For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Chicago
 | By Simon Baatz Harper, 2008, Hardcover Customer Rating: 12 reviews Recommend |
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It was a crime that shocked the nation, a brutal murder in Chicago in 1924 of a child, by two wealthy college students who killed solely for the thrill of the experience. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb had first met several years earlier, and their friendship had blossomed into a love affair. Both were intellectuals—too smart, they believed, for the police to catch them. However, the police had recovered an important clue at the scene of the crime—a pair of eyeglasses—and soon both Leopold and Loeb were in the custody of Cook County. They confessed, and Robert Crowe, the state's attorney, announced to newspaper reporters that he had a hanging case. No defense, he believed, would save the two ruthless killers from the gallows.
Set against the backdrop of the 1920s, a time of prosperity, self-indulgence, and hedonistic excess, For the Thrill of It draws the reader into a lost world, a world of speakeasies and flappers, of gangsters and gin parties, that existed when Chicago was a lawless city on the brink of anarchy. The rejection of morality, the worship of youth, and the obsession with sex had seemingly found their expression in this callous murder.
But the murder is only half the story. After Leopold and Loeb were arrested, their families hired Clarence Darrow to defend their sons. Darrow, the most famous lawyer in America, aimed to save Leopold and Loeb from the death penalty by showing that the crime was the inevitable consequence of sexual and psychological abuse that each defendant had suffered during childhood at the hands of adults. Both boys, Darrow claimed, had experienced a compulsion to kill, and therefore, he appealed to the judge, they should be spared capital punishment. However, Darrow faced a worthy adversary in his prosecuting attorney: Robert Crowe was clever, cunning, and charismatic, with ambitions of becoming Chicago's next mayor—and he was determined to send Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb to their deaths.
A masterful storyteller, Simon Baatz has written a gripping account of the infamous Leopold and Loeb case. Using court records and recently discovered transcripts, Baatz shows how the pathological relationship between Leopold and Loeb inexorably led to their crime.
This thrilling narrative of murder and mystery in the Jazz Age will keep the reader in a continual state of suspense as the story twists and turns its way to an unexpected conclusion.
Title: For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Chicago
Sales Rank: 32177 in Books
Author: Simon Baatz
Publisher: Harper, 1 edition, 2008-08-01, Hardcover, 560 pages, ISBN: 0060781009
Package Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches, 1.65 pounds
- A great topic, the book could have been so much better.
- The author was my history professor. Simon Baatz is a much better lecturer than a writer. His lectures were so interesting on topics of crime. This book is okay borderline boring. I read better books (even on this case). I think he should have gave the book some feeling vs. being so dry and detail oriented only.
I only read this book… More reviews
- Those Crazy Kids
- If all you know about Leopold and Loeb is what you learned from the movie Swoon, prepare to be underwhelmed. The real life boys weren't nearly so avant-garde or attractive or even interesting. They're aren't even as interesting as their renamed versions in the movie Compulsion. The sad fact is that the most interesting thing about these two was the senseless… More reviews
- Don't waste your time...better material exists on this topic
- Absolutely abysmal work. The author describes the circumstances of this crime without any creativity or sense, nor is the reader given any insight to anything resembling "thrill", as suggested in the title. Rather a simple text-book style play by play is given of the murder, as well as a slight glimpse into the nature of the sexual relationship between the murderers. The reader is never… More reviews
- uninspired, bland, boring...
- Baatz definitely is somebody who is not capable of treating this subject matter with any degree of intrigue. The writing style is tired, complete with run-ons and fragmented sentences. Given the interesting history of the crime and everything sorrounding it, it is amazing what a snooze fest the author has written. If he had given it a few more drafts, perhaps something better… More reviews
- The Legend of Leopold and Loeb Comes To Life!
- Despite the fact that Bobby Franks's grizzly murder took place in 1924, the subsequent trial of Leopold and Loeb has never let go of our collective imaginations. When one reads For the Thrill of It, one can easily understand why. The murder of Bobby Franks by wealthy teenagers Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb touces on many issues that… More reviews
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