Of Men and Monsters: Jeffrey Dahmer and the Construction of the Serial Killer Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

Of Men and Monsters: Jeffrey Dahmer and the Construction of the Serial Killer Book

"This is a book, not about what makes the serial killer tick, but about those of us--all of us--who have wound the clock and need to keep it running." These words by historian James Kincaid, in the foreword to Of Men and Monsters, introduce the idea, explored in depth by author Richard Tithecott, that we construct the phenomenon of serial killing. We also construct ourselves, he says, as audience to that spectacle. The killer himself responds to that audience, in a classic loop of the observer affecting the observed. It is a postmodern view, of course, to say that society, and its designated representatives such as FBI serial-killer experts, actually collude in the actions of a "monster" like Jeffrey Dahmer. Tithecott draws on the ideas of French philosopher Michel Foucault to explain and illustrate this view, using prose that is heavy going in places, but still quite readable. Another important contribution to the cultural study of violence is Mark Seltzer's Serial Killers: Death and Life in America's Wound Culture. Read More

from£N/A | RRP: £15.95
* Excludes Voucher Code Discount Also available Used from £N/A
  • Product Description

    Cultural Studies / American Studies "Tithecott takes aim at the unsettling disparity of attention between murderer and murdered."-Chris Bull, Washington Post

    Of Men and Monsters examines the serial killer as an American cultural icon, one that both attracts and repels. Richard Tithecott suggests that the stories we tell and the images we conjure of serial killers-real and fictional-reveal as much about mainstream culture and its values, desires, and anxieties as they do about the killers themselves.

    "In this post-modern reading, Jeffrey Dahmer is not a page in the history of true crime but a Monster who serves many rhetorical and cultural functions."- Philip Jenkins, Penn State University, author of Using Murder: The Social Construction of Serial Homicide

    "Brilliantly compelling. Tithecott challenges us to investigate our simultaneous distancing from and fascination with serial murder."-Maria Tatar, Harvard University, author of Lustmord: Sexual Murder in Weimar Germany

    Of Men and Monsters explores the serial killer as an American cultural icon. Looking at how Jeffrey Dahmer's story was told-on Geraldo Rivera's talk show, in People Weekly pictorials and CNN specials, in Washington Post editorials-and at other examples of serial killers, real and fictional, Jeffrey Tithecott argues that the serial killer we construct for ourselves is a figure both repulsive and attractive who fulfills dreams of masculinity, purity, and violence.

  • 0299156842
  • 9780299156848
  • Richard Tithecott
  • 31 January 1999
  • University of Wisconsin Press
  • Paperback (Book)
  • 208
  • New edition
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. If you click through any of the links below and make a purchase we may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Click here to learn more.

Would you like your name to appear with the review?

We will post your book review within a day or so as long as it meets our guidelines and terms and conditions. All reviews submitted become the licensed property of www.find-book.co.uk as written in our terms and conditions. None of your personal details will be passed on to any other third party.

All form fields are required.