The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer

Pretty expensive, but I've always been interested about Jeff Dahmer and my dad got me this as a birthday present and the book is a hit! Loved it!

The media could not be loaded.  A capa veio amaçada

I’ve read A LOT of published works on Jeffrey Dahmer. By far, without a doubt, this is the best book if your primary interest is Dahmer’s psychological motivations. It is not a scientific or academic work exactly, but it is deeply intellectual, thought provoking and exceptionally well written.First, it needs be remarked Masters is an openly gay man. This matters because this book, unlike those by non-queer authors, isn’t soaked through with latent homophobia and gross misunderstanding of gay culture. Masters knows what a “popper” is, and if you don’t that’s exactly why you need to read a book from a queer author’s perspective. He rightfully calls out Judge Laurence Gram and Dr. George Palermo on their projecting their own motivations onto Dahmer as straight men who are simply unwilling to do any perspective taking, perhaps out of their own disgust.This is also the only book that, excuse the phrase, fleshes out the actual personalities and lives of the young men Dahmer murdered. Masters’ descriptions of life and tenderness followed by incredible violence are a gut punch. It also debunks the “Dahmer just needed a friend!” apologists. Dahmer had many men willing to be his companion. Interesting, friendly, beautiful men and there was mutual attraction. None of that mattered to a mind incapable of connection and intimacy. In Masters telling of these narratives, you feel the full depth of the unfairness of their horrible deaths and the tragic waste produced by Dahmer’s madness. I wish he had gone more in depth about the content of the hours long conversation Dahmer and almost-victim Luis P. had before Dahmer let him go. Oh, to be a fly on the wall for that encounter.He also perfectly balances a respect for Dahmer’s humanity without ever once excusing him. He approaches the “Dahmer paradox” perfectly: for those who read enough, you feel sorry for the wretch of a person Dahmer became. But then you feel guilty because fact is, he is irredeemable. But how he came to be irredeemable is no fault of his own: it’s a multi-layered tragedy of epic proportions. Simplistic “he was a monster” or “he was evil” explanations make Dahmer yet another rotting corpse in a trash bag; nothing can be gained for humanity from that approach. Masters explores how difficult it is for rational people to make sense of the utterly irrational. Explanations must be explored, but simultaneously he acknowledges Dahmer owed a debt to society that couldn’t ever be truly repaid.The overarching theme of the book is free will and the fragility of the human psyche. Masters explores of the nature of free will in a way that reaches the challenging and uncomfortable conclusion that, just maybe, we’ve fooled ourselves into believing we have a level of control we don’t actually possess. It’s unnerving.If you’re interested in Dahmer, this is a must-read. My only complaint is that Masters has not released a newer edition with perhaps his thoughts all these years later. Also while it avoids homophobia, the descriptions of rightfully angry black women as “hysterical” made me cringe; I had to remind myself these words are 30 years old. Also being British perhaps he didn’t mean it pejoratively. I don’t really know, but it is regrettable phrasing. In 1993 his writing did not meet modern standards of intersectional sensitive language (or “woke” for those who get their skivvies in a bunch over such things), but I don’t believe in holding past works to modern standards.

I adore Brian Masters works, they’re always such a wonderful read!

Questo sarà il prossimo libro che leggerò. Mi piace molto la copertina se così si può dire.

Ce livre parle de l'affaire de Jeffrey Dahmer avec des détails vraiment très intéressants !Il est malheureusement disponible que en anglais.