American Tragedy: The Uncensored Story of the Simpson Defense

by Lawrence Schiller and James Willwerth

Book Overview

The riveting account of the O.J. Simpson murder trial is told in the uncensored words of Simpson's closest confidants and attorneys. American Tragedy reveals the answers to many of he case's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679456821
• ISBN13: 9780679456827
• Release Date: October 1996
• Publisher: Random House
• Length: 702 Pages
• Weight: 2.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.0" x 2.0" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

1000 Page Chronological Accounting - Well Written

The book is a chronological telling of O.J. story, starting around the time of the murders and going right through to the end of the trial. It includes a lot of detril or trivia that is fascinating to the trial folowers - that we did not see through the regular media coverage. O.J. never says to Schiller, "okay I killed her now are you happy?" No he never says that but reading between the lines it is clear that O.J. acts like he has done it; his friends act like he has done it; the defense team acts like he has done it; and, on and on the story goes. Clearly the defense team and O.J. and his friends thought he might be found guilty and there seems to be a degree of surprise that he gets off free and clear of the criminal charges. I read the 1000 page book cover to cover and found it to be well written with lots and lots of insights, inside knowledge, lots of new detail, and generally one of the better books on the O.J. trial. Frankly it is very good up to a certain point in time, that being the moment when he finished writing the book. Even with 1000 pages he misses many things. Is it fair and 100% accurate? Probably not. But it makes for a good read and it is one of the best books on the subject.

The ultimate chronicle of the "trial of the century"

This is the best O.J. Simpson trial book out there. It is encyclopedic in its detail, comprehensive and exhaustive enough to satisfy any detail-lover's appetite for "trial of the century" tidbits. Schiller and Willworth are slightly biased in favor of the "guilty" side, but so am I...those who are sure O.J. is innocent may object to some of the editorializing. But there is no question that if you want the best chronicle of this extraordinary legal and cultural event, this is the place to get it. Well worth the money by page count alone! :)

Captivating Trial and Book

Schiller provides a useful look into the trial which captivated the nation and this reviewer. I was so interested in watching our judicial system handle such a case of national interest. My reaction after seeing all of this was twofold: if a juror, I would support the decision of acquittal, due simply to the fact that the prosecution did not put forward a case that proved beyond reasonable doubt; two, I like all suspect O.J. put the facts of the case as presented did not support this. I continue to be disturbed that many fellow citizens cannot clearly make this distinguishment. Our whole legal system is built on this, innocent "until" proven guilty.What one thinks is irrelevant. What is relevant is allowable evidence in the court. Schiller gets behind scenes and gives much background info for consideration. Especially does he provide picture of defense and prosecuter teams. Fascinating stuff!Schiller helps clear some of the smoke away. Cloud of suscpicion still pervades however, and might never be dispersed. Great read as all of Schiller's.

TOTALLY FASCINATING AND ENDLESSLY PROVACATIVE

I was amused by one reviewer who considered Schiller an appalling human being for capitalizing on such a tragedy. There were similar, if not quite as vitriolic, opinions expressed by other reviewers. All I can say is -- if you were so offended by the Simpson case, and an author who chose to write about it - why on earth would you buy a 900+ book about the subject? I, on the other hand, found this book absolutely absorbing. At the start I should say that nothing in this book swayed my opinion that O.J. Simpson committed both murders. This book was not dedicated to the defense. It did appear that Mr. Schiller got a lot more assistance from the defense side, but he writes a fairly balanced narrative, showing the strengths and the weaknesses of both sides. The one character who actually comes out looking pretty bad is O.J. himself. He is egotistical, narcissistic, termperamental and fully in denial of what he has done. This comes out clearly in the book. I work in the local District Attorney's Office where I live, and was thoroghly captivated by the intense coverage of the trial, as well as the behind the scenes activities of both sides. I learned as much about some of the key witnesses as I did about the key players. If anything from this book affected my outlook on the case, it gave me a little more understanding about the jury. Even will compelling and undeniable evidence (specifically the blood evidence), they were so bombarded with conflicting facts from both Prosecution and Defense, that as typical, ordinary citizens, they lost sight of the big picture. In short, they were pretty much overwhelmed with facts. As you read this book, you begin to feel their frustration. A highly educated person could probably have read between the lines and sifted through the junk to find the truth, but these people had been sequestered for months. They wanted to go home. They had had enough. I read Mr. Schiller's other book: "Perfect Murder, Perfect Town", and am still amazed by his ability to take minute facts and somehow make the story interesting. One can almost pretend this is novel taken from someone's overactive imagination. But the bottom line is - Mr. Schiller sticks to facts. He does not choose sides, and he does not paint Mr. Simpson as a victim. The facts speak for themselves, and if we don't like them, well, that is not Mr. Schiller's responsibility. He did an admirable job with an awful lot of information. I could not put it down, even knowing the ending. And I was pleasantly surprised to find that the last part of the book dealt with the civil trial, which I knew very little about. If you have already formed a strong opinion about Simpson's guilt or innocence, this book will probably not change that. You will, however, get a fascinating look into what made everyone tick, what went wrong, and what tricks drove the verdict of the criminal trial. And be honest with yourself that this will always be a compelling and fascinat

A surprising page turner that's surprisingly unbiased!

The real reason why I bought this book on OJ was because I had a free coupon for the bookstore and there was really nothing else on OJ to buy. I actually wanted Bugliosi's "Outrage". Now I am glad that I did buy "American Tragedy". It was a real page turner for a non-fiction book!Not being familiar with the authors I was interested to see where they stood on the matter. When it was revealed that Schiller had helped OJ write his book before the trial I groaned, "Alright, I guess we know who's side he is on." Though centered mostly on the defense's story, I was surprised to see that Schiller only lays out what happened and who the characters involved were. As a matter of fact, by the end of the book, we see the author lay out evidence that portray OJ's guilt more that his innocence.Schiller really makes no assumption about whether or not OJ was guilty. Rather, he shows the obvious evidence that the defense had to overcome. He does not state whether the actions of the defense were right or wrong, or whether the evidence was true or not. Rather, it is as if Schiller takes the reader inside closed quarters as a fly on the wall to observe and come to his own conclusions.This book reads like a fictional crime story and it was interesting, illuminating and entertaining. Just when you thought OJ's guilt or innocence was determined, a loop hole or damning revelation is thrown in.On the whole, I felt that alot of the blood evidence was tampered with (whether deliberately or not I am unsure on). The defense did raise many doubts about Furhman's actions and words, and the bloody socks. I think that the hair, fibre, and shoe print evidence, along with OJ's lies at the civil trial point more to OJ as the individual responsible for Nicole and Ron's deaths.As a matter of fact, it was the civil trial presented near the end of the book, more than the criminal trial which proved to me that despite my doubts concerning the blood evidence, OJ was guilty of murder.Even though everyone knows the outcome, Schiller presents the book as if the outcome could go either way by the end of the book. A very good read!