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Raging Heart: The Intimate Story of the Tragic Marriage of O.J. and Nicole Brown Simpson
Based on the unprecedented cooperation of Nicole Brown Simpson's family, and exclusive access to friends who reveal private information here for the first time, Raging Heart is the intimate, untold story of Nicole and O.J. Simpson.
305 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1995
96 people are currently reading
1014 people want to read
About the author
Sheila Weller
24 books114 followersSheila Weller is a bestselling author and award-winning magazine journalist specializing in women’s lives, social issues, cultural history, and feminist investigative.
Her seventh book, The News Sorority: Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Christiane Amanpour – and the Triumph of Women in TV News, will be a major release from Penguin-Random House on September 30, 2014.
Her sixth book was the critically acclaimed Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon -- And The Journey of a Generation (2008). A New York Times Bestseller for 8 weeks, it is featured in numerous Women’s Studies programs at major universities, was chosen as one of the Best Books of 2008 by Library Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, Amazon.com, and Tina Brown’s DailyBeast. Girls Like Us is in active development as a motion picture with Sony.
Her 2003 family memoir Dancing At Ciro’s “makes a substantial contribution to American social history,” said The Washington Post.
Her four previous books (including the #2 New York Times bestseller Raging Heart) were well-regarded, news-breaking nonfiction accounts of high profile crimes against women and their social and legal implications.
She is a writer for Vanity Fair, has been Senior Contributing Editor of Glamour since 2002, is a former Contributing Editor to New York, a reviewer for The New York Times Book Review, and has written and writes for numerous other magazines for many years.
She has won nine major magazine awards between 1994 and 2012:
She won a record six Newswomen’s Club of New York Front Page Awards.
She won two Exceptional Merit in Media Awards from The National Women’s Political Caucus.
She was one of three winners, for her body of work, for Magazine Feature Writing on a Variety of Subjects in the 2005 National Headliners Award.
She is married to esteemed history writer John Kelly (The Graves Are Walking, about the Irish Famine, and The Great Mortality, about the Black Death).
She lives in New York City and in Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
Her seventh book, The News Sorority: Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Christiane Amanpour – and the Triumph of Women in TV News, will be a major release from Penguin-Random House on September 30, 2014.
Her sixth book was the critically acclaimed Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon -- And The Journey of a Generation (2008). A New York Times Bestseller for 8 weeks, it is featured in numerous Women’s Studies programs at major universities, was chosen as one of the Best Books of 2008 by Library Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, Amazon.com, and Tina Brown’s DailyBeast. Girls Like Us is in active development as a motion picture with Sony.
Her 2003 family memoir Dancing At Ciro’s “makes a substantial contribution to American social history,” said The Washington Post.
Her four previous books (including the #2 New York Times bestseller Raging Heart) were well-regarded, news-breaking nonfiction accounts of high profile crimes against women and their social and legal implications.
She is a writer for Vanity Fair, has been Senior Contributing Editor of Glamour since 2002, is a former Contributing Editor to New York, a reviewer for The New York Times Book Review, and has written and writes for numerous other magazines for many years.
She has won nine major magazine awards between 1994 and 2012:
She won a record six Newswomen’s Club of New York Front Page Awards.
She won two Exceptional Merit in Media Awards from The National Women’s Political Caucus.
She was one of three winners, for her body of work, for Magazine Feature Writing on a Variety of Subjects in the 2005 National Headliners Award.
She is married to esteemed history writer John Kelly (The Graves Are Walking, about the Irish Famine, and The Great Mortality, about the Black Death).
She lives in New York City and in Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
May 28, 2020
While I had some problems with some conclusions the author drew like saying that black men are inherently violent and basically blaming Nicole's murder on the fact that she married a black man. That was either racist AS FUCK! or the author is a ignorant bitch. You decide.
Other than that I liked the book. I've read several books about The O.J. trial and spent last year obsessed with The Emmy winning miniseries The People vs. O.J. as well as The Oscar winning documentary O.J.: Made in America, but none of these shows or books were about Nicole as person. Reading this book I realized that I knew more about her autopsy than I knew about her life. Which is really sad.
Raging Heart is not about the murders it stops at Nicole's last meal on June 12, 1994 at The Mezzaluna and was written before the trial had begun and the author just assumes that O.J will be convicted ( HAHA! I'm laughing because its tragically awful). Raging Heart is about O.J. & Nicole's rocky 12 year relationship. I felt so horrible for Nicole she was barely 18 when she met O.J. and he was violent from the beginning. He basically raped her on their first date. He used his money and power to turn all her friends and family against her. Her parents actually told her to just learn to live with the beatings. He not only beat her but was emotionally and financially abusive as well. In her lifetime no one cared about her and unfortunately no one cared about her in death. I would like to think things have changed in the 23 years since Nicole Brown & Ronald Goldman lost they're lives but every time I hear a Chris Brown song on the radio or hear someone ask what the woman did to provoke her abuser, I know that we still don't take domestic violence seriously. On that depressing note I end my review with this, if you are in a violent relationship please seek help and know that there are people who will believe you.
Popsugar 2017 Reading Challenge: Book you got from a used book sale.
Other than that I liked the book. I've read several books about The O.J. trial and spent last year obsessed with The Emmy winning miniseries The People vs. O.J. as well as The Oscar winning documentary O.J.: Made in America, but none of these shows or books were about Nicole as person. Reading this book I realized that I knew more about her autopsy than I knew about her life. Which is really sad.
Raging Heart is not about the murders it stops at Nicole's last meal on June 12, 1994 at The Mezzaluna and was written before the trial had begun and the author just assumes that O.J will be convicted ( HAHA! I'm laughing because its tragically awful). Raging Heart is about O.J. & Nicole's rocky 12 year relationship. I felt so horrible for Nicole she was barely 18 when she met O.J. and he was violent from the beginning. He basically raped her on their first date. He used his money and power to turn all her friends and family against her. Her parents actually told her to just learn to live with the beatings. He not only beat her but was emotionally and financially abusive as well. In her lifetime no one cared about her and unfortunately no one cared about her in death. I would like to think things have changed in the 23 years since Nicole Brown & Ronald Goldman lost they're lives but every time I hear a Chris Brown song on the radio or hear someone ask what the woman did to provoke her abuser, I know that we still don't take domestic violence seriously. On that depressing note I end my review with this, if you are in a violent relationship please seek help and know that there are people who will believe you.
Popsugar 2017 Reading Challenge: Book you got from a used book sale.
June 15, 2018
Guess who just binged The People vs. OJ Simpson? I love a good true crime novel, but I'm interested in motive and character. How does a once-loving relationship devolve into murder? How does your dearest family member transform into your worst enemy?
There are multiple books written about O.J's trial, but not as many focused on O.J. and Nicole's actual relationship. Raging Heart is truly a rarity. I appreciated that Raging Heart was based on interviews with Nicole's nearest and dearest. It lends an authenticity that similar books have lacked. But even with a crap-ton of inside information, Raging Heart remains fairly superficial. We get the facts & figures, but not much depth. I may know where Nicole was born and how she met O.J., but no real sense of her as a person.
Basically, if you want a timeline of events, Raging Heart is a good pick. But if you're interested in character insight, look somewhere else.
There are multiple books written about O.J's trial, but not as many focused on O.J. and Nicole's actual relationship. Raging Heart is truly a rarity. I appreciated that Raging Heart was based on interviews with Nicole's nearest and dearest. It lends an authenticity that similar books have lacked. But even with a crap-ton of inside information, Raging Heart remains fairly superficial. We get the facts & figures, but not much depth. I may know where Nicole was born and how she met O.J., but no real sense of her as a person.
Basically, if you want a timeline of events, Raging Heart is a good pick. But if you're interested in character insight, look somewhere else.
August 13, 2014
I had no interest in reviewing old news but when the OJ anniversary came up and I realized that a writer in social media I truly respect wrote this journalism-infused biography, I had to read Sheila Weller's Raging Heart. It's not about cops and murderers and evidence gone awry; sure, there's some of that here but at a minimum. What Ms. Weller does seamlessly is sketch out both Nicole Brown and her husband, OJ Simpson, from their childhoods through their union.
It was so sad to read how this young girl, 18 when they met, became addicted just as he did. Ms. Weller's ability to flesh out this deadly combination of personalities that too often result in the wives of these toxic unions meeting harm's way suggests that she understands psychology and the human condition as much as she understands journalistic storytelling. Once you understand the cycle of abuse that Sheila Weller understands so well, you also realize that the fate of these women is destined. This story 'reads' penned through that prism and for this reason, Raging Heart reads unlike any other story I've ever read about these deadly unions. I wish it were required reading in high school and college 'psycho/soc' courses. Young people should understand the deadly combination of this mutual addiction that so often ends in tragedy. They should study Nicole and OJ, two glam people-bigger than life-whose fatal attraction to each other killed her.
She was just 18 when they met. Someone should have told her early on-the first time he bashed her face-that she had to leave. They weren't even married yet. Someone should have told her that if he hit his first wife, he would hit her-that no one is that special, not even her. Someone should have told her to get the stars out her eyes so she could see the man before her. She was just a kid and when she did tell them her secrets, they told her to not make him so mad. Someone should have told her but they were all too blinded by the stardust in their own eyes. That's the real tragedy that Sheila Weller, through hundreds of interviews and massive research, reveals. No one told her and someone should have. She was just a kid when they met.
I will read everything Sheila Weller pens-her next book 'News Sorority' is already on my list!
It was so sad to read how this young girl, 18 when they met, became addicted just as he did. Ms. Weller's ability to flesh out this deadly combination of personalities that too often result in the wives of these toxic unions meeting harm's way suggests that she understands psychology and the human condition as much as she understands journalistic storytelling. Once you understand the cycle of abuse that Sheila Weller understands so well, you also realize that the fate of these women is destined. This story 'reads' penned through that prism and for this reason, Raging Heart reads unlike any other story I've ever read about these deadly unions. I wish it were required reading in high school and college 'psycho/soc' courses. Young people should understand the deadly combination of this mutual addiction that so often ends in tragedy. They should study Nicole and OJ, two glam people-bigger than life-whose fatal attraction to each other killed her.
She was just 18 when they met. Someone should have told her early on-the first time he bashed her face-that she had to leave. They weren't even married yet. Someone should have told her that if he hit his first wife, he would hit her-that no one is that special, not even her. Someone should have told her to get the stars out her eyes so she could see the man before her. She was just a kid and when she did tell them her secrets, they told her to not make him so mad. Someone should have told her but they were all too blinded by the stardust in their own eyes. That's the real tragedy that Sheila Weller, through hundreds of interviews and massive research, reveals. No one told her and someone should have. She was just a kid when they met.
I will read everything Sheila Weller pens-her next book 'News Sorority' is already on my list!
February 15, 2013
I will never forget where I was and what I was doing when I heard that O.J. Simpson had been found not guilty in his murder trial. I was in shock, I had heard about all the evidence and couldn't fathom how he wasn't convicted.
So, when the books started pouring out I decided to read them to figure out what happened. I read 2 of them soon after, and the other 3 right when O.J. attempted to publish his "confession, that wasn't really a confession."
The 5 books I read on the O.J. Simpson case were: Evidence Dismissed: The Inside Story of the Police Investigation of O.J. Simpson, Without a Doubt, Murder In Brentwood, How I Helped O.J. Get Away With Murder: The Shocking Inside Story of Violence, Loyalty, Regret, and Remorse and If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer.
Yet, in reading all these books on the case, I never really read a book that described O.J. and Nicole's lives before the murders. Weller's book is wonderful in giving you a vivid and detailed account of their lives and their marriage. It helped me to understand the dynamics a lot better and even helped me to learn even more about domestic violence.
So, when the books started pouring out I decided to read them to figure out what happened. I read 2 of them soon after, and the other 3 right when O.J. attempted to publish his "confession, that wasn't really a confession."
The 5 books I read on the O.J. Simpson case were: Evidence Dismissed: The Inside Story of the Police Investigation of O.J. Simpson, Without a Doubt, Murder In Brentwood, How I Helped O.J. Get Away With Murder: The Shocking Inside Story of Violence, Loyalty, Regret, and Remorse and If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer.
Yet, in reading all these books on the case, I never really read a book that described O.J. and Nicole's lives before the murders. Weller's book is wonderful in giving you a vivid and detailed account of their lives and their marriage. It helped me to understand the dynamics a lot better and even helped me to learn even more about domestic violence.
April 20, 2016
Nicole Brown Simpson lived her life as a pretty bird in a gilded cage, hostage to the carefully crafted public image of her husband as well as the celebrity, wealth and egomania it generated. Whether she truly realised what a pact with the devil she'd made as a naive teenager is hard to say. But she paid a heavy price. Weller's rendering of her sad tale is an absorbing read best read in tandem with Jeffrey Toobin's "The Run of His Life".
April 30, 2020
This is a great book if you want to know the detailed dynamics of O.J. and Nicole's relationship. It's well researched, written and juicy. But I would like to add that this relationship was NOT ABOUT LOVE!
Please, STOP with the "how much these two were in love with each other." Nicole was a TEENAGER and her parents and family KNEW she was being abused, beaten badly, and yet ENCOURAGED her to stay with O.J. Nicole never had a chance. O.J. is a sociopath and moved in sociopathic "boys club" circles. A man giving you expensive cars or jewelry after beating you IS NOT LOVE! It is sociopathic manipulation.
Please, STOP with the "how much these two were in love with each other." Nicole was a TEENAGER and her parents and family KNEW she was being abused, beaten badly, and yet ENCOURAGED her to stay with O.J. Nicole never had a chance. O.J. is a sociopath and moved in sociopathic "boys club" circles. A man giving you expensive cars or jewelry after beating you IS NOT LOVE! It is sociopathic manipulation.
May 1, 2024
Spoiler alert…
HE DID IT!!!!!!
HE DID IT!!!!!!
November 5, 2023
I am just going through all my old OJ trial books and came across this one I never read.
It’s interesting because it was written before the criminal trial and does not take you all through the murders. I have seen and read enough of those awful pictures and autopsy reports. I wanted to know more about the relationship and life of OJ and Nicole.
That is what this book features the most.
I must say that that was one sick relationship. It should never have happened. Obsession is taken to another level between these two. Both of them were obsessed with each other and I feel as if Nicole played a lot of head games with OJ that she knew was very dangerous.
I found Nicole to be a very confused woman/child/girl.
She met OJ at such a young age that she never really got to know who she really was as a person.
She was 18 and working as a waitress in a nightclub type atmosphere when OJ first met her. He kept coming back to talk to her for a week or two and finally she agreed to go out with him.
She was sharing an apartment with a male friend and she came home from the date holding her pants together. OJ had ripped them off her to have sex.
Her roommate said that was the first sign that she should have feared OJ, but she said she really liked him.
Within 3 days OJ had moved her into an apartment because he didn’t want her living with her platonic friend.
Nicole became his mistress. A kept woman because she quit her job and never worked another day in her short life.
Nicole always said she hated adultery, but OJ was married at the time and living with his very pregnant wife at Rockingham. I’m not sure if Nicole didn’t see herself as an adulterer because she was not married, but she did carry on and adulterous affair for years with OJ. OJ’s wife had the baby, who eventually died from falling into the Rockingham swimming pool. She was not being watched properly and was found floating in the pool and remained on life support for a few days until they knew it was no hope for her.
OJ was still living there, but was staying mostly with Nicole. He also had other women he was still seeing at the same time. He was a serial cheater and Nicole knew this.
He paid for everything for Nicole. She was at the mercy of him. But he was very generous with her, giving her $5000 a month to spend. He slowly reeled her in.
OJ began assaulting Nicole before they were married. She just took the beatings and married him anyway. She truly loved him, but she loved the life he gave her, too. She became addicted to both.
OJ continued to beat her black and blue over and over, but Nicole felt like she could never leave him. He even beat her when she pregnant with their second child.
People looking from the outside, friends, acquaintances and people that only saw them from afar all thought they had a great marriage. From everything they saw it appeared they were living a fairytale life. Famous athlete husband, beautiful young wife and beautiful children. Jetting off to expensive vacations and owning many homes in many states. The Rockingham estate was THE place to go for a good time. Fun cookouts and game nights and tennis and everyone raved about the great times and the obvious love between OJ and Nicole.
But things were not as they seemed. Nicole hid the beatings well. She did not want news of them in the press because it would cost OJ endorsements and it would also end up hurting the children. She wanted to get away, but didn’t have the nerve to try. Her own family, who OJ was very close with and dolled out money to all the time wanted her to stay married to the Football Hero. She was trapped. She also loved him even through the beatings. She also knew that without OJ and his money she had nothing and she was a “nobody”. It’s sad to think that a person thinks that they are not worth anything if they are no longer married to the fame.
Nicole mustered up the courage to leave OJ in 1992. She moved two miles away and filed for divorce.
OJ had made her sign a prenup before they were married that stated what real estate he acquired during the marriage was his and his alone. So she got nothing from him but a townhouse he had bought her in San Francisco and a lump sum of money of $430,000…. $10,000 a month in child support, which is extreme, but out of that she had to pay the tuition at both the kids private schools…. And NO alimony. So she basically did not fare too well.
OJ stalked her mercilessly during the separation and after the divorce. He said to many of his friends that if he caught her with another man he would kill her. Many people say things like that when they are mad or hurt, but OJ had a history of abusing Nicole and had been arrested and had pled No Contest back in 1989. He was given a $450 fine and had to do community service which he somehow managed to do by having a business benefit to raise money for children with cancer. A great charity, but not what community service is for. The judge told him that and gave him 35 more hours which supposedly he did, but no one seems to know what exactly he did.
But back to 1992. They were divorced and OJ was despondent about it, but had come to accept it. He was in a relationship with Paula Barbieri and it was going well. He was happy and enjoying life without the drama that came with Nicole.
Nicole, in 1993, decided she wanted him back. She begged him to let her “come home”. He said he didn’t really want that life anymore, but Nicole kept at him and he decided that he would give her a year. They rekindled their relationship, but OJ still saw Paula and just about any other woman he wanted the whole time and Nicole knew it. She still had her house and was going between that and Rockingham so as not to confuse the children by moving back into Rockingham before she knew if the relationship would work.
In May of 1994 OJ and Nicole and a group of friends and relatives went to Cabo San Lucas on a vacation. Things went well, but Nicole decided she wanted a different life. She was still young and wanted her freedom and wanted to end the relationship for good.
OJ was beside himself. He tried to convince her to stay. He bought her an expensive diamond and sapphire bracelet which she took and wore and then a few days later on May 26th she gave it back to him and told him the relationship was over.
She had moved into the Bundy Drive Condo using the money from the sale of the San Francisco condo that she got in the divorce settlement. She was happy there.
She started going out having fun with her friends and finally enjoying life. She made a fatal mistake. One that I believe cost her her life. She started up an affair with Marcus Allen, who was married at the time and also a close friend of OJ’s. OJ felt like Marcus was a younger, better version of him and he felt threatened.
Nicole…. So much for her hating infidelity…. Once again was committing it.
Her and Marcus would sneak around while Nicole knew OJ was out of town, but word gets around, no matter the size of the town.
The final breaking point was when OJ decided that he would make Nicole pay for leading him on. When she sold the SF condo she was supposed to sell it for another rental property or pay capital gains in it. Around $90,000. All the money she had left. She had been using OJ’s Rockingham address as her current address to fool the IRS. OJ called her out on it in a legal letter telling her she no longer had permission to use his address because he did not want trouble with the IRS and then he told her he was notifying the IRS about what Nicole had done. He basically had just told Nicole her and the children would be homeless.
Nicole was devastated and extremely mad at OJ, refusing to talk to him at all.
Her last night, the night of her murder, her daughter had a dance recital. Nicole’s family came from Laguna to watch and OJ came, but Nicole did not save a seat for him. After the recital OJ tried to talk to the family and his children and asked could he go out to dinner with them and Nicole told him NO. They left him standing in the school parking lot.
This was what tipped OJ over the edge. He was furious. He was back to seeing Paula again and she had wanted to come to the recital with him, but he told her he did not want her there. Paula left town and went to Vegas and left a break up message on his answering machine. So OJ had been dumped by both his women on the same day and with his over inflated ego it was just too much for him to control his rage. He was going to make Nicole pay.
Ron Goldman was just a nice young guy who was trying to do a friend a favor by returning a pair of glasses that Nicole’s mother had dropped on the sidewalk outside the restaurant they had just eaten at. Had he never met Nicole, had her Mother not dropped her glasses, Ron would still be alive today barring any other illness or misfortune. A sad case of being in the wrong time and the wrong place.
I have no doubt in my mind that OJ committed these murders. So much evidence and a jury set on sending a message to the LAPD that payback is hell.
It was not the time to do that and let a murderer walk free, but after the Rodney King verdicts, which I thought were beyond wrong and the awful presentation put forth by the prosecution it gave them ample room to say they weren’t convinced. I think they ALL knew he was guilty, but they just did not care. Had OJ been a white man, even one in the Football Hall of Fame…. He would have been found guilty by that jury.
But the trial had not happened when this book was written. It was rushed out quickly.
It was sloppily written and edited badly and quite a few things were just found to be not true in the future, but you get a great glimpse into the very complicated relationship that was Nicole and OJ.
It’s interesting because it was written before the criminal trial and does not take you all through the murders. I have seen and read enough of those awful pictures and autopsy reports. I wanted to know more about the relationship and life of OJ and Nicole.
That is what this book features the most.
I must say that that was one sick relationship. It should never have happened. Obsession is taken to another level between these two. Both of them were obsessed with each other and I feel as if Nicole played a lot of head games with OJ that she knew was very dangerous.
I found Nicole to be a very confused woman/child/girl.
She met OJ at such a young age that she never really got to know who she really was as a person.
She was 18 and working as a waitress in a nightclub type atmosphere when OJ first met her. He kept coming back to talk to her for a week or two and finally she agreed to go out with him.
She was sharing an apartment with a male friend and she came home from the date holding her pants together. OJ had ripped them off her to have sex.
Her roommate said that was the first sign that she should have feared OJ, but she said she really liked him.
Within 3 days OJ had moved her into an apartment because he didn’t want her living with her platonic friend.
Nicole became his mistress. A kept woman because she quit her job and never worked another day in her short life.
Nicole always said she hated adultery, but OJ was married at the time and living with his very pregnant wife at Rockingham. I’m not sure if Nicole didn’t see herself as an adulterer because she was not married, but she did carry on and adulterous affair for years with OJ. OJ’s wife had the baby, who eventually died from falling into the Rockingham swimming pool. She was not being watched properly and was found floating in the pool and remained on life support for a few days until they knew it was no hope for her.
OJ was still living there, but was staying mostly with Nicole. He also had other women he was still seeing at the same time. He was a serial cheater and Nicole knew this.
He paid for everything for Nicole. She was at the mercy of him. But he was very generous with her, giving her $5000 a month to spend. He slowly reeled her in.
OJ began assaulting Nicole before they were married. She just took the beatings and married him anyway. She truly loved him, but she loved the life he gave her, too. She became addicted to both.
OJ continued to beat her black and blue over and over, but Nicole felt like she could never leave him. He even beat her when she pregnant with their second child.
People looking from the outside, friends, acquaintances and people that only saw them from afar all thought they had a great marriage. From everything they saw it appeared they were living a fairytale life. Famous athlete husband, beautiful young wife and beautiful children. Jetting off to expensive vacations and owning many homes in many states. The Rockingham estate was THE place to go for a good time. Fun cookouts and game nights and tennis and everyone raved about the great times and the obvious love between OJ and Nicole.
But things were not as they seemed. Nicole hid the beatings well. She did not want news of them in the press because it would cost OJ endorsements and it would also end up hurting the children. She wanted to get away, but didn’t have the nerve to try. Her own family, who OJ was very close with and dolled out money to all the time wanted her to stay married to the Football Hero. She was trapped. She also loved him even through the beatings. She also knew that without OJ and his money she had nothing and she was a “nobody”. It’s sad to think that a person thinks that they are not worth anything if they are no longer married to the fame.
Nicole mustered up the courage to leave OJ in 1992. She moved two miles away and filed for divorce.
OJ had made her sign a prenup before they were married that stated what real estate he acquired during the marriage was his and his alone. So she got nothing from him but a townhouse he had bought her in San Francisco and a lump sum of money of $430,000…. $10,000 a month in child support, which is extreme, but out of that she had to pay the tuition at both the kids private schools…. And NO alimony. So she basically did not fare too well.
OJ stalked her mercilessly during the separation and after the divorce. He said to many of his friends that if he caught her with another man he would kill her. Many people say things like that when they are mad or hurt, but OJ had a history of abusing Nicole and had been arrested and had pled No Contest back in 1989. He was given a $450 fine and had to do community service which he somehow managed to do by having a business benefit to raise money for children with cancer. A great charity, but not what community service is for. The judge told him that and gave him 35 more hours which supposedly he did, but no one seems to know what exactly he did.
But back to 1992. They were divorced and OJ was despondent about it, but had come to accept it. He was in a relationship with Paula Barbieri and it was going well. He was happy and enjoying life without the drama that came with Nicole.
Nicole, in 1993, decided she wanted him back. She begged him to let her “come home”. He said he didn’t really want that life anymore, but Nicole kept at him and he decided that he would give her a year. They rekindled their relationship, but OJ still saw Paula and just about any other woman he wanted the whole time and Nicole knew it. She still had her house and was going between that and Rockingham so as not to confuse the children by moving back into Rockingham before she knew if the relationship would work.
In May of 1994 OJ and Nicole and a group of friends and relatives went to Cabo San Lucas on a vacation. Things went well, but Nicole decided she wanted a different life. She was still young and wanted her freedom and wanted to end the relationship for good.
OJ was beside himself. He tried to convince her to stay. He bought her an expensive diamond and sapphire bracelet which she took and wore and then a few days later on May 26th she gave it back to him and told him the relationship was over.
She had moved into the Bundy Drive Condo using the money from the sale of the San Francisco condo that she got in the divorce settlement. She was happy there.
She started going out having fun with her friends and finally enjoying life. She made a fatal mistake. One that I believe cost her her life. She started up an affair with Marcus Allen, who was married at the time and also a close friend of OJ’s. OJ felt like Marcus was a younger, better version of him and he felt threatened.
Nicole…. So much for her hating infidelity…. Once again was committing it.
Her and Marcus would sneak around while Nicole knew OJ was out of town, but word gets around, no matter the size of the town.
The final breaking point was when OJ decided that he would make Nicole pay for leading him on. When she sold the SF condo she was supposed to sell it for another rental property or pay capital gains in it. Around $90,000. All the money she had left. She had been using OJ’s Rockingham address as her current address to fool the IRS. OJ called her out on it in a legal letter telling her she no longer had permission to use his address because he did not want trouble with the IRS and then he told her he was notifying the IRS about what Nicole had done. He basically had just told Nicole her and the children would be homeless.
Nicole was devastated and extremely mad at OJ, refusing to talk to him at all.
Her last night, the night of her murder, her daughter had a dance recital. Nicole’s family came from Laguna to watch and OJ came, but Nicole did not save a seat for him. After the recital OJ tried to talk to the family and his children and asked could he go out to dinner with them and Nicole told him NO. They left him standing in the school parking lot.
This was what tipped OJ over the edge. He was furious. He was back to seeing Paula again and she had wanted to come to the recital with him, but he told her he did not want her there. Paula left town and went to Vegas and left a break up message on his answering machine. So OJ had been dumped by both his women on the same day and with his over inflated ego it was just too much for him to control his rage. He was going to make Nicole pay.
Ron Goldman was just a nice young guy who was trying to do a friend a favor by returning a pair of glasses that Nicole’s mother had dropped on the sidewalk outside the restaurant they had just eaten at. Had he never met Nicole, had her Mother not dropped her glasses, Ron would still be alive today barring any other illness or misfortune. A sad case of being in the wrong time and the wrong place.
I have no doubt in my mind that OJ committed these murders. So much evidence and a jury set on sending a message to the LAPD that payback is hell.
It was not the time to do that and let a murderer walk free, but after the Rodney King verdicts, which I thought were beyond wrong and the awful presentation put forth by the prosecution it gave them ample room to say they weren’t convinced. I think they ALL knew he was guilty, but they just did not care. Had OJ been a white man, even one in the Football Hall of Fame…. He would have been found guilty by that jury.
But the trial had not happened when this book was written. It was rushed out quickly.
It was sloppily written and edited badly and quite a few things were just found to be not true in the future, but you get a great glimpse into the very complicated relationship that was Nicole and OJ.
July 27, 2016
I bought this book after watching the 5 part documentary on ESPN called Made in America. This documentary reviewed and OJ Simpson's life before, during, and after Nicole. It also went to detail about the trial. I instantly wanted to know more. This book does a good job of giving the reader insight into the lives of Nicole Brown Simpson and OJ, but I don't feel like I learned a lot more than what I already knew from the documentary. I is a heartbreaking read that shows the vicious cycle of abuse Nicole went through and the unhealthy nature of their relationship. I felt that the information seemed to ramble and the thoughts of the book were jumbled together. I felt I got a lot information on characters I forget about or had no relevance a chapter later.
February 2, 2025
This book captivated and held my attention throughout as it described the intimate and rapid progression of a domestic relationship gone awry and culminating in an absolute tragic double homicide. What is intriguing is the details and insight into Mr. Simpson’s obsession, control, and violence that were ignored often times due to his celebrity. His narcissistic and abusive tendencies were hidden behind an image he worked so meticulously to create and so easily manipulated the public with. I think the author provides sound warnings and highlights the importance of knowing what characteristics and traits are common among abusers. It is an absolute must read and it is quick and concise but incredibly engaging and thought provoking.
March 11, 2025
I was really stunned by how well written and informative this book was regarding the relationship of OJ Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson. The name of the book and the picture on the front made me think it was going to be more “fluff” but instead, I found it to be very well researched and learned many details I had never known. This surprised me because I have read quite a few of the books written about the trial. Sheila Weller did a fantastic job gathering intimate details from family members and friends who were very close with the couple. I have never seen this book come up in any searches regarding OJ Simpson or Nicole Brown Simpson and believe it’s a worthwhile read.
April 23, 2024
4/15 - 4/18/2024
After learning about O.J. Simpson’s death (rest in piss), I pulled this off my shelf for a re-read. I had read this once before, during the pandemic after listening to several episodes of You’re Wrong About - this book was cited, especially on the episodes centered on Nicole Brown Simpson. I also watched the documentary/one woman show Juror #5: 58 Days Jury Duty on the OJ Simpson Civil Trial where it is clear, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Simpson snuffed out the lives of two people.
Re-reading this book just reinforced my earlier opinions - Nicole Brown comes across as a complicated, but wonderful woman stuck in a dependent, abusive, terrifying relationship largely tolerated and downright enabled by the people around her. She loved her children, she cherished her friends, she was this strong, vivacious woman. Yes, she definitely had flaws which are described and examined in the book. SThe more I learn about Nicole Brown’s family, especially her father - Lou - and mother - Juditha - the more I despise them. Time after time, Nicole showed direct evidence - on her own body! - of O.J.’s abuse and they were basically like, Eh - try to work it out. She deserved better parents.
This book lays out the steps of domestic violence and how men who batter their partners keep escalating the violence to the final, fatal point. The fact that O.J. Simpson kept brushing off serious accusations and the police basically let him get away with attacking Nicole again and again shows how useless they were. There is a small section in which Ron Shipp, a friend of O.J.'s and a former cop, is running a domestic violence class which was quite chilling and yet, somehow unsurprising:
The snippets on Ron Goldman are one of the very few instances where he comes across as an actual person. As his own father said, he and Nicole are basically a footnote in the circus that was the criminal trial. From what I have gathered from this book and other sources, he was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. He tried to intervene and help Nicole when she was attacked and died for it.
This book also serves as a mini (but thorough) biography of Kris Kardashian. Learning about her life and friendships with Nicole and O.J. is fascinating. Sheila Weller even mentions, in passing, that one of Kris’s goals was to have her own TV show, which she eventually got on the literal back of her daughter, Kim.
There is a lot of name dropping in this book - which cluttered the book. And Google Images was no help! Most of the attention - when not directed on the Brown family and the Simpson family - is on Ron Shipp, former L.A.P.D. cop who even led classes on domestic violence while his best friend was brutalizing his wife and on A.C. Cowlings, former football player and driver during the infamous White Bronco chase.
December 10 - December 25, 2020
I picked up this book while listening to You're Wrong About, a podcast by Sarah Marshall and Michael Hobbes. A solid portion of the podcast is devoted to the OJ Simpson trial and the people involved. The first person they discussed was Nicole Brown Simpson, the second wife of OJ Simpson. They investigated and discussed the woman who by a lot of accounts was a wonderful person, a great mother, a wonderful friend, and the victim of a batterer and abuser. One of the books they cited was this one, Raging Heart.
This book is mostly about her, her relatively short life (she was only 18 and a few weeks old when she met OJ Simpson and the rest of her life was pretty much dominated by him), and her relationship with OJ Simpson. This insightful book examines what she was like as a person, flaws and all, and why she was essentially stuck in an incredibly dangerous relationship. This book is also insightful into looking at why people stay in abusive relationships. Weller points out how her own family and friends, despite witnessing several instances of abuse (including Nicole showing her father pictures of her own face bruised and battered), pushed her to stay in the relationship, the personalities the two had that meshed so well (the abuser and the abused), the power dynamics, and the sheer force of will and domination OJ Simpson wielded over his wife.
There is also some interesting information on the other murder victim, Ron Goldman. We learn about what he wanted to do with this future (open a restaurant), his friends, and what he was like as a person.
The book does jump around in time a bit, so it is not totally linear. However, if you come in knowing who the principal characters are, you should be able to follow along.
After learning about O.J. Simpson’s death (rest in piss), I pulled this off my shelf for a re-read. I had read this once before, during the pandemic after listening to several episodes of You’re Wrong About - this book was cited, especially on the episodes centered on Nicole Brown Simpson. I also watched the documentary/one woman show Juror #5: 58 Days Jury Duty on the OJ Simpson Civil Trial where it is clear, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Simpson snuffed out the lives of two people.
Re-reading this book just reinforced my earlier opinions - Nicole Brown comes across as a complicated, but wonderful woman stuck in a dependent, abusive, terrifying relationship largely tolerated and downright enabled by the people around her. She loved her children, she cherished her friends, she was this strong, vivacious woman. Yes, she definitely had flaws which are described and examined in the book. SThe more I learn about Nicole Brown’s family, especially her father - Lou - and mother - Juditha - the more I despise them. Time after time, Nicole showed direct evidence - on her own body! - of O.J.’s abuse and they were basically like, Eh - try to work it out. She deserved better parents.
This book lays out the steps of domestic violence and how men who batter their partners keep escalating the violence to the final, fatal point. The fact that O.J. Simpson kept brushing off serious accusations and the police basically let him get away with attacking Nicole again and again shows how useless they were. There is a small section in which Ron Shipp, a friend of O.J.'s and a former cop, is running a domestic violence class which was quite chilling and yet, somehow unsurprising:
Ron...was now teaching the dynamics of domestic violence to his fellow officers at a special class set up at the Los Angeles Police Academy. Ron was one of six LAPD domestic violence experts. Teaching the course was grueling - and Ron...understood why domestic violence was the only class the department would not allow the press to sit on: Bored and derisive remarks abounded - "Hey, Ron, why are you teaching this crap?" It almost seemed as if half the cops who took the class were batterers themselves! And the female cops (Ron thought this was particularly sick) tended to side with the batterers in their critiques of the role-playing sessions. They had come from families where a man's use of force on a woman was considered normal.
The snippets on Ron Goldman are one of the very few instances where he comes across as an actual person. As his own father said, he and Nicole are basically a footnote in the circus that was the criminal trial. From what I have gathered from this book and other sources, he was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. He tried to intervene and help Nicole when she was attacked and died for it.
This book also serves as a mini (but thorough) biography of Kris Kardashian. Learning about her life and friendships with Nicole and O.J. is fascinating. Sheila Weller even mentions, in passing, that one of Kris’s goals was to have her own TV show, which she eventually got on the literal back of her daughter, Kim.
There is a lot of name dropping in this book - which cluttered the book. And Google Images was no help! Most of the attention - when not directed on the Brown family and the Simpson family - is on Ron Shipp, former L.A.P.D. cop who even led classes on domestic violence while his best friend was brutalizing his wife and on A.C. Cowlings, former football player and driver during the infamous White Bronco chase.
December 10 - December 25, 2020
I picked up this book while listening to You're Wrong About, a podcast by Sarah Marshall and Michael Hobbes. A solid portion of the podcast is devoted to the OJ Simpson trial and the people involved. The first person they discussed was Nicole Brown Simpson, the second wife of OJ Simpson. They investigated and discussed the woman who by a lot of accounts was a wonderful person, a great mother, a wonderful friend, and the victim of a batterer and abuser. One of the books they cited was this one, Raging Heart.
This book is mostly about her, her relatively short life (she was only 18 and a few weeks old when she met OJ Simpson and the rest of her life was pretty much dominated by him), and her relationship with OJ Simpson. This insightful book examines what she was like as a person, flaws and all, and why she was essentially stuck in an incredibly dangerous relationship. This book is also insightful into looking at why people stay in abusive relationships. Weller points out how her own family and friends, despite witnessing several instances of abuse (including Nicole showing her father pictures of her own face bruised and battered), pushed her to stay in the relationship, the personalities the two had that meshed so well (the abuser and the abused), the power dynamics, and the sheer force of will and domination OJ Simpson wielded over his wife.
There is also some interesting information on the other murder victim, Ron Goldman. We learn about what he wanted to do with this future (open a restaurant), his friends, and what he was like as a person.
The book does jump around in time a bit, so it is not totally linear. However, if you come in knowing who the principal characters are, you should be able to follow along.
July 14, 2024
I enjoyed reading this book, and learned a lot from it. It's a biography of O.J., a biography of Nicole and the story of them coming together and being together. I don't know how anyone could write this book in 6 months, but apparently someone did. She says she interviewed lots of people, and it seems she did, but how she found them and got them to talk and whatever, I guess I'll never know. Anyhow, recommended by me.
December 9, 2021
Good insight into the personal lives of OJ and Nicole. Utterly biased of course. I’m guessing the book was written prior to the acquittal and as such, was not tee’d up for that eventuality. As a law student and someone who is completely obsessed with this case, it’s always interesting to read both sides.
July 28, 2019
Interesting read and smartly written
Recently watched the O.J. Simpson story on television and it renewed my interest in the case after 20 years. This book had many details about their personal lives and was an intimate account of the relationship that ended in tragedy.
Recently watched the O.J. Simpson story on television and it renewed my interest in the case after 20 years. This book had many details about their personal lives and was an intimate account of the relationship that ended in tragedy.
November 14, 2022
It's an okay book.
Sloppy writing, jumbled up sentence structure, wordiness, too many adjectives in a row, too much jumping around, not organized. Doesn't get interesting until about halfway through, and then only mildly so. It's way longer than it should be.
Sloppy writing, jumbled up sentence structure, wordiness, too many adjectives in a row, too much jumping around, not organized. Doesn't get interesting until about halfway through, and then only mildly so. It's way longer than it should be.
November 2, 2017
Fast read
I found this book very interesting and well researched. I really could not put it down. The author truly brought to light the very abusive relationship Nicole endured.
I found this book very interesting and well researched. I really could not put it down. The author truly brought to light the very abusive relationship Nicole endured.
July 5, 2018
Interesting read. Not to much detail that was not already out there.
December 26, 2020
Good read. Would recommend it to anyone interested in reading about this couple.
February 28, 2021
A really intriguing
A really intriguing read into the depths of OJ's & Nicole's tumultuous relationship.
A really intriguing read into the depths of OJ's & Nicole's tumultuous relationship.
August 14, 2023
Needed an editor.
April 14, 2024
Listened to abridged audiobook. Really good
February 18, 2017
I received Raging Heart: The Intimate Story of the Tragic Marriage of O.J. and Nicle Brown Simpson by Sheila Weller in a Goodreads Giveaway.
This book is crammed full of facts about both O.J and Nicole Brown Simpson from their childhood to their Marriage and the tragic murder of Nicole.
We follow their trials throughout their marriage, their love, loyalty, infidelity, fights, domestic violence and the impact their relationship had on their friends and family.
There are little known facts that are revealed in this book that may shock some people.
This book is crammed full of facts about both O.J and Nicole Brown Simpson from their childhood to their Marriage and the tragic murder of Nicole.
We follow their trials throughout their marriage, their love, loyalty, infidelity, fights, domestic violence and the impact their relationship had on their friends and family.
There are little known facts that are revealed in this book that may shock some people.
March 3, 2016
I only read this to tie in with the miniseries I'm watching right now - The People v. O.J. Simpson. Lots of background into the relationship of Nicole and O.J. and it's written in a non-objective (kinda sorta) way using interviews from their large circle of friends and family. Tragic story, of course, knowing how it ends, but a fascinating glimpse into LA during the 80s and 90s. Nothing we didn't already know - O.J. was an abusive philanderer and Nicole found herself in a relationship when she was 18 years old that led to marriage and children with this difficult, psychotic man. She had her faults, too, and they're not glossed over, but not sensationalized either, as Faye Resnick's awful book did. Also, lots of Kardashian dish, as Kris was Nicole's good friend, and Robert's O.J.'s. A quick, but sad, read.
November 7, 2016
Not bad, but not good either.
It ends abruptly. It doesn't get into details that aren't pretty much already known. It has a few sections where you are interested, but the book doesn't invest itself other than in a desultory, surface-skimming manner. When I found out -at the end- it was written before the trial, I could clearly see it was another attempt to cash in on the tails of this sick crime. No wonder the Browns didn't talk to her. It's good to know Orenthal is in jail. Hope he rots.
It ends abruptly. It doesn't get into details that aren't pretty much already known. It has a few sections where you are interested, but the book doesn't invest itself other than in a desultory, surface-skimming manner. When I found out -at the end- it was written before the trial, I could clearly see it was another attempt to cash in on the tails of this sick crime. No wonder the Browns didn't talk to her. It's good to know Orenthal is in jail. Hope he rots.
March 21, 2016
Because of the TV series, this book was re-released as an E-book. I enjoy this author's work. This is a chilling account of the Simpsons life, so tragic. It's interesting to read a real time account of a life (just a generation ago) with no cell phones, no internet. Attitudes towards women were different. Celebrity meant something else. And violence of a husband directed at his wife was swept under the rug.
June 16, 2016
A must read
This book was recommended on the Amazon site. It clearly contains a lot of information not in the trial or in other books. Many close friends that were part of the circle of friends that frequently were part of oj and nicole's weekly get togethers, share intimate knowledge of the dynamic of the relationship. Sad
...very sad, but fills in the blanks.
This book was recommended on the Amazon site. It clearly contains a lot of information not in the trial or in other books. Many close friends that were part of the circle of friends that frequently were part of oj and nicole's weekly get togethers, share intimate knowledge of the dynamic of the relationship. Sad
...very sad, but fills in the blanks.
February 10, 2017
This was such an interesting perspective on the tragic story of O.J and Nicole Simpson. Sheila Weller focueses on the fatal atrraction between O.J and Nicole, the love that was raging in every sense of the word. Great insights into their relationship and ultimately what the author believes to be the driving force behind the tragic events in Brentwood.
February 18, 2009
I read another book by this author(Saint of Circumstance)and that led me to this book. It's the story of OJ Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson. It does give some insight into abusive men and the women who love them. Quick read
March 22, 2016
Nicole Simpson murder
There have been a lot of books written about O.J. Simpson. This book was written with more insight and truthfulness than any other book I have written on this subject.
There have been a lot of books written about O.J. Simpson. This book was written with more insight and truthfulness than any other book I have written on this subject.
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