Women Who Love Men Who Kill

by Sheila Isenberg

Book Overview

"Shocking...compelling...like the best prison lit!"The Village Voice Literary Supplment

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671702475
• ISBN13: 9780671702472
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.7" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Looking Back...

It's been a few years since I read this, and some of it blurs a bit with time. As of the reading, my now ex-wife had believed she was in love with a gentleman doing life for the murder of his own wife. I felt a need to gain some understanding for this incredibly bizarre manifestation of her then current needs. Although most of the analyses of the author as to cause did not seem at all applicable in our particular case, some things did stand out. I remember reading of the building excitement and anticipation visitors would feel about an upcoming visit and the feelings they experienced going into the instition and having the doors close behind them. Then comes that exultation of finally seeing their love 'across a crowded room', and having someone's undivided attention for a time was a reward. Inevitably, there was the exquisite pain of parting and being figuratively ripped from the loving grasp of one's partner and leaving them to the mercy of cruel guards and the other, truly guilty inmates. My ex had been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, and there seemed to be definite parallels to those happenings and needs experienced by those who experience addiction to the exciting highs and debilitating lows in living with that difficulty. For some reason, this insight helped me to realize enough about her needs and motives to recognize that I would never actually fully understand, and it would be futile to attempt to do so. This pretty much freed me get on with my own life, and I thank the author for helping with this insight. If you read this hoping to gain some insights in a particular situation, it may possibly be of help. As I recall, the author did not explore in much detail some of the possible motives and needs of visitors. In my instance, I felt that she could have delved into such things as control issues; elimination of responsibility for others, both financially and emotionally; a quest for adventure/drama in ones' life; and even a few others. She deserves great credit and admiration for tackling a difficult and depressing subject and helping others understand what can go on in such incredibly bizarre circumstances. It isn't hard to extrapolate what loving families must go through as they also must pay for mistakes of incarcerated relatives and friends. While not a comprehensive treatise on a subject that would require volumes, the author's effort provides valuable insights and examples. And as much as we'd like to forget that others still share such circumstances, the fact is that they do. My hope is that the author's efforts still are able to bring readers a valuable measure of information and understanding, and, as in my case, a measure of peace. Personally, I'm very grateful to her. ~EdMac

Before you judge.. read this book

I think this book is great.Too often people harshly judge these women unfairly.I enjoyed hearing from the women themselves and I admire their devotion and courage in standing up for their love,a love that society looks down on and harshly condemns.That takes guts.Another thing I enjoyed about the book is though it did have sone psychiatric analysis, it wasn't full of psychobabble.I would recommend this book to anybody.Its a good read.

the real story

Women Who Love Men Who Kill is a fantastic read. It sheds enormous light on the lives of women who go to the edge and fall in love with murderers. They don't just fall in love with convicted killers, they support them, provide them with all their needs while in prison and advocate diligently for their release. The author generates profiles of these women and provides analytic insights about their motives. This is forensic science with a behavioral approach written for the lay person by a writer who knows her subject. The book is shocking, exciting and intense. It evokes the reader's concerns about how these things are possible. After reading this book you will know why.

Women Who LOVE Men Who Kill

When this book title caught my eye on the book shelve, I purchased it immediatly...when I got home I started reading it , and could not put it down until I had read to the last page. To my surprise there were a couple of wives and their stories, that I have actually met, one of which I had became friends with..and knowing her story, it was not hard to identify her In the book. As a wife of a California Department of Corrections Inmate, I can relate to these stories even though my husband Is not a killer. It is a very informational book for any person that has a family member, loved one or friend that is incarsarated.

strange reasoning behind these womens stories...

Well,I am reading this book at the moment and I have to say that there are some strange accounts in here.There are women from all walks of life who fall for men in prison who have murdered and raped and some of the men even boast about it.Still, these women are convinced that their men are innocent (nudge,nudge,wink,wink),and I find myself reading over and over again stories of how these women fall for their 'innocent' partners. This book is interesting purely for the fact that there seem to be so many women falling for these monsters and even leaving their homes and children for these men.I wonder if these women would have so much understanding if it were one of their family that was raped,tortured and killed! Although this book is interesting,I still feel that we are only getting half of the analysis of these women and that the information is coming only from the author.Not enough background work and the author tends to repeat herself quite often.