The name of a nonfiction book about true crime

August 3, 2014 3:51 PM

The title is on the tip of my tongue, but all the words are common enough that Google isn't helping: a recently released nonfiction book that is about the phenomenon of crime writing (i.e. why we enjoy reading about murder) rather than about a specific case.

I thought it was something like "American Crime" or "True Crime," but neither of those show up on Amazon. If I remember correctly, it was by a sportswriter who had a long history of reading true crime; I remember a line from a review that suggested that people who thought of the genre as a guilty pleasure would no longer feel that way after reading the book.

posted by pretentious illiterate to Media & Arts (4 answers total)

Best answer: Popular Crime by Bill James?
posted by ronofthedead at 4:05 PM on August 3, 2014

Was it Judith Flanders, The Invention of Murder?
posted by crush-onastick at 6:03 PM on August 3, 2014

Response by poster: Yes, Popular Crime! Although I do wish I could leave this thread open a little longer in the hopes of getting new recommendations, because The Invention of Murder looks fabulous, as well.
posted by pretentious illiterate at 7:10 PM on August 3, 2014

Those both sound really interesting, thanks for asking the question! Obviously not the book you were looking for, but could also be of interest: The Beautiful Cigar Girl.
posted by Athanassiel at 10:04 PM on August 3, 2014 [1 favorite]