The Mad Sculptor: The Maniac, the Model, and the Murder that Shook the Nation

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The Mad Sculptor: The Maniac, the Model, and the Murder that Shook the Nation Book Feature

Audible Audio Edition
Listening Length: 10 hours and 51 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged

Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Audible.com Release Date: February 18, 2014
Language: English
ASIN: B00I2QEEH4
Beekman Place, once one of the most exclusive addresses in Manhattan, had a curious way of making it into the tabloids in the 1930s: SKYSCRAPER SLAYER, BEAUTY SLAIN IN BATHTUB read the headlines. On Easter Sunday in 1937, the discovery of a grisly triple homicide at Beekman Place would rock the neighborhood yet again – and enthrall the nation. The young man who committed these murders would come to be known in the annals of American crime as the Mad Sculptor.
Caught up in the Easter Sunday slayings was a bizarre and sensationalistic cast of characters, seemingly cooked up in a tabloid editor’s overheated imagination. The charismatic perpetrator, Robert Irwin, was a brilliant young sculptor who had studied with some of the masters of the era. But with his genius also came a deeply disturbed psyche; Irwin was obsessed with sexual self-mutilation and was frequently overcome by outbursts of violent rage.
Irwin’s primary victim, Veronica Gedeon, was a figure from the world of pulp fantasy – a stunning photographer’s model whose scandalous seminude pinups would titillate the public for weeks after her death. Irwin’s defense attorney, Samuel Leibowitz, was a courtroom celebrity with an unmatched record of acquittals and clients ranging from Al Capone to the Scottsboro Boys. And Dr. Fredric Wertham, psychiatrist and forensic scientist, befriended Irwin years before the murders and had predicted them in a public lecture months before the crime.
Based on extensive research and archival records, The Mad Sculptor recounts the chilling story of the Easter Sunday murders – a case that sparked a nationwide manhunt and endures as one of the most engrossing American crime dramas of the 20th century. Harold Schechter’s masterly prose evokes the faded glory of post-Depression New York and the singular madness of a brilliant mind turned against itself. It will keep you riveted until the very end. Read The Mad Sculptor: The Maniac, the Model, and the Murder that Shook the Nation book online now.

The Mad Sculptor: The Maniac, the Model, and the Murder that Shook the Nation Book Reviews

I read little true crime because it tends to upset me. The only other true crime book I’ve read is In Cold Blood and I’ve read it several times. Mainly because I enjoy Truman and I’ve heard he was the creator of the genre. When I read that The Mad Sculptor could be compared to the talents of Capote, I snatched it up and yes, I was disturbed and I compulsively read it.
I enjoy reading New York history and this story revolves around the area of Beekman Place where the wealthy came to roost when the last century was young. It didn’t help the crime statistics however, and the story of The Mad Sculptor is also the story of Beekman place and the sordid murders it endured in the 1930s.
This is a very good read. Mr. Schechter manages to talk about many issues of the 1930s aside from the rapes and murders at Beekman Place. Sensationalism was also born of this era and reading detective magazines became a national pastime and the tabloids began to run rampant with sordid details, true or otherwise. There is a lot of tantalizing information in this book regarding crime, detection and famous murderers of the day.
The main meat of the story is about the Mad Sculptor, Bob Iriwn, who, as far as I can tell, never had a break in his life and was born in the losing lane, however, he did get the famed, Samuel Leibowitz as his defense attorney so maybe there he got a break. Irwin may have had Congenital Syphilis from birth which could have made him crazier than a loon and there is a lot of evidence regarding his outlandish beliefs though he was a talented artist.
I read The Mad Sculptor is just a couple of days. I enjoyed the writing style of the author and the New York history and appreciate the amount of research that must have been done to recreate the life and times of the maniacal, Mr. Irwin. I definitely give The Mad Sculptor-two thumbs up. If you enjoy history, or true crime, this story will interest you. Get online The Mad Sculptor: The Maniac, the Model, and the Murder that Shook the Nation today.