Kitty Genovese

The Murder, the Bystanders, the Crime That Changed America

Kevin Cook

$26.95

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Norton
17 April 2015

Biography; True crime

New York City, 1964. A young woman is stabbed to death on her front stoop - a murder the New York Times called a frozen moment of dramatic, disturbing social change. The victim, Catherine Kitty Genovese, became an urban martyr, butchered by a sociopathic killer in plain sight of thirty-eight neighbors who didn't want to get involved. Her sensational case provoked an anxious outcry and launched a sociological theory known as the Bystander Effect.

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.

By: Kevin Cook
Imprint: Norton
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 211mm, Width: 140mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 218g
ISBN: 9780393350579
ISBN 10: 0393350576
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 17 April 2015
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Kevin Cook, the award-winning author of Kitty Genovese, Titanic Thompson and Tommy's Honor, has written for the New York Times, the Daily News, GQ, Men's Journal, Vogue, and many other publications, and has appeared on CNN and Fox TV. He lives in New York City.

Reviews for Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders, the Crime That Changed America

"""Kevin Cook takes the story apart and puts it back together again. His 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"