The Thirteenth Tale

I just finished The Thirteenth Tale by  Diane  Setterfield.  Astonishingly, it is her first novel and it became a NY Times Bestseller.  In many ways it is an homage to Jane Eyre - that novel is mentioned a lot in the book.  I wasn't overly fond of Jane Eyre, but this book is modern and a lot edgier, though still tended toward over-romanticizing females who stupidly go for long walks in the freezing rain and have fainting spells.  I also was reminded of One Hundred Years of Solitude at times, but perhaps that's just because of the weird family shut up by itself with tendencies toward incest. Anyhoo!

There are two story lines here: one of a young bookish woman with sad family secrets who is approached by the most famous author of the time to write her biography. The other is the story the author tells her. This author is as famous for her books as for her secretive life and is constantly giving reporters etc. false stories of her past.  She seems to have appeared out of nowhere so for her to hire a biographer is monumental, but the story she tells is disturbing and haunting.  

Overall it was quite a good read, hard to put down, a bit predictable at times and totally unpredictable at others. 

Seductions of Crime

The most recent book I have read was Jack Katz' "Seductions of Crime: Moral & Sensual Attractions in Doing Evil". Jack Katz is a famous sociologist, and most well-known for his theories and research in regards to crime and juvenile delinquency. He published "Seductions of Crime" back in '68 to address what he considered a gap in the social science literature about WHY people commit crime and deviance. It
is considered a core reading selection in Criminology and Social Science Academia, yet it is not written like most scientific texts... it is written more for a lay audience. I read this book once as an undergrad, and once again in a doctoral crim course I took. Then recently I read the book a third time as review for a research project I was working on. Aside from the fact that Katz offers a very unique perspective and understanding of criminal behavior, the read is extremely interesting, regardless of your interest in criminal theory. Katz includes lots of qualitative examples of interviews he had with hundreds of individuals as he has researched crime and deviance, which makes for a very interesting and intriguing dialog, and very engaging world-view of crime. It's a book that I think anyone curious about social behavior would really enjoy.
Katz focuses on the forefront of criminality... What it “means, feels, sounds, tastes or looks like to commit a particular crime,” (page 4). This is a perspective that, until Katz published this book, was completely missed in the social sciences. He helped criminologists to look at this important aspect of crime, and as a result it better helps us understand criminal behavior. That having been said, my final critique is that while he brings an interesting, formerly missing, and important aspect of behavior to the forefront, can we still dismiss the background factors? What about culture? What about ethnicity, class, age, family structure, SES, etc.? Are they not still important to consider as well? I say yes... but this is my only critique of the book. It is enjoyable, enlightening and interesting... not just for academicians.

Welcome to the Anti-Social Book Club Blog

I have made us all "authors" on this blog, which means we can all get on and post comments. In the upper right corner of the page you should see an option to create a "new post". Click on that link and it will walk you through making a new post step by step. It is very easy. You just choose a title and post your comments.

Hope you all enjoy this!