Rate this book

The Fatal Gift Of Beauty: The Trials Of Amanda Knox (2011)

by Nina Burleigh(Favorite Author)

3.43 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0307588580 (ISBN13: 9780307588586)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Broadway Books

review 1: I just read Amanda Knox's book about her experience and wanted to learn more, so I picked up Nina Burliegh's account. It didn't tell me anything I hadn't already read. It was slightly more objective than Knox's book, which is to be expected, but it was dry and outdated. Burleigh subtitled this book "the trials of Amanda Knox" but spent most of the book talking about the backgrounds/histories of the places and events involved in the case. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn about the Knox case because it doesn't offer anything that a reader can't glean from the internet or from Knox herself.
review 2: I'm not a super avid reader of true crime, but I went through a period where I read all the "classics". Most of those stories revolve around ... moreone of two things: a strange and interesting crime or a strange and interesting killer. This story has neither, which may be why some people found it disappointing. If you know anything about the case, you know that Amanda Knox is almost certainly not guilty. This was a brutal, albeit straightforward crime, and it makes absolutely no logical sense that she was even a suspect, much less incarcerated. So what happened? To answer that question, the author must delve into the hearts and minds of those investigating and reporting on the crime. She must dig back into Perugia's (and Italy's) ancient pagan past, and examine it's complicated relationship with Mary, Jesus' mother, who is worshipped in Italy apart from God and Christ, and whose Perugian incarnation bares a striking resemblance to Amanda Knox. She must also see the crime through the eyes of a prosecutor obsessed with secret cults, which he had spent years tracking in another famous Italian murder case -- a part of the story that makes you realize how easily reality can be altered by one's belief systems. Finally, and perhaps most devastatingly, she must explore how all of these players with their complicated views on women -- informed by a mercurial Christian/pagan figure who demands worship and adoration, and a society which simultaneously objectifies and demonizes the feminine spirit -- influences their opinions of all women. Then she asks us to consider how different our own view really is.After all, the whole world was fascinated by Amanda Knox. But why? Why were we all so willing to believe an absurd, almost comical, story about orgies and sex games gone wrong? What is it about beautiful, young women that makes them so easy to hate, and envy, and fear? It's an age old question; one that a quick glance at the plight of women around the globe will show is as relevant as ever. With all that in mind, I truly believe this story should be read and discussed by everyone, and not just because it was a miscarriage of justice and a demonstration of the tabloid media's increasing power. No. It should be read because it illustrates that we are but steps from a time when women were openly despised, and if we scratch the surface of even our most modern societies, we'll find that hatred lingers still. less

Download links for: The Fatal Gift of Beauty: The Trials of Amanda Knox

Advertising