2024 the best offense is defense review

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New York Times Review

"…. the matter of O. J. Simpson remains a defining moment in late 20th-century American history, a kind of morality play like the Dreyfus affair in France roughly 100 years ago, incarnating the most intense passions of the time. That is one reason that ''American Tragedy,'' by Lawrence Schiller and James Willwerth, is not only justified in its sheer copiousness, but also a valuable, gripping and illuminating work.

In the already vast Simpson literature, this book reaches the furthest into the pith of the event, telling on an almost day-to-day basis the way the defense team labored, plotted and squabbled its way toward rescuing Mr. Simpson from what might very likely have been a conviction on charges of murder. And in this sense, ''American Tragedy'' will help us cope with the deeper questions concerning racial morality and justice raised by the Simpson affair.

The authors, in one of their more astonishing passages, show Mr. Simpson's lawyers redecorating his house in preparation for a visit there by the jury. They took away the picture that Mr. Simpson kept near the fireplace in his bedroom showing his white girlfriend of the time in a nude pose; they put a photograph of him and his mother on his bedside table. Then, to give Mr. Simpson's home ''something depicting African-American history,'' aimed at arousing the sympathy of the mostly black jury, they brought in a Norman Rockwell 1963 painting, ''The Problem We All Live With,'' showing a black grade school girl walking to class surrounded by Federal marshals.

If you are going to read only one book on the case of O. J. Simpson, this is a strong candidate to be it."

-- By RICHARD BERNSTEIN, New York Times

"I couldn't stop reading American Tragedy. My old friend and colleague Larry Schiller has come up with a book that is impossible to put down. I haven't turned pages this quickly in years, and the surprise of it for me is that I hated the O.J. Simpson case while it was going on."
- Norman Mailer

From Original Hardcover Sleeve:
Nothing written about the Simpson case can possibly prepare the reader for the revelations in this book: the untold story, from murder to acquittal, written from deep within the Simpson defense by a master reporter. Each turning point in the months-long investigation and trial is recounted in authentic, often startling detail in the words of Simpson's confidants, woven brilliantly into a narrative that will rivet you from beginning to end.
In telling this story, Schiller has created a work that will be read now and for years to come as a classic account of a brilliant if turbulent legal defense, the inside story to end all inside stories of the Trial of the Century.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00JPRHGSS
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Smashwords Edition (April 14, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 14, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3977 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 1024 pages
Reviewer: Rebecca Strange
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Extremely well written and very insightful
Review: I was a sophomore in high school during the trial and vividly remember the entire school stopping everything to watch the verdict on tv. On that day and all the years that have followed, I always thought that OJ was guilty. Even though I was a fan of him, I still felt that way. After reading this book...I am shocked to find myself questioning my opinion... This was extremely well written let me say first. In fact most of the time it felt as if written by Kardashian himself and almost like a regular nonfiction novel. I was hooked from the beginning! Throughout the book, I learned a LOT of incredible facts, evidence etc that I never before knew. And it's because of what I learned that I've pretty much changed my opinion regarding the verdict. Now granted this only tells in-depth details from the defense side of things and not the prosecution. Regardless though of my opinion on the verdict...this book was absolutely fascinating to read!!! I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone who either lived through it like I did or is new to all of it. Its definitely one of the absolute best books I've read!!!

Reviewer: David H. Eisenberg
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Very interesting and readable
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Long as it was, I read it in a few days every moment I could. I watched a great deal of the trial and, sad as the reason for it is, I enjoyed it immensely. The story has everything, not least a double murder, but a barking dog, lesbianism and adultery, drugs, dna, police procedure, egotism, trash talking, racism, sexual liaisons between prosecutors (not in this book), a car chase, a possible suicide, psychological drama - you name it. I also, because I actually watched it, knew a great deal about it, including the legal issues. I have always wanted to read a thorough review of the case, and thought I would chose this one someday, as glancing at various books, it looked the least partisan and the most comprehensive.After reading it, I believe it was very unbiased, except perhaps with respect to personalities. There was an awful lot of infighting among the defense attorneys - not a surprise with so many egos flowing about; I've experienced that myself in cases - and though it seemed to me that the characterizations came from Kardashian (oddly, more famous now as the deceased father of some of the most famous, if disreputable heirs, in the world). Certainly his take on Robert Shapiro (one of the few attorneys in the case I thought had any talent) was not too flattering. He was very high on the NY attorneys, Scheck and Neufeld, and watching the case, I agree wholeheartedly. They are the only two among the attorneys on both side who I would let represent me in a serious matter. F. Lee Bailey is portrayed as a over-the-hill prima donna, and a sad character (he is now disbarred). There is much more in this book, including whole conversations, than you will get in probably any other book, and though a little one-sided, it maintains balance. It seems most of his attorneys doubted his innocence.I hadn't thought deeply about the case in a long time. When it was going on, I was an associate at a 20+ something person firm, and among all the employees only one friend of mine thought acquittal was a sure thing, and only I thought 50-50. Everyone else who said - said guilty. Now, looking back, I forgot how many defenses there were.Ultimately, and this is just opinion like anyone else's, I feel 99+% sure of guilt, but also 90% sure that the police planted the glove and probably also contaminated the blood. There are some things I still don't get. Given the manner of death and blood flying all over - how could it be that there was almost no blood in the Bronco (if it wasn't planted) and on OJ's clothes? It should have been everywhere.In any event, we know that the glove didn't fit. So, the jury acquitted.Good book. Very readable, if a bit one-sided.

Reviewer: nhbunion
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Riveting Behind the Scenes Accounts
Review: At 702 pages, this is a BIG book, but an absolutely RIVETING account surrounding the Nicole Brown / Ron Goldman murders that grasped global headlines yrs ago. I haven't gotten too far into the pages yet, but already very difficult to put this tome down. Fantastic writing style, my 2 cents. If you want to know more about the celebrity known as O.J., this is a wonderful place to dig in.

Reviewer: TamR
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Why did Schiller switch sides?
Review: I bought the hardcover version of this book used, but had thought, based on some reviews, that a portion at the end would address the civil trial as well. That portion is not in the hardcover, it's only in the mass market paperback version and I was a little disappointed, even though at roughly 700 pages, it still more than satisfied. I've been reading a number of books on the OJ Simpson trial and, even without the added material, I enjoyed this one tremendously. The short segments made it easy to read and I couldn't put it down, especially given that Robert Kardashian was one of his primary sources and his friendship with OJ Simpson remains one of the most tragic elements of the whole story. I remember the first trial, although I did not watch much of it, I was mostly influenced by the media's take on things. For years, I was sure of OJ Simpson's guilt. Then the FX series, based on Jeffrey Toobin's book (Toobin also thought him guilty) had me thinking that there might be another side. Twenty years later, I am particularly fascinated by the divergence of opinions and the convictions with which each side holds on to its "truth". Because of that I've been trying to read books from opposing points of view, Raging Hearts (Sheila Weller, The Brown family's point of view) A problem of Evidence (Joseph Bosco,) The Other Woman (Paula Barbieri), even OJ's books I want To tell you and If I did It. I had read Faye Resnick's book long ago as well. I considered William Dear's theory about Jason Simpson, I've looked at Killing Time and stranger ones like Legacy of Deception and Blood Oath. Then there's Serial killer Glen Rogers' supposed confession, but well...nah. I decided to skip Clark's and Darden's books, but I had looked at many interviews they had done and just didn't want to hear it all again. I considered Bugliosi's tirade also. That aside, after I finished the hardcover of American Tragedy, I read His Name Is Ron, which does cover the civil trial, of course from the Goldmans' point of view. Fred Goldman mentions talking to Schiller there, so I decided to go back, buy the paperback version and get his take on the civil trial. (I also watched an interesting interview with Schiller on Charlie Rose on YouTube right after the hardcover's publication.) What surprised me most, is that from the hardcover to the paperback, the criminal to the civil trial, Schiller's point of view seems to have flipped completely. His coverage of the Simpson criminal defense was much more sympathetic to the possibility of OJ's innocence and his contention was that the defense team believed strongly in that innocence. His respect for Johnny Cochran and particularly Barry Scheck, is obvious. OJ comes across as intelligent, involved in his own defense and credible. In the newer version, in those last additional pages that cover the civil trial, he seems to take the opposite stance, idolizing Daniel Petrocelli (I have to give it to him, he was good, no doubt about it), and even portraying Mark Furman as a misunderstood, but excellent detective. Simpson was now portrayed as a controlling liar who had sabotaged his own attorneys. While I suspected when reading the hardcover version that Schiller had his doubts about OJ Simpson's innocence (at one point considering the possibility that OJ might have been an "atypical murderer" who didn't remember committing the crime) overall I thought his analysis of the defense and his assessment of the questionable evidence made a compelling case for the possibility of OJ Simpson's innocence. That's what made the "flip" at the end of the new version so disturbing. It felt as if I was reading a different writer's voice. His primary sources seemed to have switched from Simpson's defense team (Robert Kardashian, Carl Douglas, Shawn Chapman) to Fred Goldman's and the Browns' lawyers (Petrocelli and his team, John Kelly) he even quotes Bill Hodgmen, the former prosecutor who had called OJ a "true narcissist". The ending of the hardcover version, after reading so much about the defense's noble efforts, felt satisfying. His aqcuital made sense, even if you doubted his innocence, as the case had been made that the evidence was tampered with. The jury was vindicated. But in the months that followed, the public outcry against the verdict became apparent to everyone. It felt as I read the newer material about the civil trial in the paperback, that Schiller was now writing for a different audience. He concluded with a different "happy ending", OJ Simpson's loss and the Goldmans' victory in the civil case. Justice was done at last. Hallelujah. In the very last pages, he turned on OJ Simpson with a vengeance, casting him as inhuman. None of us really knows the truth, we weren't there. The more books I have read, the more interviews I have watched on the subject, the more certain I am of that, and only that. The story of these murders is much like the Kurasawa film, Rashomon (credit to the book Killing Time for that analogy). I just wish Larry Schiller hadn't contradicted his own perspective so blatantly. He's like a guy who switches to the winning team during the playoffs or like Donald Trump becoming a Republican. Okay, so maybe he changed his mind, but it left a bad taste in my mouth and only served to make me distrust his whole story.

Reviewer: Anita
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Couldn't put this down once I started reading. I thought at first the book would defend Simpson as innocent, but was pleased to find it totally unbiased.A must read for anyone interested in the case

Reviewer: Debi Smith
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I look forward to reading this book. Just browsing through it, I see that there is so much more to the whole story of the Simpson trial, and all of the so called experts that helped a guilty man go free, and the unbelievable reasons why.

Reviewer: Tom J
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: As someone who has read every book on the Oj trial I would argue that this one is the best for knowing what went on behind the scenes. I would make this the number two best book on the trial of the century. The best for me is Vincent bugliosi's Outrage: 5 reasons why OJ got away with murder. Outrage clearly details why OJ got away with two murders and it's not as simple as 'the jurors were black and the LAPD are racist so let's give OJ two free murders'.

Reviewer: Jim
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: good read among the countless books available on this case

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Very happy with my purchase - excellent service.