Killings

February 13, 2017
Violent deaths illuminate complex lives and desperate circumstances in this expanded reissue of the classic collection of the author’s true-crime reporting for the New Yorker. Journalist Trillin (Jackson, 1964) prowls America’s small towns and county courthouses and finds homicide sagas that are both emblematic and enigmatic: a noirish sex-and-hired-murder scandal erupts in a wholesome Kansas church; two Mexican-American clans fight a bloody generations-long feud; a cocktail waitress is the catalyst for an Iowa farm family’s self-destruction; a bankrupt farmer squares off against a SWAT team while blaming Mossad for his problems; a little girl is brutalized to death by her stepfather; a Michigan man makes a statement about his failed life by opening fire on a group of teenagers; an Iowa man ends up dead for no clear reason beside booze, cussedness, and a handy shotgun. The killers’ motives for bloodshed are many—lust, revenge, honor, madness, self-defense, property disputes, constitutional rights, insurance money—and Trillin also fills in the social backdrop that nudges individuals towards violence, examining poverty, collapsing farm economies, the clash of conservatives and the counterculture, and the rise of drug gangs. Trillin’s relaxed reportage is sympathetic to everyone yet tinged with subtle irony; with telling detail and shrewd insights, he masterfully evokes the places and personalities that hatched these grim episodes.

March 15, 2017

In this updated and expanded edition of journalist Trillin's book, stories unfold less like a courtroom drama and offer a window into the lives of people in particular places and the gruesome and unfortunate circumstances in which they find themselves. In fact, the stories are less about murder and loss and more a dissection of the human psyche and ego, and how and where they live, who they know, and what that means in America. Beginning with the oldest story, from 1969, about a stranger wielding a camera in the rust belt, spanning to 2009 with a man murdering teenagers near a swimming hole, Trillin's subjects are diverse and poignant. Each story captures not only a physical setting but also the tone of the era in which it occurred. Well-crafted and thoughtfully composed, lacking judgment and admonishment, these are a true piece of quality journalism, which clearly continues to captivate audiences. Trillin introduces the collection by discussing his craft and reporting style, and ends it with a profile on a fellow reporter and writer, Edna Buchanan, to offer a distinct contrast to his unconventional view of crime stories. VERDICT This update would be a welcome addition or replacement for any collection.--Kaitlin Malixi, Bucks Cty. Free Lib., Doylestown, PA

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