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A Wilderness Of Errors (2000)

by Errol Morris(Favorite Author)

3.73 of 5 Votes: 2

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English

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review 1: There are so many issues at stake intellectually in the Jeffrey MacDonald case, and I feel lucky that I just get to sit on the sidelines and ponder them. I clearly recognize I don't have enough firsthand knowledge to make any clear judgments about:-MacDonald's character and behavior before and after the murders, including if he meets criteria for antisocial personality disorder-the quality of the evidence used to convict him, and whether evidence that would have exculpated him was deliberately withheld-the character and behavior of any of the prosecutors or defense team-whether Joe McGinniss acted in an unethical fashion in his relationship with and subsequent portrayal of MacDonald, and what the implications of his behavior are for the journalistic subject/reporter relati... moreonship in any kind of larger, existential sense So, with that out of the way, all I can really comment on is Errol Morris' book as a text. It was easy reading for me. I saw the miniseries based on Fatal Vision when I was about 8 or 9 and had always been convinced the evidence against MacDonald was extremely straightforward. I had no idea about all the legal wrangling that has gone on and this book was very illuminating for me in that sense.I know a lot of people found Morris' writing to be rambling, unpersuasive, and poorly organized. I don't disagree. I have seen almost all of his films and he always tries to turn things on their head, surprise the viewer, sneak up on you, and I think he's an excellent filmmaker (and I am talking far beyond The Thin Blue Line). While I admire his courage as far as even attempting to wade into the waters of such and infamous and loaded case, I don't think he found any smoking guns here, and I also think he clearly showed he works much better with visual media than as a writer. I appreciated being asked to consider once again if MacDonald is guilty, if he received a fair trial, and what the meaning of the various versions of his story might be. Ultimately, I am inclined to think he did kill his family, but I also know I have no real way of knowing what happened 5 years before I was born, and am thankful I was never on a jury that had to decide his fate. As a final note, I wonder if MacDonald is just so damn unlikeable that people want him to be guilty. I often get that sense. Not that that means he didn't do it....just that, instead of it being unthinkable to many that he would do something so horrific, many people seem to find him so off-putting they are glad to think he did it. Errol Morris didn't do anything to dissuade me from thinking MacDonald was an egotistical slimeball, and that may be part of his downfall.
review 2: This book infuriated me. Smoke and mirrors, that's all it was. The author doesn't seem to expect that he might have people familiar with the legal system reading this book or he wouldn't try to put forth some of his ideas regarding how the trials were conducted. Morris, the author, has turned this case into some kind of grand conspiracy against MacDonald which goes all the way up to the Supreme Court of the United States. When I first started reading this, I started to want to pick out misleading statements or clear speculation, but it happened so often it would have been overwhelming. The author couldn't even spell the name of Kimberly MacDonald correctly, I can't put much faith in his incessant speculation. The snarky tone with which he makes all his points is also grating. Errol Morris writes this with a tone that if anyone sees the case differently from how he sees it, then that person must be mentally challenged in some way. Twelve people found MacDonald guilty and numerous appeals have not changed that fact. MacDonald himself did not show himself as trustworthy in a number of ways, such as statements as to the extent of his wounds on The Dick Cavett show or the fact that he was a serial cheater during his marriage. I still have questions regarding his guilt or innocence, but I do believe beyond a reasonable doubt that he did commit these crimes. And, if he did not, then he must have some really bad karma. Morris, however, did not convince me of MacDonald's innocence. Rather, he convinced me of his intention to be able to make a film of this - which is his ultimate goal - but since there has already been a miniseries on it proclaiming MacDonald's guilt, he simply has to argue the other side. Joe McGuinness who wrote Fatal Vision was THERE for the trial, saw the evidence himself and how the trial was conducted,lived with MacDonald and came to the conclusion that MacDonald was guilty. I find it also interesting that it seems many people were his supporters, but changed sides as he was unable to be truly forthcoming about that night, lied to Freddy Kassab that he had tracked down and killed one of the killers (that's just bizarre), and came to know him as an utter narcissist. I'm still bothered by the issue of motive, however. Although, if he was taking amphetamine, as he was - they could have, in fact, triggered a psychotic episode - in fact his brother, Jay, actually did have a psychotic episode triggered by amphetamine use (which I am unsure if Morris mentioned in his book), so it seems likely they could have had the same effect on MacDonald. Morris's ideas of a conspiracy among the judges (Dupree and Fox) is ludicrous. Helena Stoeckley and her various 'confessions' if that's what you want to call them are inconsistent and sometimes just sound delusional, as in her candle was dripping blood at one point? Also, Morris includes a timeline near the end of the book which includes all the various people who allegedly saw Stoeckly on the night in question and the timeline and the observations noted don't add up to any kind of consistency that makes any sense at all. If MacDonald is, in fact, not guilty of these crimes, than God bless him. However, the evidence (as bungled as it was) and common sense indicate that he is guilty. This book did not convince me otherwise. less

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