Kitty Genovese by Kevin Cook

Kitty Genovese by Kevin Cook

That's the narrative told by the Times, movies, TV programs, and countless psychology textbooks. But as award-winning author Kevin Cook reveals, the Genovese story is just that, a story. The truth is far more compelling--and so is the victim.

Now, on the fiftieth anniversary of her murder, Cook presents the real Kitty Genovese. She was a vibrant young woman--unbeknownst to most, a lesbian--a bartender working (and dancing) her way through the colorful, fast-changing New York of the '60s, a cultural kaleidoscope marred by the Kennedy assassination, the Cold War, and race riots. Downtown, Greenwich Village teemed with beatniks, folkies, and so-called misfits like Kitty and her lover. Kitty Genovese evokes the Village's gay and lesbian underground with deep feeling and colorful detail.

Cook also reconstructs the crime itself, tracing the movements of Genovese's killer, Winston Moseley, whose disturbing trial testimony made him a terrifying figure to police and citizens alike, especially after his escape from Attica State Prison.

Drawing on a trove of long-lost documents, plus new interviews with her lover and other key figures, Cook explores the enduring legacy of the case. His heartbreaking account of what really happened on the night Genovese died is the most accurate and chilling to date.

"Kevin Cook takes the story apart and puts it back together againHis punchy account of this famous event reveals that almost everything we think we know about it is wrong." -- Daniel Finkelstein, Christmas Round-Ups 2014 - The Sunday Times
"Cook is [an] adept storyteller." -- The New Yorker
"...well-written and often gripping book..." -- The Times
"A fully-realized portrait of Kitty... Readers won't forget that she was a person, not a player in an anecdote." -- The Boston Sunday Globe
"A grim and fascinating history and discussion of the bystander effect... this book asks hard questions of human nature." -- Diva
"...the book is brilliantly written, a veritable prose docudrama, full of suspense and tension, despite known outcomes." -- Human Givens

A former senior editor at Sports Illustrated, Kevin Cook is the author of Titanic Thompson, Tommy's Honor, Kitty Genovese and The Dad Report. He lives in New York City.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780393350579
ISBN 10	0393350576
Title	Kitty Genovese
Author	Kevin Cook
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	WW Norton & Co
Year published	2015-04-14
Number of pages	256
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.