Ted Botha is the author of "Mongo: Adventures in Trash "and A"partheid in My Rucksack, " and co-author (with Jenni Baxter) of "The Expat Confession...
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Dec 14, 2011
Fran
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The Girl with the Crooked Nose
On a lonely evening on young girl accepts a ride from a stranger. As she decides whether to get into the truck with this man who has anything but good intentions in mind, she thinks about getting home to a warm bed and a good night’s sleep rather than waiting for the bus in the cold. Naïve, really not thinking about what could really happen she allows herself to be convinced to take this ride and the end result is what happens to a girl named Linda with an More...
On a lonely evening on young girl accepts a ride from a stranger. As she decides whether to get into the truck with this man who has anything but good intentions in mind, she thinks about getting home to a warm bed and a good night’s sleep rather than waiting for the bus in the cold. Naïve, really not thinking about what could really happen she allows herself to be convinced to take this ride and the end result is what happens to a girl named Linda with an More...
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Jan 23, 2012
Grace
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This review originally appeared on Feeding My Book Addiction
Ted Botha's detailed account of the life of Frank Bender, artist, photographer, and forensic sculptor, is one of those books that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. Botha gives life to Bender, the missing people he sculpts in hopes of identifying them, and the ins and outs of law enforcement and government in this creative non-fiction account.
The Girl With the Crooked Nose focuses on Bender's w More...
Ted Botha's detailed account of the life of Frank Bender, artist, photographer, and forensic sculptor, is one of those books that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. Botha gives life to Bender, the missing people he sculpts in hopes of identifying them, and the ins and outs of law enforcement and government in this creative non-fiction account.
The Girl With the Crooked Nose focuses on Bender's w More...
Apr 02, 2009
Susie
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Overall I liked the book - I read it to the end. The author goes in details into the life path of Frank who accidentally becomes an expert at creating busts of dead people from their skulls to help in the identification of the bodies, which generally have decomposed to quite a degree before being found by the police. Identifying the bodies seems to go a long way toward finding the murderer. Frank's talent is quite exceptional, and that's one of the interesting aspect of the book - the study of a
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Oct 02, 2009
Susan
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This is not your run-of-the-mill forensics story. The author is a self-taught artist, a biker, a regular guy who got caught-up in.....had a great talent for.....making eerily accurate busts from skulls and other fragments of unidentified murdered people. He was haunted by the people he resurrected. Here are a couple of gems from the book:
"Everything about Mexico said to give it up __ the warning e-mails, the margaritas, the messy evidence room at the Juarez police station, the s More...
"Everything about Mexico said to give it up __ the warning e-mails, the margaritas, the messy evidence room at the Juarez police station, the s More...
Sep 13, 2010
Kristina
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The man in the book is a little obsessed with making faces out of people's skulls. Granted, he helped a lot of people, but the repetitive details about how he sculpted a full face just from the skull got to be boring. The most interesting part of the book was the sections that dealt with Mexico and the women who are murdered there by serial killer(s) and the police can't stop it. It was sad and scary. The writing was not great and the author detoured into a detailed discussion of the man's roman
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Feb 22, 2011
Diana
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An interesting if very uneven tale about Frank Bender, a high school grad who evolves into a forensic sculptor. The anecdotes are interesting but leave you hanging e.g., did they find the killer(s) what really happened in Mexico? This is all probably due to the fact that Mr. Bender never gets to find out either.
I think it would have been better if the author had either concentrated on Mr. Bender's rather colorful life style or on his professional experiences rather than attempting More...
I think it would have been better if the author had either concentrated on Mr. Bender's rather colorful life style or on his professional experiences rather than attempting More...
Jul 25, 2011
Ever since I saw that Philip II of Macedon in National Geographic (who DOES look eerily like Val Kilmer on a bad day), I've loved forensically reconstructed heads. This book chronicles the various successes and yet-unidentified works of Frank Bender and his involvement with the investigations of the Juarez murders. When the system is as screwed up as the corruption, chaos and mayhem that is Mexican law enforcement, it is no surprise that this is still unresolved and most of the women's recons
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Sep 09, 2008
This isn't the usual type of book I find myself reading, but I saw a good review for it in the newspaper and thought I would check it out. It's about a self-taught artist that has a gift for sculpting faces onto skulls. It was really interesting to learn about the process and how each skull is unique and can really show you what somebody looks like. But his talent goes beyond that- there's a lot of intuition. He even reconstructed an I.D. on a skull where the whole face was missing. He has
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May 16, 2008
Vanessa
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Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Crooked-Nose-...
review by Luan Gaines
Although the primary focus of this book, the gruesome murders of low-income young women in Mexico, is never satisfactorily resolved, the author does a thorough job of introducing a fascinating character to the criminal investigation lexicon. Frank Bender, an unusual, driven man finds his passion in recreating the facial distinctions of victims by building plaster busts from the skulls More...
http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Crooked-Nose-...
review by Luan Gaines
Although the primary focus of this book, the gruesome murders of low-income young women in Mexico, is never satisfactorily resolved, the author does a thorough job of introducing a fascinating character to the criminal investigation lexicon. Frank Bender, an unusual, driven man finds his passion in recreating the facial distinctions of victims by building plaster busts from the skulls More...
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Dec 27, 2011
Paige
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Prose flows well, but the structure of the sections make it feel a little bit aimless. It's a very interesting glimpse into the world of forensic artistry, following a man who fell into the job of sculpting busts of missing persons using the skull. Less gruesome than a lot of the true crime books I've read, but really fascinating.
Jul 28, 2011
If there is any other books in t6he library to read I would nor recommend this one . I might cause very unplesent dreams or even nightmares . But kike the old saying " It takes all kinds " .
Apr 20, 2011
Robin
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I picked up this book because I am interested in facial reconstructions from skulls, like I used to see on Meet the Ancestors, and I always wondered if the reconstructions actually looked like the person? According to this book, yes, very much so. Frank Bender seems like an interesting man with a unique talent, and this book lets you in to the development of his technique.
Aug 05, 2008
J.R.
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I've had the pleasure of meeting Frank Bender and the opportunity to see him work. So I knew I had to read this book.
Bender is a self-taught forensic artist whose work has helped identify murder victims and apprehend fugitives. Botha does a good job of outlining Bender's career and also provides information on the history of facial reconstruction and the founding of the Vidocq Society by Bender, William Fleishcher and Richard Walter.
You can read my full review of this book on Amazon.
Bender is a self-taught forensic artist whose work has helped identify murder victims and apprehend fugitives. Botha does a good job of outlining Bender's career and also provides information on the history of facial reconstruction and the founding of the Vidocq Society by Bender, William Fleishcher and Richard Walter.
You can read my full review of this book on Amazon.
Mar 08, 2009
Joanne
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Loved the book, which is mostly about forensic sculpture, but there was less than I expected about the mystery of the murders of young women in Mexico.
Jul 03, 2008
Melissa
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This book details the work of Frank Bender, an artist reborn as a forensic expert. He puts faces on skulls of the unknown dead in hopes of getting an identification. There are pictures and the story does get a bit too technical at times. I enjoyed the reading, because Frank is from Philadelphia and I knew some of the stories firsthand. Unless you are especially artsy or enjoy true-crime, this book isn't for you.
Jul 22, 2008
J.D.
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Although this book was poorly organized, it was so interesting that I whipped through it in about 2 days. It gives a lot of detail about how sculptures are derived from skulls in order to identify murder victims. The parts about the feminicidios in Juarez, Mexico, are less thorough, but do provide a glimpse into the corruption that runs rampant in the Mexican government and police force.
Dec 30, 2010
Susan
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Everyone interested in forensics should read this great (and true) story on how one of the science's most talented facial re-creators got his start(albeit by chance) in the often gruesome world of crime investigation. It is about Frank Bender's non-conformist, unusual life and prolific art. Highly recommend.
Sep 01, 2008
Trina
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Really interesting non-fiction about the work of a forensic artist. My only complaint is the jumping around in time- especially right at the beginning of the book. It would have made more sense to me to have things progress chronologically. Even with that, I could not put it down. Very intriguing.
May 10, 2009
Jessica
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More novelistic than most true crime, with a certain impressionistic feel to the writing. Still, a fascinating story and all the more impressive for the wonderful photos that show the depth of Bender's art.
Apr 22, 2009
Irene
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Not as interesting as I first had hoped and, in my opinion, not much continuity in the way the "story" was told. Informative in some ways, but unsatisfying.
Feb 09, 2012
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