Deviant: The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original Psycho

Schechter is excellent

Ed Gein definitely goes down in history as one of our most unusual murderers. Schechter handles the story with skill in that he is honest about Mr. Gein's deeds, but he doesn't resort to simple labeling. Reader's can imagine (sort of) the pyschology behind the acts, even if we can't be exactly sympathetic. Great read for those who are interested true (sensational) crime. Gein had a motive for his acts, but probably not one that a sane person would have.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Good, but more shrink-age, please

Schechter provides a good factual account of Ed Gein's life and crimes. Of particular interest is Gein's upbringing: the difficult environment and the, probably, psychotic mother. In fact, a book devoted entirely to this bizarre mother-son relationship would be enthralling. Because if serial killers fascinate you, then you probably thirst for information about their psychological makeup, transformative events in their lives, and you ask yourself, "What was he thinking the day he killed so and so?" You can read interviews with these killers; however, they tend not to be introspective, forthcoming, or honest people. You can also read texts on abnormal psychology, as well as psychological analyses of killers, such as Dr. David Abrahamsen's fine study and interviews with Son of Sam killer David Berkowitz, CONFESSIONS OF SON OF SAM. But best of all, you can seek insight by reading some particularly good fictional accounts that take you inside the mind of a killer. Some of the notables include John Fowles's THE COLLECTOR, specifically the first half narrated by nutty Fred Clegg; Jim Thompson's THE KILLER INSIDE ME, especially the breakdown in the last third; and, humbly offered, my I, KILLER. So, what was he thinking before he killed her? Oh, maybe how good a slice of buttered toast might taste.

Well done

This is solid. I was hoping for some final word on Gein's crimes, final number for example. Appears to be some lack of details for the case. Is 2 murders all that he was responsible for?

True Crime Must Have!!!!!!

Great Book! Learn about Ed Gein from a child to the Grave. Very informative but never boring. I read it everyday and could not put it down. There is a huge Wow factor in reading this book, you wonder how someone could do such things. This book tells all from Geins words as well as the town folk and law enforcment. You will love it.

A Decent Read

This book is a simple read and provides detailed and interesting facts about the serial killer, Edward Gein, who Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre were based off of. Harold Schechter does a good job telling about Gein's life from when he was a child all the way up to when he began committing murders and other crimes. Edward was a deranged man, especially after the death of his beloved mother, Augusta. Schecter also goes into gruesome detail about the unbelievable, evil things Ed Gein had done. Some parts of the book seem a bit tedious and boring to read but once you struggle through those parts, the book makes up for it towards the end. This book really made me think of how someone could do the awful things Ed had done and how no one expected him to do them in the little town he lived in. I'd definately reccomend this book to anyone that has a taste for true crime and serial killers. After reading this I sort of want to check out more of Schechter's works. Overall it was a decent read.

A reviewer

Deviant by Harold Schechter The genre of the story is biography. Deviant is a story about the true life of serial killer Ed Gein. The major theme of the story is that you can¿t judge a book by its cover. The reason behind the theme is that Ed was the town¿s quietest person and they thought he was sweet, kind and harmless. He ended up being different then they thought. The setting in the story is Plainfield, Wisconsin. The farmhouse is significant because that is where he kept all the bodies and where he grew up. Growing up Ed had a terrible childhood. His father was an alcoholic, he was lazy, he didn¿t support the family, and he was abusive. His mom was very religious. She would never leave her husband because she thought it was against her religion. She supported the family and did all the man duties around the house. They had 2 kids (Henry and Eddie). Henry was the oldest and Eddie Ed) was the youngest. Ed was really close to his mom. When his dad and brother died he didn¿t care that much of but when his mom died he was angry. He felt all alone and he felt like no one cared about him. His mom died because a man as beating a dog to death and an unmarried woman ran outside crying. The mom suffered a second stroke which was the on that killed her. After this, he lost all respect for unmarried women and he wanted to seek revenge on them. The main character in the story is Ed. Ed was very shy and he stayed mostly to himself. He suffered from depression after his mom death that made him wants to be all alone and not have a woman by his side. The supporting characters are the victims and the media. The victims and media played an important part of the story because the victims was a result of his actions and the media made the situation was worse by making up lies and always bringing up the situation. The element that the author used was flashbacks. Whenever Ed was being talked about or when he was committing the murders there would always be flashbacks of his mother and his childhood. The author throughout the whole book liked to use flashbacks. It helped explain a lot like why he was feeling during the time he was killing and why he was killing innocent women who resembled his mom. What the author did well was explain why he was doing what he was doing. He made it to where we were able to understand the situation during the childhood to the end. What the author didn¿t do well was he kept going on and on about little stuff when he could have been talking about something important. Overall, I thought the book was pretty boring. It could have had a lot more suspense instead of details about the media and other stuff. It would be good for someone who loves true crime books that doesn¿t have a lot of suspense in it. I don¿t recommend this book for some who loves suspense and drama.

Sick

The movie pshyco did no justice in telling the true story about the original pshyco. This book made you glad you werent there to witness the carnage. The way the author told the story really put your there at his house, and it gets pretty nasty. You wouldnt have thought such a horrific person could be real. If you like books about serial killers and gore, this book is for you.

GOOD BOOK TO READ!

it took me two weeks to read this book and i found it to be so sad and very creepy. The character became crazy because of the death of his mother it's so weird because his mother treated him BADLY but i guess this was a way to heal the pain. But killing people is another story. READ THE BOOK I GIVE IT 5 GOLDEN STARS. GREAT WRITER!

Incredible

This book was simply amazing, I could not put it down once I started reading. This book looks at the life of the man that inspired Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

great

this book is so awesome and the really great part about it is that my english professor is the author of it.but everyone should read this book. it's true and frightening.

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