Arrested Adolescence

Arrested Adolescence is an engrossing account of one of the most sensational crimes of the 1920s. Through meticulous research, Rebain gives us a careful and astute retelling of the life of Nathan Leopold, his 'crime of the century, ' and his life after prison. What emerges is a complex portrait of a privileged and gifted youth, a self-avowed hedonist, and an unapologetic conman, unspooling a life that has been layered in so much myth and legend for decades. Erik Rebain is the go-to expert on the Leopold and Loeb case. He has spent years researching the crime, and generously sharing his knowledge with fellow Leopold and Loeb obsessives. He brings a much-needed queer perspective to Leopold's later years, showing the ruse of his late marriage, his mutual admiration society connection to Roy Cohn, and the other gay power-brokers of mid-Century America. Leopold does not come across as sympathetic in any way, and yet he is also cleared of the actual wielding of the deadly chisel in this fellow-expert's mind. Methodically researched, and written with a clear eye, Rebain uncovers the life that Leopold created years after the Bobby Franks murder in tight, riveting prose. Fascination with Nathan Leopold, and his partner in crime the 'evil' Dickie Loeb, seems to survive decades of changes in fashion and taste in celebrities. This volume usefully sheds light on Nathan Leopold's childhood and return to society after imprisonment. Crime and its reception always a mirror of its social context, when and where it happened, and later. In Arrested Adolescence, author Erik Rebain delves deeply into the life of Nathan Leopold, challenging the lurid portraits and self-serving narratives surrounding the infamous murderer. At the book's heart, Rebain wrestles with the question of Leopold's rehabilitation and whether he was truly a reformed man. Looking closely at Leopold's 33 years in prison and the 13 years in Porto Rico after his release, Rebain tells a new story, one that differs dramatically from Leopold's and his supporter's carefully crafted tale of redemption. Utilizing a vast array of archival materials, Rebain presents Leopold in all his human flaws, a man whose life, behaviour, and motivations could never escape his teenaged obsessions, entitlements, desires, and crime. The case has been the subject of movies, documentaries, and numerous books. Erik Rebain, an archivist for the Chicago Tribune and Chicago History Museum, weighs in with a new, deeply researched biography of one-half of the infamous duo. Arrested Adolescence: The Secret Life of Nathan Leopold is the product of a decade of research and Rebain was in his element as he scoured dozens of archives for fresh material unseen for a century.... A century after the Jazz Age caught fire, its crimes continue to offer new insights and timely cautionary tales.