Lennon as an expedient to direct his anger about “phonies” ( really society that he never felt at ease with) and to become a somebody. I also believe he wanted to secure his place in history by being known as the person who put an end to the hope of a Beatles reunion..
Nobody should care about the deranged mind of a psychotic killer. I remember when it came out and my disgust in thinking anyone should want to “ know” Mark David Chapman. My understanding had always been that this narcissistic nowhere man murdered John Lennon because he was a sitting duck for a nobody to become a somebody. It was as simple as that. As pointed out in the book, Lennon led a completely unsheltered life, coming and going as any anonymous New Yorker would, believing, perhaps naively, that world famous people could live freely in a city that was known for not harassing its most prominent citizens. And indeed it was not a New Yorker who leveraged Lennon’s desire to be free to be a somebody in captivity. The only reason I decided to read this book in 2023, nearly 30 years after it was published was to see for myself whether there was any basis at all for Chapman to be an MK-Ultra victim as the recent stirrings of some people seem to once again suggest. The book made clear to me that Chapman was not in any way involved with government sponsored psyops and that contrary to what people were led to believe Chapman never hated John Lennon. What comes out in Chapman’s babbling is that he used Lennon as an expedient to direct his anger about “phonies” ( really society that he never felt at ease with) and to become a somebody. I also believe he wanted to secure his place in history by being known as the person who put an end to the hope of a Beatles reunion..
September 5, 2017
Inside the mind of a killer
I will never forget the night John Lennon died. Shock and pain courses through me still, remembering the tv reports. Questions abounded about the person who did this evil deed. Who? How? Why? After reading this book, I have a better insight into just who Mark David Chapman is. He truly has a long list of mental issues. His "little people" definitely show a person with psychological problems. Had he stayed in clinics, perhaps things would have turned out different for all of us. At least I now have a better understanding of who Chapman is. I pray he is never released to civilian life, as I believe - even though he knows what he did and that it was wrong - the world is safer with him off the streets.
RIP John Lennon.
I will never forget the night John Lennon died. Shock and pain courses through me still, remembering the tv reports. Questions abounded about the person who did this evil deed. Who? How? Why? After reading this book, I have a better insight into just who Mark David Chapman is. He truly has a long list of mental issues. His "little people" definitely show a person with psychological problems. Had he stayed in clinics, perhaps things would have turned out different for all of us. At least I now have a better understanding of who Chapman is. I pray he is never released to civilian life, as I believe - even though he knows what he did and that it was wrong - the world is safer with him off the streets.
RIP John Lennon.
June 26, 2025
A frightening look into the mind of a madman. I really didn't know anything about Mark David Chapman aside from the association with Catcher in the Rye and his murder of John Lennon. Through interviews with Chapman and psychological profiles, the disturbance runs much deeper. A man who had no identity of his own, floating through life taking on the identities of those he encountered, and seeing signs and synchronicities everywhere he turned, in the end even the 'little people' who Chapman consulted with couldn't change his course. But is he a very ill man, or just a narcissist so desperate for fame and attention he would do anything?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 5, 2019
Interesting but not as much depth as I'd hoped
Chapman is a mess...personality disorder - yes! Truly mentally ill - yes! Or he's a hell of a good phony. Only him being truly mentally ill can mitigate the hatred one would have of him,and even at times, I still found myself hating his narcissistic self. Well written by the author and we'll conceived piece. I feel there's nothing more I need to know about Mr. Chapman
Chapman is a mess...personality disorder - yes! Truly mentally ill - yes! Or he's a hell of a good phony. Only him being truly mentally ill can mitigate the hatred one would have of him,and even at times, I still found myself hating his narcissistic self. Well written by the author and we'll conceived piece. I feel there's nothing more I need to know about Mr. Chapman
June 9, 2021
The big problem with a book like this is expecting an answer. Why did Chapman shoot Lennon? The author gives a lot of leeway towards Chapman in this book, printing pages of his ideas and ramblings, even some of his poetry. The authors, and my big mistake was thinking that we can expect a sensible coherent answer from someone who is basically bonkers. Chapman got it into his head he was going to kill Lennon and he did. Full stop.
An interesting book in a way but ultimately a sad one.
An interesting book in a way but ultimately a sad one.
July 9, 2017
Some parts were fairly interesting. I read it hoping to gain insight into what makes a person 'snap'. I still don't understand. I did not read the short fictional story written by Chapman which is the appendix of the book. Somehow, I found it offensive that the author included this.
July 3, 2021
This book definitely gives us a look into the mind of Mark Chapman. Make no mistake about it, his killing of John Lennon was very strategy planned, yet Chapman was definitely mentally ill. Great true crime book, and a great insight into one of the most notorious celebrity murders.
October 17, 2020
Hard to rate- this is an inside look at the mind of the man who killed John Lennon.
July 16, 2024
2.5⭐️ Kind of rambling and repetitive in some parts. But a wild analysis of Mark David Chapman
January 5, 2025
Worth the $3 from the op shop
February 18, 2025
I’m now convinced that MDC was just nuts and not mkultra
November 10, 2015
I read this book because I am a student of psychology and I am studying delusional psychosis which, after finishing the book, I still feel that the perpetrator had when committing this horrible crime. However, I feel that this book was not portrayed enough as a clinical study of the salient psychological factors that enabled someone to commit this crime. The author seems to elicit sympathy for the perpetrator especially towards the end of the book. The icing on the cake was the fact that the author and publishing company print a short story written by the perpetrator at the end of the book. I found that to be absolutely tasteless and, perhaps, a clever way to dupe the reader as, had I found this short story earlier in the book, I would have been done with it. Like probably many students of psychology and professional psychologists alike, I am interested in this case from a clinical perspective. I am not, however, interested in giving a voice or opening the door of sympathy to a man who, in spite of any mental illness he was battling, was lucid enough to know that killing another human was wrong. I feel that the inclusion of the short story written by the perpetrator was very wrong and that this book is biased in favor of the perpetrator in many ways. Shame on the author and the publisher for giving a voice to the perpetrator whose name is not worthy of mention in this review.
September 7, 2016
When you were in high school there was one kid who was a huge screw-up. Nothing he did ever went right. Chapman is that guy except for an entire generation- he was the biggest screw up of my generation. The idea that he shot Lennon because Lennon was a phoney seems to be a thin rationalization for why he really did it- he did it because he knew he would become famous. Unfortunately fame is not the same as infamy. Chapman is infamous, not famous. I hope they never let him out of jail. His act not only took the life of a great man, but also he made the world a harder place to be different. People like Chapman provide the Powers That Be an excuse to limit the freedom of all of us, in the name of keeping us safe. Also you got to ask if Chapman's wife was culpable- she knew what Chapman was up to and might have stopped him. Even Chapman assigned her some blame.
March 28, 2021
For a long time I didn’t want to read this one.
Then I decided to.
It’s the written from interviews with Mark Chapman and an insight into the voices in his head at the lead up to and the shooting of John Lennon.
It’s disturbing. Hours and hours of interviews took place for this book to be written. I was torn, I didn’t want to know, I wanted to know. Why.
It’s upsetting and disturbing.
I’m glad I’ve finished it.
Then I decided to.
It’s the written from interviews with Mark Chapman and an insight into the voices in his head at the lead up to and the shooting of John Lennon.
It’s disturbing. Hours and hours of interviews took place for this book to be written. I was torn, I didn’t want to know, I wanted to know. Why.
It’s upsetting and disturbing.
I’m glad I’ve finished it.
June 13, 2009
What was it - the fall of 1980 when John Lennon was assassinated? And this book was published in 1992. Sixteen years later - last August - there was an article by Kenneth Lovett in the DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, August 19th 2008, 11:30 PM
ALBANY - The man who killed John Lennon says he's sorry he shot the legendary rocker - but disputed media reports on how the murder went down. "I shot him in the back," Mark David Chapman said.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_cr...
I'm not sure there's all that much to tell from 1992 when the book came out to 17 years later in 2009 but I found the events of the decade after the killing interesting.
Tuesday, August 19th 2008, 11:30 PM
ALBANY - The man who killed John Lennon says he's sorry he shot the legendary rocker - but disputed media reports on how the murder went down. "I shot him in the back," Mark David Chapman said.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_cr...
I'm not sure there's all that much to tell from 1992 when the book came out to 17 years later in 2009 but I found the events of the decade after the killing interesting.
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