For more than two decades, Vanity Fair has published Dominick Dunne's brilliant, revelatory chronicles of the most famous crimes, trials, and punishments of our time. Here, in one volume, are Dominick Dunne's mesmerizing tales of justice denied and justice affirmed. Whether writing of Claus von Bülow's romp through two trials; the Los Angeles media frenzy surrounding O.J. Simpson; the death by fire of multibillionaire banker Edmond Safra; or the Greenwich, Connecticut, murder of Martha Moxley and the indictment--decades later--of Michael Skakel, Dominick Dunne tells it honestly and tells it from his unique perspective. His search for the truth is relentless. With new essay, "Mourning In New York," about September 11, 2001.
"In my everyday life over the last fifty years, it has been my curious lot to move among the rich and famous and powerful, always as an outsider, always listening, watching, remembering."
Writing about the crimes of the rich and famous for Vanity Fair with this insider's status, Dominick Dunne has borne witness to the often bizarre personalities who surround high-profile cases and their telling intimacies. Andrea Reynolds, for instance, dressed only in a negligee and jewelry, insists that her jewels are finer than those of the comatose woman in whose apartment she resides and whom her lover, Claus von Bulow, is charged with attempting to murder. The essays in Justice offer a fascinating, disturbing, and wry look at the cast of a half dozen high-profile trials, including Lyle and Erik Menendez, who murdered their affluent parents; Marvin Pancoast, who beat the $18,000-a-month mistress of Alfred Bloomingdale to death with a baseball bat; the multibillionaire banker Edmund Safra, who suffocated in his own bunker-like bathroom in Monaco; and the gossiping members of Los Angeles society during "All O.J., All the Time."
The most moving story by far is the title piece, about the murder of Dunne's daughter, the actress Dominique Dunne, by her ex-boyfriend, who walked away with a pitifully light sentence thanks to the extremes taken by his defense lawyer and the vanity of the judge. While the succeeding stories don't have the same poignancy, Dunne still makes them personal--after all, he knows many of those involved, and justice truly is personal for him. In fact, it is this moral authority that enables him to enter the strange universe of high-society crime and write about it with no pretense of objectivity, but rather with rage toward the short shrift justice is so often given in celebrity cases. The counterpoint to his anger is a delicious irony in the form of fascinating subplots, jet-set gossip, and terrific quotes straight from some of the horses' mouths. Dunne has both a sharp sense of the absurd and a trenchant eye for injustice in any form. --Lesley Reed
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Dunne does it again!!!:
I've read most of Mr Dunne's books and he continues to hold my interest. I have the utmost of respect for this gentleman...his unbiased yet "in your face" take on the upper crust's trials and tribulations are bar none...right on the money, so to speak.
I hope Mr Dunne keeps on doing what he does best...and that is TELLING THE TRUTH!~
Dunne:
Yes, he is gossipy but in many ways that raises him above others. Any one who likes true crime will love his work. I think that he has experienced such things he speaks with the a personal insight that only the person who has experienced the pain knows ho to convey that in written form
Reads a little too gossipy...:
Briefly interesting, but after awhile it begins to read like a syrupy tabloid. Also, as the narrative went through the murder account and trial of Dominick Dunne's daughter, I couldn't help but think, why didn't the author do more to keep his daughter away from this convicted criminal? Maybe I missed something, but he was in the know that his daughter was involved with a convicted abuser: why didn't he do everything in his power to bring his daughter back away from this creep?
Anyhow, as for the rest... more info
"...with justice for all?" Hardly.:
Excellent book written by a man who has traveled in the social circles of the guilty as well as the innocent. His status as the father of a murder victim entitles him to an insight that would be almost too much to bear. However, Dunne is objective in his reporting, generous with his knowledge as an "insider," and brave beyond reason in revealing facts about famous legal cases most of us know only through the newspapers. Dunne has put together an amazing collection of essays that will open one's eyes to the... more info
