Compulsion
Meyer Levin
Fig Tree, Apr 14 2015, $15.95
ISBN 9781941493021
In 1924 Chicago, geniuses Judd Steiner and Artie Straus kill
thirteen year old Paulie Kessler. Their
motive is an experiment to prove how much smarter than the cops and the rest of
society they are that they can get away with murder. However, their premise that they are
embodiment of Nietzsche’s superman proves false when they make a minor mistake
as Steiner inadvertently left his glasses behind; leading to law enforcement
focusing on him and his best friend. In
spite of attorney Jonathan Wilk’s ground breaking mental illness and
homosexuality defenses, the pair is convicted of the homicide.
Three decades later, Steiner will shortly go before the parole
board. The Chicago Daily News assigns reporter Sid
Silver to interview Steiner and survivors, like the still in shock killer’s
dad, of the horrible crime of the century.
Based on the Leopold and Loeb murder of Bobbie Franks, the reprint
of the 1956 true crime novelization remains a powerful dramatization that looks
closely at why they did it and the impact of the cold-blooded murder on
families and communities years afterward; as there is no closure for anyone. Over nine decades since the actual murder and
almost sixty years since the original book and its subsequent movie were
released, Meyer Levin’s Compulsion still haunts its audience.
Harriet Klausner
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