Book Review: If I Did It - Confessions Of The Killer By The Goldman Family
- Posted by Essays Blog in Essays Blog |
- April 2nd, 2009 |
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Yes folks, it’s the long awaited OJ Simpson confession book! Except that in OJ’s mind it was anything but, he claims it is a fictional account of how we would have done it, if he had done it! I have lots of problems with this book, not least of which is what was going finished his displeased and coiled mind to deprivation to compose the book in the first place. If you are innocent this book makes no meaning. And if you are guilty, it makes even less meaning, unless you are trying to confess and clear the air. But he plainly says, time and time again that it is fiction.
The good news is that finished the intervention of Fred and Kim Goldman OJ Simpson will not accompany one dime of profits from its sale. The not so good news is that OJ did manage to get the almost $700,000 in advances before the project became public.
Really it is the account behind the book that makes better reading than the book itself. When the Goldman family heard that OJ Simpson was having a book written they moved into high gear to prevent its publication and his ability to profit from the misery. In the 13 years following the guilty finding Simpson has paid exactly nothing of the money awarded to the Goldman’s. He relocated to Florida to avoid the pesky Californian judgment, and spends a happy life playing golf and who knows what else. The award was someplace in the 18 million dollar range, with interest that now amount has more than doubled, one report puts it at 39 million dollars.
With ammunition like that the courts sided with the Goldman’s and gave them the rights to the book. Regrettably thither were section attached, a bankruptcy was involved. And after much feeling intelligent they realized that although they had won, the gain came at the great price of now having to publish the book.
The end result, is a book that I am careful OJ hates! Yes his material is included in its idempotent entirety, however it it preceded by any commentary by Fred Goldman, and the actual Ghostwriter Pablo Fenjves. The book is ended by a chapter written by Dominick Dunne.
Let’s accept these sections one by one. Fred Goldman explains at length the problems and frustrations his family felt when it became public knowledge that OJ Simpson was planning a tell all book. One article I read claimed that this area was ‘low edited,’ that might be accurate, but it is also written from the heart. And I will accept that every time over the antiseptic grammatical communication favored by many large publishing houses. It worked for me and set the environment advantageously.
The most damning evidence to the guilt and obvious actuality to the ‘hypothetical variant of events’ comes from Ghostwriter Pablo Fenjves. In a matter of just 20 pages Pablo tells a real interesting broadside of OJ Simpson. Although I had no doubt of his guilt from the time of the actual 1993 events, Pablo makes a case that is so alcoholic event Judge Ito and that half card jury would have found OJ guilty.
Next up, is the OJ Simpson matter. Pretty much it is a consciousness delivery and nauseating piece of garbage. He explains at great length what a nice guy he is, and what a bad person Nicole Brown was. The one chapter of interest is the one detailing the events of the fateful night. With the exception of the ‘2nd man,’ it likely is one of the few factual parts of the entire manuscript.
The final chapter is written by Dominick Dunne. Dominick covered the original attempt for Pride Fair, and became a close friend of the Goldman’s as a result. His is an interesting account, he also lost a child at the hands of a murderer, his daughter was killed, and the killer walked free after only 2