Week 12 Prompt: RA Matrix

The Readers’ Advisory Matrix

The Mad Sculptor: The Maniac, the Model, and the Murder that Shook the Nation by Harold Schecter
Published February 2014

1. Where is the book on the narrative continuum?

a.) Highly narrative (reads like fiction)
b.) A mix (combines highly narrative moments with periods of fact-based prose)
c.) Highly Face based (has few or no narrative moments)

2. What is the subject of the book? American – True Crime

3. What type of book is it? This is a true crime book that has been meticulously researched. It details the story of killer Robert Irwin, who committed a triple-murder in a fashionable area in Manhattan in the late 1930’s. The crime itself has been recreated and shared with the reader in gory detail.

4. Articulate appeal

a.) What is the pacing of the book? Narrative momentum

b.) Describe the characters of the book: Veronica Gedeon was a young photographer’s model whom, along with her mother, Mary Gedeon, and a boarder, Frank Byrnes, in Manhattan’s Beekman Place were all brutally murdered in a triple-homicide. Robert “The Mad Sculptor” Irwin was the murderer, and psychiatrist and forensic scientist Fredric Wertham was the man who predicted Irwin’s heinous crimes. Irwin’s defense attorney, Samuel Leibowitz, is portrayed as a manipulative lawyer.

c.) How does the story feel? There is a sense of drama and a lingering feeling of unbelievability and outrage throughout the book.

d.) What is the intent of the author? The intent of the author is to bring to the public’s eye the story of Robert Irwin from the late 1930’s, along with an exploration of the sensationalistic journalistic practices of the time period.

e.) What is the focus of the story? The focus of the story is on the life and crimes of Robert Irwin and the way in which media and journalists portrayed this story at the time.

f.) Does the language matter? Yes – the tone leads to an atmospheric sentiment of dread and uneasiness.

g.) Is the setting important and well described? Yes – Beekman Place, the scene of the triple-murder mentioned in the book in Manhattan, is described in depth, as are the actual crime scenes.

h.) Are there details and, if so, of what? Yes – there are graphic details of the crimes of Irwin, along with his life and history.

i.) Are there sufficient charts and other graphic materials? Are they useful and clear? Yes – although the crime scene photos are a bit graphic and might not be appropriate for younger readers.

j.) Does the book stress moments of learning, understanding, or experience?

Yes - The book shares the experiences of how psychiatrists and criminologists of the day (in the 1920/1930’s) did not know how to properly handle cases such as this, and how the justice system used to handle cases of mentally incompetent criminals.

5. Why would a reader enjoy this book (rank appeal)?

a.) The story is cinematic and was a popular headline at the time – the reader can imagine the story behind ripped from the headlines!

b.) The details of images of Irwin and his victims are shocking, but help the reader to visualize the scope of his crimes.

c.) The setting is detailed and gives the reader a true sense of the past at a specific time and place. It would be especially interesting for someone who grew up in Manhattan or New York.