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Genealogy of a Murder: Four Generations, Three Families, One Fateful Night
The multigenerational tale of three families whose paths collide one summer night in 1960 with the murder of a police officer
Independence Day weekend, 1960: A young cop is murdered, shocking his close-knit community in Stamford, Connecticut. The killer remains at large, his identity still unknown. But on a beach not far away, a young Army doctor, on vacation from his post at a research lab in a maximum-security prison, faces a chilling realization: He knows who the shooter is. In fact, the man―a prisoner on parole―had called him only days before. By helping his former charge and trainee, the doctor, a believer in second chances, may have inadvertently helped set the murder into motion and with that one phone call, may have sealed a police officer's fate.
Alvin Tarlov, David Troy, and Joseph DeSalvo were all born during the Great Depression, all with grandparents who’d left different homelands for the same American Dream. How did one become a doctor, one a cop, and one a convict? In Genealogy of a Murder, journalist Lisa Belkin traces the paths of each of these three men―one of them her stepfather. Her canvas is large, spanning the first half of the 20th century: immigration; the struggles of the working class; prison reform; medical experiments; politics and war; the nature/nurture debate; epigenetics; the infamous Leopold and Loeb case; and the history of motorcycle racing. It is also a look into the workings of the mind and heart.
Following these threads to their tragic outcome in July 1960, and beyond, Belkin examines the coincidences and choices that led to one fateful night. The result is a story that illuminates how we shape history even as it shapes us.
Independence Day weekend, 1960: A young cop is murdered, shocking his close-knit community in Stamford, Connecticut. The killer remains at large, his identity still unknown. But on a beach not far away, a young Army doctor, on vacation from his post at a research lab in a maximum-security prison, faces a chilling realization: He knows who the shooter is. In fact, the man―a prisoner on parole―had called him only days before. By helping his former charge and trainee, the doctor, a believer in second chances, may have inadvertently helped set the murder into motion and with that one phone call, may have sealed a police officer's fate.
Alvin Tarlov, David Troy, and Joseph DeSalvo were all born during the Great Depression, all with grandparents who’d left different homelands for the same American Dream. How did one become a doctor, one a cop, and one a convict? In Genealogy of a Murder, journalist Lisa Belkin traces the paths of each of these three men―one of them her stepfather. Her canvas is large, spanning the first half of the 20th century: immigration; the struggles of the working class; prison reform; medical experiments; politics and war; the nature/nurture debate; epigenetics; the infamous Leopold and Loeb case; and the history of motorcycle racing. It is also a look into the workings of the mind and heart.
Following these threads to their tragic outcome in July 1960, and beyond, Belkin examines the coincidences and choices that led to one fateful night. The result is a story that illuminates how we shape history even as it shapes us.
432 pages, Hardcover
First published May 30, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 127 reviews
January 26, 2023
Sometimes less really is more. Lisa Belkin's Genealogy of a Murder is a case of wonderful research going badly wrong. The book centers around the murder of a young cop in 1960. Belkin traces the lives of multiple families as they finally converge on that fateful night.
There are some very good parts to this book. Belkin is a gifted writer and when the story is focused it is very easy to read and be engaged. As mentioned, the sheer amount of research into this book is staggering. It's clear Belkin left no stone unturned.
However, that research is what regretfully sinks this book so completely. By going back generations, Belkin introduces way too many names for any to meaningfully stick in reader's minds. Each of these families had numerous children and it often feels like pages are full of names instead of narrative drive. The choice to divide chapters by dates and then combine family stories is distracting. There is also focus on a malaria trial in a Chicago prison which further bloats the book.
This does not include multiple long sections on the infamous Nathan Leopold of the well known Leopold and Loeb case. There are two major problems with his inclusion. First, many researchers still argue quite coherently about the personalities of the two killers. There is not enough room in this book for a deep dive and it makes the narrative around Leopold feel too simplified. Second, when I look back on the book, I realize he can be completely deleted from the story and not much is lost. Which leads me to my final issue with the book.
I'm not sure what the book was trying to accomplish. I expected a deeper study of families and how one might produce a good cop and the other a lifelong criminal. These avenues are left unexplored while large swaths of the book talk about family members who don't factor into the greater narrative. I don't necessarily believe books need to spell out their themes, but in this case, I think it is too hard to discern.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and W. W. Norton.)
There are some very good parts to this book. Belkin is a gifted writer and when the story is focused it is very easy to read and be engaged. As mentioned, the sheer amount of research into this book is staggering. It's clear Belkin left no stone unturned.
However, that research is what regretfully sinks this book so completely. By going back generations, Belkin introduces way too many names for any to meaningfully stick in reader's minds. Each of these families had numerous children and it often feels like pages are full of names instead of narrative drive. The choice to divide chapters by dates and then combine family stories is distracting. There is also focus on a malaria trial in a Chicago prison which further bloats the book.
This does not include multiple long sections on the infamous Nathan Leopold of the well known Leopold and Loeb case. There are two major problems with his inclusion. First, many researchers still argue quite coherently about the personalities of the two killers. There is not enough room in this book for a deep dive and it makes the narrative around Leopold feel too simplified. Second, when I look back on the book, I realize he can be completely deleted from the story and not much is lost. Which leads me to my final issue with the book.
I'm not sure what the book was trying to accomplish. I expected a deeper study of families and how one might produce a good cop and the other a lifelong criminal. These avenues are left unexplored while large swaths of the book talk about family members who don't factor into the greater narrative. I don't necessarily believe books need to spell out their themes, but in this case, I think it is too hard to discern.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and W. W. Norton.)
June 13, 2023
3 Stars
December 29, 2023
4.5 stars rounded down. I suspect an audiobook is the best way to experience this book.
The author has an interesting way of narrating the stories, she's present but not in the way and she expresses herself very well. Many times her points felt deeply meaningful and humanizing.
I was immediately taken in by the book's introduction and the concept of generational and unforeseeable impacts. I don't feel the denouement quite lived up to my expectations but I enjoyed the book the whole way through. The author goes back several generations and there are lots of names but it's very manageable and the stories eventually come together very nicely. If you read it plan to do it over a shorter period; this isn't a book to come back to or pick up and put down every several days.
I've also read and greatly enjoyed two of the author's previous books: First, Do No Harm and Show Me A Hero. Genealogy of a Murder may not suit everyone's tastes but First, Do No Harm and Show Me a Hero probably have wider appeal.
The author has an interesting way of narrating the stories, she's present but not in the way and she expresses herself very well. Many times her points felt deeply meaningful and humanizing.
I was immediately taken in by the book's introduction and the concept of generational and unforeseeable impacts. I don't feel the denouement quite lived up to my expectations but I enjoyed the book the whole way through. The author goes back several generations and there are lots of names but it's very manageable and the stories eventually come together very nicely. If you read it plan to do it over a shorter period; this isn't a book to come back to or pick up and put down every several days.
I've also read and greatly enjoyed two of the author's previous books: First, Do No Harm and Show Me A Hero. Genealogy of a Murder may not suit everyone's tastes but First, Do No Harm and Show Me a Hero probably have wider appeal.
July 14, 2023
Read 7.10 - 7.14.2023
NetGalley Audiobook [Erin Bennett, Narrator]
4 stars
My 4 star rating for this is for the audiobook only as that is what I received from NetGalley to review.
I like Erin Bennett as a narrator, but I don't think that I have ever had her as a narrator of nonfiction - after this book, I can only hope that I get more nonfiction audiobooks narrated by her as she does a superb job and really brings this book to life [given the length and the amount of information she has to get through, I really applaud her] and I was never bored [even with this book dragging on at many points] with how she was telling the story. I am glad that I was able to listen to this.
Read 7.10 - 7.14.2023
Kindle [that I had to purchase to try and keep track of everyone]
2 stars
My overall feel of the book is...there is just too much. Did we really need the history of Leopold and Loeb; did it add to the story? Nope. Not at all [though I did learn more about them than I did in the book I read earlier this year about the pair]. Did we need the extensive history of motorcycle racing? Again, no. I would have really loved to have the main story fleshed out more and MUCH less of all the characters that come and go in this book. By the time we get to the murder [at about 80%] I could barely remember who was who and was really kind of confused and that was really frustrating to me. I absolutely cannot fault her research because its impeccable, but I don't think we needed ALL of it in one book. Even with the book really picking up in the last 2hrs, overall, pt was pretty disappointing.
Thank you to NetGalley, Lisa Belkin, Erin Bennett - Narrator, and HighBridge Audio for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
NetGalley Audiobook [Erin Bennett, Narrator]
4 stars
My 4 star rating for this is for the audiobook only as that is what I received from NetGalley to review.
I like Erin Bennett as a narrator, but I don't think that I have ever had her as a narrator of nonfiction - after this book, I can only hope that I get more nonfiction audiobooks narrated by her as she does a superb job and really brings this book to life [given the length and the amount of information she has to get through, I really applaud her] and I was never bored [even with this book dragging on at many points] with how she was telling the story. I am glad that I was able to listen to this.
Read 7.10 - 7.14.2023
Kindle [that I had to purchase to try and keep track of everyone]
2 stars
My overall feel of the book is...there is just too much. Did we really need the history of Leopold and Loeb; did it add to the story? Nope. Not at all [though I did learn more about them than I did in the book I read earlier this year about the pair]. Did we need the extensive history of motorcycle racing? Again, no. I would have really loved to have the main story fleshed out more and MUCH less of all the characters that come and go in this book. By the time we get to the murder [at about 80%] I could barely remember who was who and was really kind of confused and that was really frustrating to me. I absolutely cannot fault her research because its impeccable, but I don't think we needed ALL of it in one book. Even with the book really picking up in the last 2hrs, overall, pt was pretty disappointing.
Thank you to NetGalley, Lisa Belkin, Erin Bennett - Narrator, and HighBridge Audio for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
March 27, 2023
This book covers very interesting territory but I found myself wishing it had been edited better. The number of people described becomes unwieldy unless the reader is taking notes, and the breadth of the focus felt too wide for me. But when it was good, it was very, very good, gripping and eye-opening. I expected it to be much more tightly focused, I suppose. But, readers can always skip ahead in a book they are getting bogged-down in, right?
July 26, 2023
I was honestly really impressed with how the author linked this all together. At first, you don’t see the connections but then as the story winds on you start to put pieces together. I thought it was a really interesting tale of politics, genetics, and how lifestyle can impact a person. Then on top of that, how a person can impact so many other people as well. It made me question the prison system, which is a good thing because I don’t look at it like others do.
June 16, 2023
I read a review that pretty much articulated my feelings — the 3 families of a murdered cop, his paroled killer Joe and the research doctor Al (in a race against the Nazis looking for malaria cure) who was instrumental in getting Joe released on parole.
Al is wracked with guilt as he vouched for Joe and right before Joe committed the murder, he called Al and wanted to see him but Al’s wife had postpartum depression and Al wanted to start their vacation and old Joe he’d see him in a week.
I thought it would be interesting to see the generations of these three families but it felt a bit forced as there actually wasn’t that much connection. And there were just too many names.
In the end, it was kind of what you’d expect (or not a lot of illumination). So what bumped this up was the interesting questions: the role of parole (choice between the archaic oath of revenge or the enlightened path of faith in a man’s ability to change) and rehabilitation and recidivism, ability of prisoners to consent and trying to get treatment for addiction.
-Parole was not a matter of stats or the ability of an individual to change or using his past to predict his future. After decades of studying how to tell when a man was ready for parole, Leopold realized that the state of Illinois didn’t care if he was ready. They cared only about how his release may play with the public.
Particularly interesting to me as much of the story took place in Greenwich, Stamford and Norwalk, CT. “We were in the poorest people in the richest town in the country.”
-Men whose lives were shaped by haphazard happenings a day, a year, or a generation before: prisoners who might have been free but for accidents of birth or economic forces beyond their control, or chance encounters; jailers who could as easily have been criminals but for circumstances of which even they were unaware.
-Trust is a tricky thing. Too much, and you can get burned. Too little, and you can burn others. But do you want to live in a world where there’s no trust?
-Al went through his days sorting data, following procedures, unlocking puzzles, but a part of his brain often drifted to the data he’d misread, the process he’d mangled, the puzzle of Joseph Desalvo that he had failed to save. How had he been so wrong? Sometimes he blamed his blind spots, his tendency to confuse intelligence with exemplary; his assumption that if someone was smart, like him, they were in every other way like him too; his inability to imagine the view from a place he had not stood. Other times he blamed his ego. Was he trying to play the hero? Over the weeks, he came to blame the system. It preached rehabilitation but it took people who failed to manage in the world, locked them away for years, then sent them back to do what they had failed at in the first place.
Al is wracked with guilt as he vouched for Joe and right before Joe committed the murder, he called Al and wanted to see him but Al’s wife had postpartum depression and Al wanted to start their vacation and old Joe he’d see him in a week.
I thought it would be interesting to see the generations of these three families but it felt a bit forced as there actually wasn’t that much connection. And there were just too many names.
In the end, it was kind of what you’d expect (or not a lot of illumination). So what bumped this up was the interesting questions: the role of parole (choice between the archaic oath of revenge or the enlightened path of faith in a man’s ability to change) and rehabilitation and recidivism, ability of prisoners to consent and trying to get treatment for addiction.
-Parole was not a matter of stats or the ability of an individual to change or using his past to predict his future. After decades of studying how to tell when a man was ready for parole, Leopold realized that the state of Illinois didn’t care if he was ready. They cared only about how his release may play with the public.
Particularly interesting to me as much of the story took place in Greenwich, Stamford and Norwalk, CT. “We were in the poorest people in the richest town in the country.”
-Men whose lives were shaped by haphazard happenings a day, a year, or a generation before: prisoners who might have been free but for accidents of birth or economic forces beyond their control, or chance encounters; jailers who could as easily have been criminals but for circumstances of which even they were unaware.
-Trust is a tricky thing. Too much, and you can get burned. Too little, and you can burn others. But do you want to live in a world where there’s no trust?
-Al went through his days sorting data, following procedures, unlocking puzzles, but a part of his brain often drifted to the data he’d misread, the process he’d mangled, the puzzle of Joseph Desalvo that he had failed to save. How had he been so wrong? Sometimes he blamed his blind spots, his tendency to confuse intelligence with exemplary; his assumption that if someone was smart, like him, they were in every other way like him too; his inability to imagine the view from a place he had not stood. Other times he blamed his ego. Was he trying to play the hero? Over the weeks, he came to blame the system. It preached rehabilitation but it took people who failed to manage in the world, locked them away for years, then sent them back to do what they had failed at in the first place.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 21, 2023
Genealogy of a Murder by Lisa Belkin is a well-researched, expansive work following three generations of families. A doctor, a prisoner and a police officer are all involved in a murder. We know this from the beginning. Belkin transports the reader back to the early 1900’s, years before the murders occur, when families from all over Europe are emigrating to America from Ireland, Italy, and others.
Belkin has an easy and engaging writing style. At the same time, the narrative often felt jarring - each time I would get invested in a character the narrative shifted to a different point of view. It was hard to keep track of the different people and families - there were so many. This would have been more cohesive as a series of short stories about each family instead of a divided narrative.
Narrative structure aside, I enjoyed this book, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys history.
Rating: 3/5
Genre: History, Non-Fiction
I received a digital copy of this book as a NetGalley ARC
Belkin has an easy and engaging writing style. At the same time, the narrative often felt jarring - each time I would get invested in a character the narrative shifted to a different point of view. It was hard to keep track of the different people and families - there were so many. This would have been more cohesive as a series of short stories about each family instead of a divided narrative.
Narrative structure aside, I enjoyed this book, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys history.
Rating: 3/5
Genre: History, Non-Fiction
I received a digital copy of this book as a NetGalley ARC
July 13, 2023
I think what happens in the family coming full circle generations later is an interesting concept but I think the author went about it in the clunky way not to mention having to go through the chapters with the research that was done at the prison in a clinic ran by prisoners was also very interesting but I really was hoping to read more about the crime and the judicial happenings that come after as that is where my interest‘s leg but to say I didn’t enjoy this book would be a lie. I just think the first couple of chapters had so much to shotgun end it then I found myself zoning out only Tizón back in and hear other people who married someone else it was a lot to take in in for a book that in my opinion wasn’t going to be about family genealogy I really could’ve done without that but if you can get past all of that and bear the lot and then you’ll hear a true crime story. This book is about one of the authors relatives and she went the long way around to tell it end it it sounds like something you would like to definitely read the book I myself enjoyed some of it but not most of it. I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.
July 24, 2023
After attending the author's talk event in Princeton Public Library, I've decided to read the book. I spent a weekend reading and finishing it which has left me in awe. I admire the author's brilliant research (in her talk, she said it took 9 years) because all the meticulous details are just beyond my imagination. All the characters popping up one after another in this book have pushed to make my own notes while reading the book besides the help of the family trees at the very beginning of the book. I feel that I finally put the last piece of the puzzle until the very end of the book, and I am very grateful that she did not give us the spoiler during the talk. I've always wondering "how do I(we) end up to current status?" The previous force that I could not control or it's because of my choices & decisions & actions? Obviously both, but how much % from where? It is a million dollar question, isn't it? I enjoy reading the book, thought sometimes all the details are overwhelming, yet all the vivid characters and their intertwined links have concluded this book.
Let's all do a little bit according author's says: listen to your grandparents, listen to your parents, and really listen, write it down, finish the story!
Let's all do a little bit according author's says: listen to your grandparents, listen to your parents, and really listen, write it down, finish the story!
February 28, 2024
This is not your usual book, taking four generations of three families, extremely large families, and following them through the tough times in America, one is not surprised at the possible stories that arise. The industrial age in just beginning and changes were happening fast and new issues such as, "What do we do with the horse manure that is collecting on the streets of New York City?". As cars are coming off the assembly line what happens to the horse and buggy owners? Each of these and many more challenges faced by the working class in America. With twelve to fourteen kids in a family, numerous "exciting and dangerous" events shaped every family.
A major storyline follows the "reform-minded" prison system. Those connected with the "new psychological" ideology provided a structure in which the criminals held responsible jobs within the system, with some success, but a lot of failure. When 76% returned to the prison system, most of the new "feel good" ideas were deemed as failures.
Those who are featured in this book came from new immigrants: Jews, Italians. and Irish who brought cultural behaviors that did not match the new world's expectations. In the USA there was a tendency to make all "people" look the same, usually like the one in power.
A different kind of read, but one that does a good job explaining the early history of the 20th century.
A major storyline follows the "reform-minded" prison system. Those connected with the "new psychological" ideology provided a structure in which the criminals held responsible jobs within the system, with some success, but a lot of failure. When 76% returned to the prison system, most of the new "feel good" ideas were deemed as failures.
Those who are featured in this book came from new immigrants: Jews, Italians. and Irish who brought cultural behaviors that did not match the new world's expectations. In the USA there was a tendency to make all "people" look the same, usually like the one in power.
A different kind of read, but one that does a good job explaining the early history of the 20th century.
December 19, 2023
Book Rating: 4.0 stars
A look into the making of a murder through four generations of three families that became entangled and that ended in the murder of the police officer.
This was a bit long, I think three generations would have been better. It just took way too long to get to the actual murder and aftermath.
It was a bit dry in the middle part, but most of it was pretty interesting!
Narrator Rating: 3 stars
The narrator was good, but a bit easy to tune out and miss parts.
Extra ratings: Fluff - NA Heartfelt- 4/5 Helpful-1.5/5 Horror -NA Inspiration -0/5 Love aka Romance- NA Mystery - NA Predictability - NA Spice - NA Suspense - NA Tear- 3/5 Thrill - NA Humor-0/5
A look into the making of a murder through four generations of three families that became entangled and that ended in the murder of the police officer.
This was a bit long, I think three generations would have been better. It just took way too long to get to the actual murder and aftermath.
It was a bit dry in the middle part, but most of it was pretty interesting!
Narrator Rating: 3 stars
The narrator was good, but a bit easy to tune out and miss parts.
Extra ratings: Fluff - NA Heartfelt- 4/5 Helpful-1.5/5 Horror -NA Inspiration -0/5 Love aka Romance- NA Mystery - NA Predictability - NA Spice - NA Suspense - NA Tear- 3/5 Thrill - NA Humor-0/5
July 2, 2023
Completely get why some reviewers on this site expressed trouble getting their arms around the various threads in this book. There are a lot of twists and turns. But the end result is worth the trip and then some. Belkin delivers a combination of masterful research, reporting and storytelling. Many of the well drawn characters leap off the pages and by the time you get halfway through you're engrossed by the dots she connects to tell their shared story. Highly recommend readers who find bumps early on connecting with this book stick with it.
July 25, 2024
This was a good book with an interesting premise and a satisfying conclusion. It would have been a much better book if the author had narrowed her lens to the main characters instead of introducing so many auxiliary family members that it was impossible to keep track of them all. Most egregious was her delving into the history of Leopoldo and Loeb, a fascinating story but one that has only the slightest tangential relationship to the subjects of the book and which cluttered it up even further.
August 17, 2023
Too much information! I was overwhelmed by how much background material was for each family and had to keep looking at the pictures to keep track of who was who.
It started to flow more easily towards the end, but the Malaria project could have been cut out entirely.
I had given up on this book once before but had to finish it for a book I DNF for my 52 books in 2023 list.
Two stars.
It started to flow more easily towards the end, but the Malaria project could have been cut out entirely.
I had given up on this book once before but had to finish it for a book I DNF for my 52 books in 2023 list.
Two stars.
September 11, 2023
How do three lives so disparate end up crossing in a dramatic way? Lots of background and good research.
December 30, 2023
Absolutely fascinating! The author, Lisa Belkin, did a tremendous amount of research and laid out the story very well. It's a fascinating look at nature vs. nurture. The book was well written and very, very interesting.
However...
While I appreciate the quality of the research (as a professional genealogist, I was deeply impressed!) I don't know that all of it needed to be presented. There were so many names and places. It was very hard to keep track of all the different storylines. It may have been a little too much.
Overall, it's a good book. I'd recommend it.
However...
While I appreciate the quality of the research (as a professional genealogist, I was deeply impressed!) I don't know that all of it needed to be presented. There were so many names and places. It was very hard to keep track of all the different storylines. It may have been a little too much.
Overall, it's a good book. I'd recommend it.
January 26, 2024
This book was extremely difficult to follow due to the flipping back and forth of families with similar situations and too many character names.
November 16, 2023
How any of us become who we are has long been a fascination of mine, a central thread in the knot of who I am. It is one of the reasons I first gravitated toward journalism. “Take me back to the beginning,” I ask early on in most interviews. “How did we get here?” And it’s a game I play, when stuck in traffic, or standing at a boarding gate, or sitting in a hospital waiting room, scanning the collected strangers who, for the moment, occupy the same center of some cosmic Venn diagram. What’s your story? I wonder. Have our paths crossed before? Where did your path start? Finding that start is a lot like unrolling a ball of yarn. Not the kind that’s round and plump, where a tug at one end quickly reveals the other, but the kind that’s a colorful tangle, all knotted and entwined. My stepfather’s was that second kind of yarn. Finding where it started was a journey backward, through coincidences and connections, deliberate choices and chance events, global forces and intimate interactions.
History divides neatly into chapters only in retrospect. In real time, we experience it as a jumble, a hurtling through the darkness by the light of an inadequate lamp. Our lives are prologue to one version of a story, and epilogue to another. We don’t get to see the “all of it”—or even the “more of it”—unless a family historian, or a fervent genealogist, or a somewhat obsessed author comes along to map the whole.
Friday, July 8, 1960 - The Tarlovs - Madison, Connecticut
Dr. Tarlov sat on his beach chair, his body purposefully still, his eyes fixed on the pixilated image of Officer Troy, his mind swirling with seeds of questions, ones that would take root and grow over the years. How things that seem to be in your control, are out of your hands. How lives you know nothing about, even those lived generations before you were born, can completely change your own. How tiny moments, stacked and layered, become sweeping history. How sometimes what seems wrong can turn out to be unexpectedly right. And how trying to do the right thing—being careful to do the right thing—can go so inexplicably wrong.
1900s
By 1911, motorcycle racing was the most popular sport in America. Seen by more spectators than major league baseball (and certainly more than professional football because that league had not been created yet), it was an arena for gladiators with engines. Some of the blood was drawn by the track itself, which was built of roughhewn pine slats and guaranteed to hurl splinters and pop tires. Bikes had open valves, and riders squirted them with oil midride, which dripped onto the track, creating slick spots. Periodically those puddles were scrubbed with lye, which did absorb the oil but also dried into a poisonous powder, to be spun into toxic clouds by spinning wheels. This made it even tougher to see on tracks lit by temperamental electric lamps, which flickered and often blew completely, leaving riders to race in the dark. Much of the danger, though, came from the riders themselves. Winning required recklessness, so they wrestled while they flew, hooking opponents’ handlebars, grabbing their sweaters, doing all they could to knock the next guy off his bike while wearing little to nothing that counted as protective gear. Advantages were short-lived in this arms race. When one rider added corrugated tires to his arsenal, the better to shoot sprays of pebbles at those behind him, everyone else soon did the same, until nicked goggles and bloodied faces became just another expected risk.
The justification for all the pain was possible fame and fortune. The new sport would tantalize Angelomaria/ Charles and Guisspecola/ Joseph with a way out, high risk for a slim chance of reward, just as boxing would do for Jewish immigrants in the 1920s, or the military for boys from farm hinterlands during the Second World War, or football and basketball for young Black men in the 1960s and ’70s.
It takes an urgent something to decide to leave your native land. A sense of adventure, a feeling of desperation, the imagination to envision an unseen life, the clarity that the risks of staying are greater than those of leaving. Max Tarlov had all these, as did the DeSalvo boys on their motorcycles, and Rose Cufone staging a sit-in in her tiny church. Bridget Reilly had none. Her home, cramped, miserable, and degrading as it may have been, was her home. The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t, she believed.
The only real conversation Charlie had with his boys about religion was when he told them they had to observe certain customs (Passover seders, bar mitzvah ceremonies) out of respect for Raisel, and that they had to be “exceptional” in their daily lives. If they misbehaved, he said, it would reflect poorly on the entire Jewish community. If they had dreams—a fancy college, a prestigious profession—doors would open only for Jews who were exceptionally qualified. Was that why some in his family chose not to be Jewish? Al wondered. Could the refugees on the boat or the residents of demolished neighborhoods have chosen likewise and had a different fate? Were you born who you are, or did you choose it?
Al studied Isadore as he was learning to study everything else—paying close attention to what he could use to guide his own life choices. Isadore found a way to give those who would judge him what they needed to see—his Cadillac, his country home on sixteen acres in Protestant Litchfield County, his love of tennis, the pipe he smoked because it made him seem less boyish—while staying true to the eccentric and opinionated man beneath. That man subscribed to the Daily Worker, contributed to the Socialist Party, and parked his Cadillac wherever he saw fit, earning himself a place on Manhattan’s list of biggest scofflaws. He kept tea in a whiskey bottle on his liquor cart so he could appear to be having a cocktail with guests, and he kept an ax in his tennis bag. If on his way back from his regular game in Central Park he saw a fallen tree, he would turn it into logs—for firewood for any passing “down and outers,” and also for some added exercise.
At the same time, Al’s uncle did not think he should become a doctor—at least not until he had more thoroughly explored other options. He had applied anyway, a single application to Dartmouth Medical School. It was a half-hearted gesture because, at the time, Dartmouth’s was a half-hearted medical school. Out in rural New Hampshire, there were not enough patients to provide well-rounded training for new doctors so Dartmouth no longer granted medical degrees. It had been reduced to a way station, a two-year program, after which students transferred to a four-year school to get their M.D. Al was more than a little perplexed, therefore, when he was rejected. He was not sure he wanted Dartmouth, but it had not occurred to him that Dartmouth would not want him. When asked for a reason, a friendly professor on the admissions committee told him that it was because the school already had “our two Jews.”
Whatever the number, it would become clear over time that McCarthy had no names. He was, as often as not, waving blank pieces of paper. The ripple effects of his accusations, though, were very real. Loyalty oaths were demanded of teachers in nearly forty states. Employees in industry, entertainment, and academia were fired on suspicion of holding left-leaning opinions. Books were removed from the libraries of American embassies around the world and declared suspect by the House Un-American Activities Committee: Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience, the poems of Langston Hughes, the works of Thomas Paine.
In time, researchers confirmed that the subjects who suffered acute hemolytic anemia did not have enough of an enzyme known as glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD). The normal role of the enzyme is to protect red blood cells from being stressed by whatever it was that primaquine and fava beans (and aspirin and mothballs) had in common. Without G6PD, the red blood cells burst when exposed. That discovery would prove key to understanding the fundamental process of all genetic aberrations and create an entirely new field, pharmacogenetics, to study how genetic differences affected individuals’ responses to medication. Eventually its findings would guide doctors in their choice of everything from cancer drugs to antidepressants.
The fatal bullet had hit the right side of Dave’s chest, and as Bruce Williams stood over the open casket, he found himself wondering—what if he’d been hit on the left side instead? Would the badge have stopped it? But you could play that game forever, he decided. What if Dave had paused to scratch his nose before running into the alley? What if he had wrenched his back while trying to lift the unconscious drunk on Main Street, or gotten up fifteen minutes earlier or later that morning. What if—as every single person he’d spoken to in the past forty-eight hours had speculated—Dave had not filled in for Red Corbin? Would Dave and Rosie be having their usual Sunday dinner with her mother right now? There were so many things that, had they happened differently, would have changed everything. With all those maybes, you simply had to accept that there was only one way that anything was ever going to happen, that it was all meant to be, Bruce thought. Otherwise you could lose your mind.
Alf Alving, in turn, was concerned for the future of the army’s malaria research. This was the first Dr. Alving had heard about Al securing a job for a prison lab tech upon release, and he was displeased. That surprised Al, who had essentially been following his mentor’s lead. After all, Alving had done the same for Charles Ickes, who had been productively employed at the University of Chicago for nearly a year by that time. Dr. Alving conceded the point, with a qualifier. He had known Ickes for fifteen years before vouching for his character. How long had Al known Joe? “It takes time to really understand a man,” Alving said. Still, he assured Al, “You didn’t pull the trigger, he did.” Isadore, to whom Al placed his final call, was predictably philosophical. “Trust is a tricky thing,” he said. “Too much, and you can get burned. Too little, and you can burn others. But do you want to live in a world where there’s no trust?”
Acknowledgments
And finally, my husband, Bruce Gelb. This is a story about all the things that have to happen before all the other things can happen. If I had not forced myself off my couch on a ridiculously cold December night and shown up at an obscure French film, my own story would be completely different. I can’t begin to guess what that alternative path might look like. But I do know, with absolute certainty, that it would not have been as magical as the one you have made possible for me.
History divides neatly into chapters only in retrospect. In real time, we experience it as a jumble, a hurtling through the darkness by the light of an inadequate lamp. Our lives are prologue to one version of a story, and epilogue to another. We don’t get to see the “all of it”—or even the “more of it”—unless a family historian, or a fervent genealogist, or a somewhat obsessed author comes along to map the whole.
Friday, July 8, 1960 - The Tarlovs - Madison, Connecticut
Dr. Tarlov sat on his beach chair, his body purposefully still, his eyes fixed on the pixilated image of Officer Troy, his mind swirling with seeds of questions, ones that would take root and grow over the years. How things that seem to be in your control, are out of your hands. How lives you know nothing about, even those lived generations before you were born, can completely change your own. How tiny moments, stacked and layered, become sweeping history. How sometimes what seems wrong can turn out to be unexpectedly right. And how trying to do the right thing—being careful to do the right thing—can go so inexplicably wrong.
1900s
By 1911, motorcycle racing was the most popular sport in America. Seen by more spectators than major league baseball (and certainly more than professional football because that league had not been created yet), it was an arena for gladiators with engines. Some of the blood was drawn by the track itself, which was built of roughhewn pine slats and guaranteed to hurl splinters and pop tires. Bikes had open valves, and riders squirted them with oil midride, which dripped onto the track, creating slick spots. Periodically those puddles were scrubbed with lye, which did absorb the oil but also dried into a poisonous powder, to be spun into toxic clouds by spinning wheels. This made it even tougher to see on tracks lit by temperamental electric lamps, which flickered and often blew completely, leaving riders to race in the dark. Much of the danger, though, came from the riders themselves. Winning required recklessness, so they wrestled while they flew, hooking opponents’ handlebars, grabbing their sweaters, doing all they could to knock the next guy off his bike while wearing little to nothing that counted as protective gear. Advantages were short-lived in this arms race. When one rider added corrugated tires to his arsenal, the better to shoot sprays of pebbles at those behind him, everyone else soon did the same, until nicked goggles and bloodied faces became just another expected risk.
The justification for all the pain was possible fame and fortune. The new sport would tantalize Angelomaria/ Charles and Guisspecola/ Joseph with a way out, high risk for a slim chance of reward, just as boxing would do for Jewish immigrants in the 1920s, or the military for boys from farm hinterlands during the Second World War, or football and basketball for young Black men in the 1960s and ’70s.
It takes an urgent something to decide to leave your native land. A sense of adventure, a feeling of desperation, the imagination to envision an unseen life, the clarity that the risks of staying are greater than those of leaving. Max Tarlov had all these, as did the DeSalvo boys on their motorcycles, and Rose Cufone staging a sit-in in her tiny church. Bridget Reilly had none. Her home, cramped, miserable, and degrading as it may have been, was her home. The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t, she believed.
The only real conversation Charlie had with his boys about religion was when he told them they had to observe certain customs (Passover seders, bar mitzvah ceremonies) out of respect for Raisel, and that they had to be “exceptional” in their daily lives. If they misbehaved, he said, it would reflect poorly on the entire Jewish community. If they had dreams—a fancy college, a prestigious profession—doors would open only for Jews who were exceptionally qualified. Was that why some in his family chose not to be Jewish? Al wondered. Could the refugees on the boat or the residents of demolished neighborhoods have chosen likewise and had a different fate? Were you born who you are, or did you choose it?
Al studied Isadore as he was learning to study everything else—paying close attention to what he could use to guide his own life choices. Isadore found a way to give those who would judge him what they needed to see—his Cadillac, his country home on sixteen acres in Protestant Litchfield County, his love of tennis, the pipe he smoked because it made him seem less boyish—while staying true to the eccentric and opinionated man beneath. That man subscribed to the Daily Worker, contributed to the Socialist Party, and parked his Cadillac wherever he saw fit, earning himself a place on Manhattan’s list of biggest scofflaws. He kept tea in a whiskey bottle on his liquor cart so he could appear to be having a cocktail with guests, and he kept an ax in his tennis bag. If on his way back from his regular game in Central Park he saw a fallen tree, he would turn it into logs—for firewood for any passing “down and outers,” and also for some added exercise.
At the same time, Al’s uncle did not think he should become a doctor—at least not until he had more thoroughly explored other options. He had applied anyway, a single application to Dartmouth Medical School. It was a half-hearted gesture because, at the time, Dartmouth’s was a half-hearted medical school. Out in rural New Hampshire, there were not enough patients to provide well-rounded training for new doctors so Dartmouth no longer granted medical degrees. It had been reduced to a way station, a two-year program, after which students transferred to a four-year school to get their M.D. Al was more than a little perplexed, therefore, when he was rejected. He was not sure he wanted Dartmouth, but it had not occurred to him that Dartmouth would not want him. When asked for a reason, a friendly professor on the admissions committee told him that it was because the school already had “our two Jews.”
Whatever the number, it would become clear over time that McCarthy had no names. He was, as often as not, waving blank pieces of paper. The ripple effects of his accusations, though, were very real. Loyalty oaths were demanded of teachers in nearly forty states. Employees in industry, entertainment, and academia were fired on suspicion of holding left-leaning opinions. Books were removed from the libraries of American embassies around the world and declared suspect by the House Un-American Activities Committee: Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience, the poems of Langston Hughes, the works of Thomas Paine.
In time, researchers confirmed that the subjects who suffered acute hemolytic anemia did not have enough of an enzyme known as glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD). The normal role of the enzyme is to protect red blood cells from being stressed by whatever it was that primaquine and fava beans (and aspirin and mothballs) had in common. Without G6PD, the red blood cells burst when exposed. That discovery would prove key to understanding the fundamental process of all genetic aberrations and create an entirely new field, pharmacogenetics, to study how genetic differences affected individuals’ responses to medication. Eventually its findings would guide doctors in their choice of everything from cancer drugs to antidepressants.
The fatal bullet had hit the right side of Dave’s chest, and as Bruce Williams stood over the open casket, he found himself wondering—what if he’d been hit on the left side instead? Would the badge have stopped it? But you could play that game forever, he decided. What if Dave had paused to scratch his nose before running into the alley? What if he had wrenched his back while trying to lift the unconscious drunk on Main Street, or gotten up fifteen minutes earlier or later that morning. What if—as every single person he’d spoken to in the past forty-eight hours had speculated—Dave had not filled in for Red Corbin? Would Dave and Rosie be having their usual Sunday dinner with her mother right now? There were so many things that, had they happened differently, would have changed everything. With all those maybes, you simply had to accept that there was only one way that anything was ever going to happen, that it was all meant to be, Bruce thought. Otherwise you could lose your mind.
Alf Alving, in turn, was concerned for the future of the army’s malaria research. This was the first Dr. Alving had heard about Al securing a job for a prison lab tech upon release, and he was displeased. That surprised Al, who had essentially been following his mentor’s lead. After all, Alving had done the same for Charles Ickes, who had been productively employed at the University of Chicago for nearly a year by that time. Dr. Alving conceded the point, with a qualifier. He had known Ickes for fifteen years before vouching for his character. How long had Al known Joe? “It takes time to really understand a man,” Alving said. Still, he assured Al, “You didn’t pull the trigger, he did.” Isadore, to whom Al placed his final call, was predictably philosophical. “Trust is a tricky thing,” he said. “Too much, and you can get burned. Too little, and you can burn others. But do you want to live in a world where there’s no trust?”
Acknowledgments
And finally, my husband, Bruce Gelb. This is a story about all the things that have to happen before all the other things can happen. If I had not forced myself off my couch on a ridiculously cold December night and shown up at an obscure French film, my own story would be completely different. I can’t begin to guess what that alternative path might look like. But I do know, with absolute certainty, that it would not have been as magical as the one you have made possible for me.
July 21, 2023
Fascinating tale of how multiple families & worlds managed to collide in a single catastrophic event, but one that almost seemed like destiny. I was predisposed to like this book since I have been an amateur genealogist for 40 years. It was well researched & well written & was like a genealogical mystery unfolding over the years. The only downside (which is inherent in the story itself) was trying to follow the overwhelming amount of people, names & places that needed explanation. It was hard & sometimes frustrating to try to keep track. It was a LOT - and I’m used to genealogy research! But I thought the author did the best she could at organizing overlapping plot lines & weaving them together into a cohesive narrative - it was manageable enough to keep me interested & reading on & I’m glad I did.
July 18, 2023
Exceedingly well researched and well written book with a challenging structure hinted at in the title. Note that the crime does not unfold until around p. 280, so there is quite a bit background to get through, some of it far more relevant to the heart of the case than the rest. It’s a heavy lift to ask of one’s reader. I found myself rather bewildered at the end — what does any of it mean, what does it amount to? We are left with no greater understanding of the personages outlined or their long immigrant journeys and despite the intricacy of the writing here. No insights are revealed. A deprived and depraved criminal could not transcend the limits of his own psychology, despite being given break after break. That’s pretty much the long and short of it. Innocent victims are created every day, lives lost, communities changed, tax dollars spent, and hands wrung over incidents like this.
August 12, 2023
Genre is murder-mystery with little suspense because the outcome is revealed.
She tells a dry story with little humor (though once I heard sarcasm), but tries using related people to add entertainment, which fails to lighten an overall foreboding mood and disrupts the investigative logic.
The author introduces her "genealogy" method asking "Have our paths crossed before?" which I think is answered "No". True some married others but no one in the 4 diagrammed families crossed paths. I failed to find the genealogy argument useful, although clearly he inherited some bad habits.
The claim is this is about effect of that one night on three generations of three families. But the book ends soon after that night, so no effect is shown.
The family trees are difficult to read on kindle, and this gimmick is confusing and not necessary.
It slightly helps orientation after a rapid chapter change focuses on different family, but those changes give a discontinuous feel to a story which really is not common except until the murder finally ties some together.
She uses family tree research to find stories about ancestors who may be root cause of tensions and flaws leading to the murder. I didn't buy the premise that we needed to know. I agree the crime had its roots in inherited faults, like Clarence Darrow hypothesizes. I agree he had a bad childhood, and that heredity shows a family's influence on some characters and success of its children. But the immigrant families weren't so different, and other families didn't produce criminals. Is that her point? That family influence is a fine line not usually crossing into criminality? The family tree may explain criminality (still doubtful) and adds interesting early 20C history to the story, but it also adds a clumsy, mechanical feeling when recounting semi-relevant histories.
The theme of inheriting criminal behavior starts when we meet Clarence Darrow saying “The first great cause of crime is poverty". But that fails to explain both this crime and Leopold/Loeb. Darrow admits that those born into hopelessness were most likely to become criminals, but that fate still played a role, that there was an "internal blueprint, that made certain choices more likely". Darrow claims faultless fate is the blueprint, including unavoidable genetics.
The murderer's repeat violations certainly looks like he was unavoidably criminal, but I don't recall criminality in his family tree, just a lack of warmth. There were however runaways and crime in some other families, who weren't murderers.
Now turn to Leopold and Loeb supposedly "victims of the biological heritage that created them and the emotional upbringing that shaped them" "Most specifically, he and his experts argued, neither young man would have committed the crime on his own." Maybe, but irrelevant to Joe DeSalvo who murdered on his own. Are Darrow, Leopold, Loeb meant as contrast to Joe? That fogs the theme.
Generally do we inherit the sins of our fathers? Catholics do teach original sin but that responsibility is shared, not attributed to a single family. Exodus describes ancestral sin:"the iniquities of the fathers are visited upon the sons and daughters — unto the third and fourth generation." Inheriting sin remains a tempting but unconvincing message. Children may suffer but usually cannot sue their parents.
Neither nature not nurture alone sufficiently explain (mis)fortune. Add luck to get closer to explaining misfortune. Chomsky disputed B.F.Skinner's belief in nurture but both are discredited.
3 stars because the plot is boring without suspense. Leopold, Loeb, Darrow and the older family add interesting episodes but go off topic.
December 31, 2023
Joe DeSalvo killed officer David Troy one summer night in Connecticut. DeSalvo was a lifelong criminal who had been paroled based largely on a recommendation by Al Tarlov, a doctor he'd come to know when he served as Tarlov's lab assistant in prison. One was Italian, one Irish, one Jewish and of similar ages. This true crime is the subject of the book, but the author has approached it from a different direction. She has researched the literal genealogy of these three men in an attempt to discern why three grandsons of penniless immigrants ended up on the paths they did. Nature or nurture?
The stories are at times fascinating, at times boring. Too much time and space is devoted to the early ancestors and their poverty-stricken lives with families of a dozen plus children. I say too much because the author never answered her own question: how much did the genes or the family traditions and moral examples play a role? We don't know. The fact is, the siblings of all of the characters went on to do very different things despite having the same parents and similar upbringings. The author also makes an odd choice to spend much of the book on Nathan Leopold, of the once famous Leopold and Loeb murders, even though he appears to have had no connection to the crime, and a similar amount to DeSalvo's brother-in-law Dante Cosentino, who also had nothing to do with the murder or the life paths of any of the three. She apparently had access to their stories and found them intriguing, but I found them a mostly irritating distraction, although of some interest. Still, they remind me of the man looking for his keys under the streetlight because that's where the light is best, even though that's not where he dropped them. On the whole the book stands on the excellent quality of the writing and the inherently interesting facts of the case.
In the end, the oppressive conditions under which people lived as recently as the 1930s and 40s is eye-opening, and the author's deep research is impressive. Joe DeSalvo had a genius IQ, taught himself piano, read good literature and wrote like it, and had many chances to have a good job and normal life. Why he made the choices he did is not answered in this book and probably never could have been, even by himself. I think this is true for many criminals I have encountered over the years in the FBI. How much is genetic and how much "nurture" can be debated, but for many, they are hard-wired that way by the time they hit their teens or even before and can never be rewired. Incarceration to keep them from harming others is really the only proper course. In my view, the tug-of-war between rehabilitation and punishment is irrelevant.
The stories are at times fascinating, at times boring. Too much time and space is devoted to the early ancestors and their poverty-stricken lives with families of a dozen plus children. I say too much because the author never answered her own question: how much did the genes or the family traditions and moral examples play a role? We don't know. The fact is, the siblings of all of the characters went on to do very different things despite having the same parents and similar upbringings. The author also makes an odd choice to spend much of the book on Nathan Leopold, of the once famous Leopold and Loeb murders, even though he appears to have had no connection to the crime, and a similar amount to DeSalvo's brother-in-law Dante Cosentino, who also had nothing to do with the murder or the life paths of any of the three. She apparently had access to their stories and found them intriguing, but I found them a mostly irritating distraction, although of some interest. Still, they remind me of the man looking for his keys under the streetlight because that's where the light is best, even though that's not where he dropped them. On the whole the book stands on the excellent quality of the writing and the inherently interesting facts of the case.
In the end, the oppressive conditions under which people lived as recently as the 1930s and 40s is eye-opening, and the author's deep research is impressive. Joe DeSalvo had a genius IQ, taught himself piano, read good literature and wrote like it, and had many chances to have a good job and normal life. Why he made the choices he did is not answered in this book and probably never could have been, even by himself. I think this is true for many criminals I have encountered over the years in the FBI. How much is genetic and how much "nurture" can be debated, but for many, they are hard-wired that way by the time they hit their teens or even before and can never be rewired. Incarceration to keep them from harming others is really the only proper course. In my view, the tug-of-war between rehabilitation and punishment is irrelevant.
April 16, 2024
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC (in audiobook format).
"Genealogy of a Murder: Four Generations, Three Families, One Fateful Night" by Lisa Belkin, narrated by Erin Bennett, is a compelling dive into the depths of family history and the ripples of decisions that span generations. This audiobook is not merely a recounting of a tragic event but an intricate exploration of the human condition and the complex web of factors that lead to a single moment in time.
Belkin masterfully weaves a narrative that stretches back to the Great Depression, tracing the lives of three men from disparate backgrounds whose destinies converge on one fateful night in 1960. The murder of a young police officer in Stamford, Connecticut, serves as the central axis around which the story unfolds, but it is the rich tapestry of life stories that gives this work its heart and soul.
Erin Bennett's narration brings a nuanced clarity to the tale, capturing the emotional gravity of the subject matter while maintaining a steady pace that keeps the listener engaged. Her ability to give voice to the multitude of characters and their experiences is a testament to her skill as a narrator.
The audiobook delves into themes of immigration, the American Dream, prison reform, and the nature versus nurture debate, all while examining the impact of war, politics, and medical experiments on the lives of individuals and their families. It is a story that questions the very essence of fate and choice, and how closely they are intertwined.
Belkin's journalistic background shines through in her meticulous research and the vividness of her storytelling. The listener is not just presented with facts but is invited to ponder the moral complexities of second chances, the justice system, and the human propensity for seeking alternative endings.
In conclusion, "Genealogy of a Murder" is a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant audiobook that offers more than just a true crime story. It is a historical journey, a psychological inquiry, and a meditation on the forces that shape our lives. It is a must-listen for anyone interested in the intricacies of human nature and the unforeseen consequences of our actions.
"Genealogy of a Murder: Four Generations, Three Families, One Fateful Night" by Lisa Belkin, narrated by Erin Bennett, is a compelling dive into the depths of family history and the ripples of decisions that span generations. This audiobook is not merely a recounting of a tragic event but an intricate exploration of the human condition and the complex web of factors that lead to a single moment in time.
Belkin masterfully weaves a narrative that stretches back to the Great Depression, tracing the lives of three men from disparate backgrounds whose destinies converge on one fateful night in 1960. The murder of a young police officer in Stamford, Connecticut, serves as the central axis around which the story unfolds, but it is the rich tapestry of life stories that gives this work its heart and soul.
Erin Bennett's narration brings a nuanced clarity to the tale, capturing the emotional gravity of the subject matter while maintaining a steady pace that keeps the listener engaged. Her ability to give voice to the multitude of characters and their experiences is a testament to her skill as a narrator.
The audiobook delves into themes of immigration, the American Dream, prison reform, and the nature versus nurture debate, all while examining the impact of war, politics, and medical experiments on the lives of individuals and their families. It is a story that questions the very essence of fate and choice, and how closely they are intertwined.
Belkin's journalistic background shines through in her meticulous research and the vividness of her storytelling. The listener is not just presented with facts but is invited to ponder the moral complexities of second chances, the justice system, and the human propensity for seeking alternative endings.
In conclusion, "Genealogy of a Murder" is a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant audiobook that offers more than just a true crime story. It is a historical journey, a psychological inquiry, and a meditation on the forces that shape our lives. It is a must-listen for anyone interested in the intricacies of human nature and the unforeseen consequences of our actions.
October 22, 2023
This is a fascinating journey through generations interconnected by fate. In it, the author masterfully melds historical facts and personal narratives into a gripping tapestry of four families. It all begins with the author’s mother marrying a man the author hardly knew. One fateful day, the author’s stepfather unveils a story about his past—how he, as a young doctor, worked in prison conducting experiments with malaria drugs on inmates. This revelation led the author to embark on a journey that spanned generations. One of the central figures in the story is Joe DeSalvo, a prisoner who forms an unexpected bond with the author’s stepfather. The tale takes a dramatic turn when Joe is paroled but later becomes involved in a tragic incident in which a police officer is killed. The narrative explores the complexities of rehabilitation within the prison system and the effects of the choices made by individuals and society.
The author’s journalistic prowess shines through in this book, turning what could have been dry narrative nonfiction into an absolute page-turner. I learned much about the different pockets of history she explored, including the motorcycle culture reminiscent of the Roman Coliseum of Joe DeSalvo’s day. The author’s seamless storytelling, meticulous research, and ability to connect the threads of these intertwined lives create a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant book. It is a powerful reminder of the enduring impact of our choices and responsibilities, not only to ourselves but to future generations. This book is a must-read for those who appreciate history, human connection, and the intricacies of life itself.
To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at: https://shows.acast.com/moms-dont-hav...
The author’s journalistic prowess shines through in this book, turning what could have been dry narrative nonfiction into an absolute page-turner. I learned much about the different pockets of history she explored, including the motorcycle culture reminiscent of the Roman Coliseum of Joe DeSalvo’s day. The author’s seamless storytelling, meticulous research, and ability to connect the threads of these intertwined lives create a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant book. It is a powerful reminder of the enduring impact of our choices and responsibilities, not only to ourselves but to future generations. This book is a must-read for those who appreciate history, human connection, and the intricacies of life itself.
To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at: https://shows.acast.com/moms-dont-hav...
July 11, 2023
I will start this by saying this is more historical than true crime in my opinion. While there is a murder that occurs, it isn't discussed in length until the 85 to 90% of the book. Up until that point you are following three generations of three different families along the decades leading up to the murder and the aftermath. I did find it hard to keep track of who everyone was, especially because I was listening to the audiobook. It didn't really help that there were so many characters and a lot had similar names, even with the author's changes to some to prevent confusion. There were also a lot of paralleling events between the three families. I also think that the author's choice to divide the chapters by dates and then combine all the family stories didn't help me with distinguishing which person, let along family I was currently following.
I would also say that the author includes things that aren't really a true part of the actually generational story they were aiming for. For example, the inclusion of Nathan Leopold of the Leopold and Loeb case. His entire storyline could be removed from this book and nothing is really impacted by it other than the book length.
All of this to say, while confusing at times, I did find this book fascinating. It's well researched and really explores everyday life from the early 1900's to 1960 when the murder occurs. I was engaged with the book from start to finish, and I found this to have lots of historical commentary on the U.S. prison system.
Thank you to Netgalley and HighBridge Audio for the audio-arc of this book!
I would also say that the author includes things that aren't really a true part of the actually generational story they were aiming for. For example, the inclusion of Nathan Leopold of the Leopold and Loeb case. His entire storyline could be removed from this book and nothing is really impacted by it other than the book length.
All of this to say, while confusing at times, I did find this book fascinating. It's well researched and really explores everyday life from the early 1900's to 1960 when the murder occurs. I was engaged with the book from start to finish, and I found this to have lots of historical commentary on the U.S. prison system.
Thank you to Netgalley and HighBridge Audio for the audio-arc of this book!
July 9, 2023
I enjoyed reading this--it was fast-paced and urgent where it could have been really bland, and the research was impeccable. But so many of the early intriguing threads were never woven into the final product. There are so many names and family stories to remember, but you're never rewarded for keeping it all straight. Obviously, given the title, there was meant to be commentary here on how various families with similar origin stories can end up in very different socioeconomic places, but because the names on the pages never came alive as characters, it became frustrating to trace how the families were actually affecting the narrative's main players. Notably, the women (Rose, Ruth, Bridget, off the top of my head) were given VERY short shrift. It was like, "she hated her husband who drank too much," and that was it on all three.
Learned a lot about early twentieth century motorcycle racing, parole board politics, malaria trials in American prisons, and the Leopold and Loeb case. For me, the single most powerful part of the book was the transcript/recounting of Joe DeSalvo's testimony in court--essentially, when he said that he shot David Troy because Troy shot at him, that broke open the whole coconut for me. Loved the ambition of this one, but it didn't deliver. Not necessarily not worth reading.
Learned a lot about early twentieth century motorcycle racing, parole board politics, malaria trials in American prisons, and the Leopold and Loeb case. For me, the single most powerful part of the book was the transcript/recounting of Joe DeSalvo's testimony in court--essentially, when he said that he shot David Troy because Troy shot at him, that broke open the whole coconut for me. Loved the ambition of this one, but it didn't deliver. Not necessarily not worth reading.
July 19, 2023
I’ve been looking forward to this book since I first read of its publication. Had the book perhaps led with what the crime was then backtracked into the history it would have been a less cumbersome read. The first four chapters remind me of the Old Testament, going on about which person married someone else and then what they were like, etc. my thought is that someone who died decades before the crime was committed would have no impact on something taking place in the 1960s. I feel like I have wasted time reading about people who lived and died who play zero part in the actual crux of the story.
This is a bloated saga that falls far astray of a coherent story. A police officer is killed by a career criminal out on parole, thanks to the input of a dedicated physician-researcher and a progressive warden. Most writers would trace motivations in the perpetrator, not to his multi-generational family. But wait! There’s more! We poor readers get the extended version of the warden’s & the physician’s genealogy. Numerous peripheral historical events are detailed, books with a book, if you will. We learn all about the 1918 Flu and Loeb and Leopold, the heinous thrill killers. The list is endless. There’s an engaging story embedded in this book, buried under piles of extraneous verbiage. Too bad it goes unwritten, smothered by tangential content.
This is a bloated saga that falls far astray of a coherent story. A police officer is killed by a career criminal out on parole, thanks to the input of a dedicated physician-researcher and a progressive warden. Most writers would trace motivations in the perpetrator, not to his multi-generational family. But wait! There’s more! We poor readers get the extended version of the warden’s & the physician’s genealogy. Numerous peripheral historical events are detailed, books with a book, if you will. We learn all about the 1918 Flu and Loeb and Leopold, the heinous thrill killers. The list is endless. There’s an engaging story embedded in this book, buried under piles of extraneous verbiage. Too bad it goes unwritten, smothered by tangential content.
July 30, 2023
Genealogy of a Murder by Lisa Belkin is not the true-crime novel that I expected. Though the book revolves around the murder of a police officer by a paroled criminal, it is more the story of how the circumstances of several lives and historical practices and flaws in the parole system resulted in a police officer and a career criminal crossing paths on one fateful night.
This book makes a great case for the butterfly effect--change one instance in the course of several lives, and the murder does not take place. Through much of the book, I struggled with how the information being detailed was relevant to the case, and why the author was going into such intricate detail about medical trials on prisoners or the multiple children of certain families. Rest assured, the information does have relevance in the end, and the book is more of a history of certain aspects of several prisons than about a murder.
The audio narration by Erin Bennett was excellent, though I think this book is better in print due to the extensive detail and numerous characters.
Thank you to Netgalley and Highbridge Audio for the digital audiobook of Genealogy of a Murder, and Goodreads and W.W.Norton for the print copy. The opinions in this review are my own.
This book makes a great case for the butterfly effect--change one instance in the course of several lives, and the murder does not take place. Through much of the book, I struggled with how the information being detailed was relevant to the case, and why the author was going into such intricate detail about medical trials on prisoners or the multiple children of certain families. Rest assured, the information does have relevance in the end, and the book is more of a history of certain aspects of several prisons than about a murder.
The audio narration by Erin Bennett was excellent, though I think this book is better in print due to the extensive detail and numerous characters.
Thank you to Netgalley and Highbridge Audio for the digital audiobook of Genealogy of a Murder, and Goodreads and W.W.Norton for the print copy. The opinions in this review are my own.
August 30, 2023
This is part of the review from bookreporter.com:
"Alvin Tarlov, David Troy and Joseph DeSalvo were all born of the Great Depression, all with grandparents who had left different homelands for the same American Dream. How did one become a doctor, one a cop and one a convict? In GENEALOGY OF A MURDER, journalist Lisa Belkin traces the paths of each of these three men -- one of them her stepfather. Her canvas is large, spanning the first half of the 20th century: immigration, the struggles of the working class, prison reform, medical experiments, politics and war, the nature/nurture debate, epigenetics, the infamous Leopold and Loeb case, and the history of motorcycle racing. It is also intimate: a look into the workings of the mind and heart."
It is a well researched book by Lisa Belkin. I listened to this book but I got a copy of the book also. There are so many characters to keep track of, it really helps to read the book. Belkin includes a family tree for the four families involved. It really helps. There is so much to think about with this book--what a person needs to become a productive part of society. So many people never have a chance. She does a great job moving the story forward with each family until the final conclusion. It is a sad story.
"Alvin Tarlov, David Troy and Joseph DeSalvo were all born of the Great Depression, all with grandparents who had left different homelands for the same American Dream. How did one become a doctor, one a cop and one a convict? In GENEALOGY OF A MURDER, journalist Lisa Belkin traces the paths of each of these three men -- one of them her stepfather. Her canvas is large, spanning the first half of the 20th century: immigration, the struggles of the working class, prison reform, medical experiments, politics and war, the nature/nurture debate, epigenetics, the infamous Leopold and Loeb case, and the history of motorcycle racing. It is also intimate: a look into the workings of the mind and heart."
It is a well researched book by Lisa Belkin. I listened to this book but I got a copy of the book also. There are so many characters to keep track of, it really helps to read the book. Belkin includes a family tree for the four families involved. It really helps. There is so much to think about with this book--what a person needs to become a productive part of society. So many people never have a chance. She does a great job moving the story forward with each family until the final conclusion. It is a sad story.
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