Jeffrey Dahmer

by Joel Norris

The first full account of this heinous but fascinating criminal describes how Dahmer was transformed from a seemingly harmless young man into a savage killer who kidnapped, tortured, murdered, and cannibalized his victims. Reprint.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime

293 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1992

Reviews

[Yvette · Rating 2 out of 5]

With of a multitude of typos, minor factual inconsistencies, and an odd conglomeration of photos, this book read much like a high school report. Aside from the fact that I wish I read it with a pencil so I could give this book a much needed edit, it was decently informative ... of course if you take it with a grain of salt.

There's a photo in the center of the book of man standing in front of a house with a caption stating the man is "Bobby Simpson, one of Dahmer's living victims" though there is no mention of Bobby Simpson anywhere else in the book. Also, several of the victims approximate dates of death have incorrect years, and in one chapter apparently Dahmer's final arrest and trial took place in the early 80s. And tell me again .. was it 911 Operator number 21 or number 71? Who knows ...

I'm not sure exactly how much merit to give the facts in a book that contains a paragraph with the first letter of the first sentence in lowercase ... especially when it also happens to also be someone's name. Maybe the fact that the book came out in a hurry after Dahmer's arrest and subsequent trial had something to do with the disheveled result, but I still would have expected Dr. Norris to proof read this relatively short bit of history. Thankfully I only paid $3 at a used book store for this one.

[Natalie]

I found this really cheap at a used bookstore. It looks terrible, and since it was published in 1992, it obviously was a rush-job to capitalize on the sensationalism of the Dahmer case. However, I'm well-known amongst my friends and acquaintances as a bit of a Dahmer obsessive, so I more or less just bought it to add to my "collection."

[Andrew Kline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was completely unfamiliar with Dahmer's crime, so this was a good overview of the murders and insight into his psychology, but it was certainly a mixed bag of a book, falling apart quite a bit at the end.

[Shauni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure if I should rate it 2 or 3 stars. Reading how Dr Joel Norris describes Jeffrey's life and murders was new. There were a few interesting insights and conclusions that I like but other ones just left me really confused and irritated. The book was published in 1992, just after the trial so that can be the reason why.

[Margaret T · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started off very well and was compelling, however right off the bat I noticed several typos and general editing errors. It made me question the overall accuracy of the book. I enjoyed reading this, but the carelessness caused me to drop a few stars.

[Petra · Rating 3 out of 5]

it does take a bit of a sensational approach and i’m eeeh about historical accuracy too tbh

[Dave Marks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts out with a detailed account of Dahmer's last intended victim, his harrowing experience and subsequent escape, and I was hooked. As the book continues into Dahmer's background, the attention to detail by the author begins to decline, and by the end, the book devolves into what appears to be just notes, with spelling mistakes, paragraphs starting without capital letters, errors in facts, and confusing statements from witnesses (often without any reference).

This is all unfortunate, because Dr. Norris has some really great insights into Dahmer's mind. I think Norris is bang on in his assessment of the twisted drive behind Dahmer's actions-- so much so that I was able to feel real sympathy for this "tormented" soul. For that I gave the book two stars. The last part of the book however, appears so rushed that it was almost unreadable.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like reading about serial killers, and this is definitely interesting... A lot of the conclusions reflect the time when it was written, which definitely gives me an idea of where we were as a society during the 80's-90's, but I can't say I completely agreed with every conclusion.

For example - I frequently thought I read "homosexual overkill" one more time, I'm going to throw the book out the window! Also, if a drag queen wants to go by the name of Goldie, you don't have to write it like "Goldie" every time. Treat it as her name, Gurl.

However, the pictures definitely brought a different level to the story - and some of the insight was worth the effort.

[Neil H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I compared this book to The Shrine of Jeffery Dahmer and there were different glimpses to be had from both. Unfortunately for The Shrine, I ended up being very sympathetic to Jeffrey D. However, with Joel Norris, even though there were definitely issues with the writing, some clues to his serial killing behaviour rang true to me. But the repetitious mentions of alcoholic drinking was getting on my nerves. Overall this is imo slightly more insightful to JD personal struggles and spiral lapses into the murders that he committed.

[Springer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book by Joel Norris is one of my favorites, he never left out any details. He was very descriptive about Jeffrey and what he did during his years before prison. The author went deep into what everyone thought about Jeffrey, when the big secret was out, no one believed it. Reading this book I just left like I was back in the 90’s during that gruesome time. I really do hope that the author writes more about serial killers and how they became that way and what were their consequences of their actions.

[Fishface · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wasn't fond of this one, to say the least. Norris continues to overgeneralize his skimpy findings about head injuries as they apply to serial murder, applying them in this case to Jeff Dahmer, whose alcohol intake, depression and autism-spectrum disorder he manages to totally overlook. He also calls the killer "nerdy" on almost every page, which struck me as out of line.

[Meen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am totally fascinated with serial killers, and Dahmer is one of the most fascinating.

[A Foxtrotter Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent account of Dahmer and what made him tick, although you truly never understand the mind of a serial killer.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short, but by far not the best book about Jeffrey Dahmer out there.