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The Poet and the Murderer by Simon Worrall

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  • simon worrall
  • u-s- history
  • art
  • 3 stars
  • book reviews

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Title: The Poet and the Murderer: A True Story of Literary Crime and the Art of Forgery

Author: Simon Worrall

Publisher: Plume 2002

Genre: History

Pages: 270

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Mount TBR; Popsugar - True Crime; A to Z - P

In The Poet and the Murderer, acclaimed journalist Simon Worrall takes readers into the haunting mind of Mark Hofmann, one of the most daring literary forgers and remorseless murderers of the late twentieth century.

I really really really wanted to enjoyed this mystery/history, and yet I didn’t love it. It’s a good book and a very interesting premise. I love books about solving history’s mysteries, but this one just fell flat for me. The writing style is a bit dry and plodding. I would have loved a narrative history approach to this one. But instead, we get what reads like a newspaper article. A 270 page newspaper article. I just couldn’t stay connected to the story. Good book, just not for me…

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