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Once again, I was roaming the “True Crime” section of my library.
This book really irritated the shit out of me. Mostly because the title is so misleading. There was no “hunt” for Jesse Pomeroy. Not really. Everyone seemed to know it was him who was guilty, and he was working in his momma’s store. Wasn’t like he was on the run. He was an evil kid. No arguing that. He is billed as America’s “youngest serial killer” because he killed more than one person. It was rough reading about the kids he killed. It reminded me a lot of the case of James Bulger 120 years later in England. What makes some kids evil? And can they help it? Can they stop themselves? Seems questions asked by people who are much smarter than me!
The book spent a lot of pages on others other than Pomeroy and what he had done. I feel like it told more of Herman Melville’s life than it did of Jesse Pomeroy. As someone who has read ‘Moby Dick’ and hated it, I don’t really care for Herman Melville, honestly. I don’t understand how the book became a classic – which was how I was duped into reading it. I found it bloody and unnecessary. I do want to read ‘Billy Budd’ now that I’ve read about more about Melville and I’m curious how his mental illness affected the book. I have added it to my TBR.
I did like the questions and new perspectives about mental illnesses. Especially the way they were perceived in the past. Also the differences of how people with mental illnesses were/are treated based upon their station in life. Some things don’t change.
Reviewing Life 