In 1964 a woman was stabbed to death in front of her home in New York, a murder The New York Times called "a frozen moment of dramatic, disturbing social change". The victim, Catherine "Kitty" Genovese, became an urban martyr, butchered in sight of thirty-eight neighbours who "didn't want to get involved". Her sensational case provoked an outcry and launched a sociological theory known as the "Bystander Effect". On the fiftieth anniversary of her murder, Kevin Cook presents the real Genovese. "Gripping" (The New York Times ...
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In 1964 a woman was stabbed to death in front of her home in New York, a murder The New York Times called "a frozen moment of dramatic, disturbing social change". The victim, Catherine "Kitty" Genovese, became an urban martyr, butchered in sight of thirty-eight neighbours who "didn't want to get involved". Her sensational case provoked an outcry and launched a sociological theory known as the "Bystander Effect". On the fiftieth anniversary of her murder, Kevin Cook presents the real Genovese. "Gripping" (The New York Times) and "Provocative" (The Wall Street Journal), Kitty Genovese evokes the gay and lesbian underground of Greenwich Village with feeling and detail. Cook reconstructs the crime, and drawing on lost documents and new interviews, explores the legacy of the case. His account of what happened is the most accurate and chilling to date.
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Good. Good condition. Very Good dust jacket. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains. Bundled media such as CDs, DVDs, floppy disks or access codes may not be included.
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May have some shelf-wear due to normal use. Your purchase funds free job training and education in the greater Seattle area. Thank you for supporting Goodwill's nonprofit mission!
Cook did a decent job going over the original documents and all of the reporting that was done at the time of the Genovese murder. This work is particularly helpful because so many people only know the story of the murder from newspaper reports or the standard versions included in sociology or psychology general textbooks. The information Cook delivers creates a much fuller picture of the murder and helps explain why this case was a dividing line in how Americans conceived of city life.
David C M
Jun 19, 2015
Get Involved
I remembered this case, but not as well as I thought. It was the classic one where witnesses didn't call the cops till much too late because they "didn't want to get involved". In addition, people at the time had to call the closest police station and get through the desk sergeant, part of the reason they didn't....her case resulted in the 911 system.
I'm gratified the author didn't interpret the case in terms of today's politics because Genovese was a lesbian living with her girlfriend. The killer himself said he chose her at random and knew nothing about her --something he'd done several times already but this time got caught. The case is meaningful enough in the context of its times and that's the reality it belongs to.
