The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime that Scandalized a City and Sparked the Tabloid Wars
On Long Island, a farmer finds a duck pond turned red with blood. On the Lower East Side, two boys playing at a pier discover a floating human tors...
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Feb 03, 2012
Tony
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THE MURDER OF THE CENTURY: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City and Sparked the Tabloid Wars. (2011). Paul Collins. **.
I have to confess up front that I couldn’t finish this book. It was so poorly organized that by the middle I was so confused that I no longer able to follow the story. I may not be the brightest penny in the pile, but I am usually a careful reader. The author, in his attempt to capture every detail of this crime and the resultant newspaper wars that it spar More...
I have to confess up front that I couldn’t finish this book. It was so poorly organized that by the middle I was so confused that I no longer able to follow the story. I may not be the brightest penny in the pile, but I am usually a careful reader. The author, in his attempt to capture every detail of this crime and the resultant newspaper wars that it spar More...
Oct 23, 2011
Andrew Shuping
rated it: 
This is a well researched book and I can only imagine the amount of time Paul Collins spent at the libraries and talking to the librarians to find this stuff. He makes judicious use of the other newspapers of the time and even gives us some of the front pages from the time. He gives such great information on the late 1800's and the newspaper wars between Hearst and Pulitzer and the way they reported (and investigated) the Guldensuppe murder. Collins makes the reader feel like they are actuall
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Oct 03, 2011
Sally
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Occasionally, a book comes along that makes you really want to read it. The title is usually a hook, especially when the book is on a library shelf. The title here is representative of a newspaper headline. Whatever is published 'above the fold' is supposed to draw you in.
The murder featured in Collins' book is not well known. When I searched online, I could find very few references to it, and most were in relation to Collins and this book. Calling it 'The Murder of the Century' is d More...
The murder featured in Collins' book is not well known. When I searched online, I could find very few references to it, and most were in relation to Collins and this book. Calling it 'The Murder of the Century' is d More...
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Apr 24, 2011
Doreen
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I've never really been a fan of the true crime genre as I grew up on a steady diet of murder mysteries, and true crime always pales in comparison. That said, I do enjoy the popular history genre, as it both entertains and makes me feel virtuous for learning something actual.
This book is equal parts true crime and popular history, as it spends as much time describing the Guldensuppe case as it does the atmosphere around it, particularly the rambunctious journalism that sought to make More...
This book is equal parts true crime and popular history, as it spends as much time describing the Guldensuppe case as it does the atmosphere around it, particularly the rambunctious journalism that sought to make More...
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Jul 31, 2011
Leona
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I came across this book in the WSJ. After hearing/listening/reading about the Casey Anthony trial, one would think that the sensationalism connected to that case was a modern day phenomenon. Not so. As far back as 1897, the public was fascinated by the murder this book is about. While not a 24/7 news cycle as we are with the internet, the newspapers were reporting on this story day in and day out and the people couldn't get enough of it. You have the crazies writing love letters to the defe
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Nov 13, 2011
Brandon
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I'm not exactly sure how I came across this book and decided to read it. I think it was that my library had copies for the Kindle, and there was a waiting list--so I decided to see why. Anyway, this isn't the type of book I usually read--true crime, that is. But even so, I found it pretty interesting. Being about a murder, it is a bit gruesome from time to time, though the author doesn't delve into more detail than needed. The most interesting part of the book, and the one that was most-interest
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Sep 30, 2011
Betty
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Sitting atop the "yellow journalism" pile were two giants: Hearst, young and up-start, willing to apply any amount of yellow ink to sensationalize his "Journal" and out-do the others; and, Joseph Pulitzer, hardly the epitome of journalistic integrity we think of today when his eponymous awards are given. This Pulitzer, much older and venerated, seems willing to "yellow up" his "World" almost against his better instincts.
To convey a meaty sense of More...
To convey a meaty sense of More...
Jun 29, 2011
Shazza
rated it:
For a murder story, this really revolved around the newspapers of William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. The murder itself was horrific - boys found a torso floating in the river. Shortly thereafter, while hunting for blueberries, another boy finds the limbs of the body. The head isn't with either packets of the body, leaving a mystery of not only who the man is, but also why he was killed.
The newspapers have a field day conducting their own investigations, sometimes leading More...
The newspapers have a field day conducting their own investigations, sometimes leading More...
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Feb 13, 2012
Jamie
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On a hot day in New York some boys are down by the water and see a package floating in the water. Thinking it is something that may have fallen off a freighter, they eagerly jump in and grab it. It is wrapped in a layer of cloth, then twine then another layer. When they accidentally pierce it, it bleeds. When it is opened, it ends up being part of a body.
It was an interesting story to see how they discovered who it even was before DNA testing and fingerprinting. When they finally di More...
It was an interesting story to see how they discovered who it even was before DNA testing and fingerprinting. When they finally di More...
Apr 23, 2011
Margaret
rated it:
I won an advance reader copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway and Crown Publishing, and I want to thank them for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime that Scandalized a City & Sparked the Tabloid Wars covers the recovery of a torso, arms, and various parts of a man found in the river in New York City in 1897 and the ensuing trail both inside and out of the courtroom. The bizarre murder sparks controversy from the very begin More...
Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime that Scandalized a City & Sparked the Tabloid Wars covers the recovery of a torso, arms, and various parts of a man found in the river in New York City in 1897 and the ensuing trail both inside and out of the courtroom. The bizarre murder sparks controversy from the very begin More...
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Nov 26, 2011
Lauren
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Engrossing tale of a murder in late 19th-century New York City, and the media frenzy surrounding the mystery, the indictment, and the trial. This was the height of the Pulitzer / Hearst "yellow journalism" and this love triangle murder was the perfect fodder in the "anything goes" world of reporting of the time.
In the end, I was left wondering if the person who was tried and pronounced guilty and later executed, was really the culprit at all. Forensic science an More...
In the end, I was left wondering if the person who was tried and pronounced guilty and later executed, was really the culprit at all. Forensic science an More...
Jul 22, 2011
Emily
rated it:
There's a hole at the center of this book that took me a while to perceive. The alleged murderers are there most vividly, in all their backstabbing sordidness. The victim, too, is described. The lawyers are personified, as are a few jurors and detectives. Even the newspaper titans Hearst and Pulitzer are portrayed. Who is missing? The reporters who originally told this story in the pages of the World and the Journal. Given the current charges against Rupert Murdoch's news empire, a story of jour
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Feb 20, 2012
Clayton
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This story has all the hallmarks of a great Hollywood movie. Let me paint the picture for you: The torso of a human being washes up on the shores of Manhattan a few days later the legs, but the head is never found. Hundreds of people claim that this is one of their loved ones. And the only thing detectives have to go on is a piece of oil cloth sold in lower Manhattan. Typically police would chalk body parts washing up as medical students playing pranks.
This book reads like a thriller More...
This book reads like a thriller More...
Apr 21, 2011
emily
rated it:
It starts out promisingly, as much as you can consider the discovery of a floating torso promising. (Which, for this kind of book, you absolutely absolutely can.) We immediately move into the world of the 1890s NY newspaper wars (which also means that, for the entire duration of my reading this, I had the Newsies soundtrack in my head), following the police force investigating the murder as well as the constant one-upmanship of Pulitzer, Hearst, and other newspaper publishers.
Hones More...
Hones More...
Jan 03, 2012
Susanne
rated it:
It seems to be an accepted truism in publishing that covering one murder is too "niche" to sell well, consequently said murder must be tied into the greater scheme of history. Which means if you're reading for the true-crime-mystery, you get bogged down slogging through the chapters that have nothing to do with the crime.
This is NOT one of those books.
This book focuses on the murder. We get enough of the tabloid wars to understand how this particular mystery a More...
This is NOT one of those books.
This book focuses on the murder. We get enough of the tabloid wars to understand how this particular mystery a More...
Jan 21, 2012
Christiane
rated it:
One hot June afternoon in 1897, two boys playing at a Lower East Side pier discovered a floating human torso. From this grisly beginning came an unprecedented sensationalized story, thanks to the tabloid wars of Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. Anyone who thinks trashy, 24-hour day media coverage of sordid events began with the internet will be shocked and awed by the antics of the warring paper’s rival journalists. As Hearst comments early in the case: “The public likes entertainm
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Nov 20, 2011
Marc
rated it:
The subtitle ("The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City & Sparked the Tabloid Wars") led me to expect both an engrossing true crime story and some history of the rise of sensationalist tabloid journalism. The book delivers (mostly) on the first point, but falls short on the second.
The book lays out a chronological recounting of a sensational murder, arrest, and trial that transfixed the New York City public in 1897-98. The case overflows with just the sort of sordid eleme More...
The book lays out a chronological recounting of a sensational murder, arrest, and trial that transfixed the New York City public in 1897-98. The case overflows with just the sort of sordid eleme More...
Aug 23, 2011
Elizabeth
rated it:
Teaching US History II we talk about Pulitzer and Hearst and their battle to become number one. This book takes one particular case and illuminates some of the tactics they used to try to increase their newspaper sales. The pulse of the book though is the strange murder of an unidentified man and the quest to not only identify him but to solve the murder. This story took place in a time where fingerprinting was not an accepted means of "forensic science." You won't believe how they
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Apr 30, 2011
Melanie
rated it: 
I just finished reading this book and WOW, it was a fantastic read into what was once dubbed "the murder of the century." A grisly find of a dismembered body on the morning of 1897 in NYC begins one of the most sensational and puzzling crimes of the times. What follows is the detailed description and events surrounding the mysterious death of William Guldensuppe. The victims lover, and then boyfriend become suspects is this sensational love triangle and every moment seems to be capt
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Dec 21, 2011
Jill
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This book, although centered on a horrific murder, is really a study of the "yellow" journalism of the tabloids in NYC.......particularly between the Pulitzer and Hearst papers. And it is a dandy! It puts the paparazzi of today's media in the shade as reporters carried guns, had badges, broke into suspects' homes and trampled over crime scenes with abandon. This murder took on a circus atmosphere and the public turned out in droves each time the suspects appeared. Although it may not h
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Aug 15, 2011
Ariel
rated it:
I was expecting to love this book a little more that I did. I love true crime and this period of history in New York City as recanted in the excellent Poisoner's handbook but it was a tad dry and repetitive in places. The murder consists of a run of the mill love triangle consisting of Augusta Nack,a thoroughly distasteful woman and her two lovers, Martin Thorn and murder victim William Guldensuppe. The murder tale is set against the backdrop of the rivalry between the two great newspapers of th
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Jun 29, 2011
Jason
rated it:
I have just recently become more interested in 19th century historical nonfiction, and I have books like "The Murder of the Century" to thank. I love the juxtaposition that was the Victorian Era. As individuals work for advancement in several fields of study they simultaneously clung to the overly formal ways of the past. Whether it was the clearing of women out of the courtroom because of the in-depth focus being placed on Guldensuppe's naughty bits or Howe's probably use of dead rats
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Sep 06, 2011
Val
rated it:
Very interesting true story about a murder committed in the late 1800's. The most interesting part
for me was how the press kept up with the story. Only a few automobiles on the road back in those days so the writers would scurry around on bicycles, following the detectives trying to get the scoop before their rival newsmen got it. Courtroom etchings of the defendents were rolled up and
flown by carrier pidgeon back to the newsroom, Hearst at one time hired a bunch of kids to hit every More...
for me was how the press kept up with the story. Only a few automobiles on the road back in those days so the writers would scurry around on bicycles, following the detectives trying to get the scoop before their rival newsmen got it. Courtroom etchings of the defendents were rolled up and
flown by carrier pidgeon back to the newsroom, Hearst at one time hired a bunch of kids to hit every More...
Feb 14, 2012
Audrey
rated it:
I read this book in one weekend! It was a wonderful depiction of the "yellow" journalism and the brash competitiveness of newspapers of the time period. Research was very thorough and the crime is one I've not heard of beforehand. I put another book by this author on hold and looking forward to reading it! The only drawback was I wish there were more photos--but perhaps they were hard to come by...great stuff. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the history of crime and/or journal
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May 14, 2011
Ashley
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I received this book as a first reads winner and I couldn't be happier with my win. "The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City & Sparked the Tabloid Wars" tells the story of a love triangle which resulted in murder. The setting is New York, specifically Brooklyn where a headless torso washes up on the shore. In the meantime, another section of the body, also without any distinguishing features is discovered near a duck pond. As Joseph Pulitzer and William
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Feb 17, 2012
Amanda
rated it:
A fascinating look into the beginning of yellow journalism, and how one unusual murder case completely revolutionized the newspaper publishing industry.
The murder takes a number of twists and turns as evidence and suspects are revealed, and the trial of the accused is a fascinating look into justice well before Law & Order reigned. There's something in here for everyone- history of newspaper publishing, a salacious murder, a thorny trial, a look into the prison system and the beginnin More...
The murder takes a number of twists and turns as evidence and suspects are revealed, and the trial of the accused is a fascinating look into justice well before Law & Order reigned. There's something in here for everyone- history of newspaper publishing, a salacious murder, a thorny trial, a look into the prison system and the beginnin More...
Aug 09, 2011
Tiki
rated it:
Some of my favorite novels have been about New York at the turn of the century (The Alienist probably being the best) so it was a treat reading about an actual case. You can't make this stuff up and I was amazed at the forensic techniques that existed back then. This was one of the more lurid murders involving a headless corpse identifiable not so much by what was missing but by the genitalia that was immediately recognizable (without going into further detail!). The current tabloids can't hold
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May 02, 2011
Sean
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The full title tells what you need to know here, the book follows the story of a gruesome murder in late 1800s New York and the brutal newspaper battle to capitalize on it, pitting Pulitzer against Hearst.
A great story, more for the media frenzy than the murder itself. With over a dozen daily newspapers in New York at the time, some with two editions a day (plus special editions) it proves the 24 hour news cycle is nothing new, it's just now we have it on TV instead of the press.
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A great story, more for the media frenzy than the murder itself. With over a dozen daily newspapers in New York at the time, some with two editions a day (plus special editions) it proves the 24 hour news cycle is nothing new, it's just now we have it on TV instead of the press.
More...
Feb 19, 2012
Tess
rated it:
Paul Collins' murder mystery is riveting because it's entirely true. The Murder of the Century is the historical account of an 1897 murder that enraptured the entire city of New York. After pieces of a corpse are found in separate packages around the city, New Yorkers went wild trying to determine who the victim was and who could have committed the crime. It was all anyone could talk about for months due to the involvement of two of the biggest newspapers of the time, the New York Journal and
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Sep 03, 2011
George
rated it:
COMPELLING, EXCITING & MEMORABLE.
“He’d developed a fierce love of reading, while on Death Row…”—page 240
It’s just three-and-a-half years to the end of the nineteenth century, and the number of automobiles you’re likely see on the streets of Manhattan on any given day can still be counted on the fingers of one hand. The Bronx is still mostly farmland. In Manhattan, squads of newspaper reporters on bicycles scurry to scoop their competition. Both newspaper giants, Joseph Puli More...
“He’d developed a fierce love of reading, while on Death Row…”—page 240
It’s just three-and-a-half years to the end of the nineteenth century, and the number of automobiles you’re likely see on the streets of Manhattan on any given day can still be counted on the fingers of one hand. The Bronx is still mostly farmland. In Manhattan, squads of newspaper reporters on bicycles scurry to scoop their competition. Both newspaper giants, Joseph Puli More...
