Banvards Folly

Banvards Folly
Thirteen Tales of Renowned Obsurity, Famous Anonymity, and Rotten Luck

Paul Collins

This was a very nice break after the horrors of the last book. From true crackpot ideas and fads, to poets of the century who are now forgotten completely, this fun collection takes you on a wild ride of the most fascinating people you've ever heard of.

From fake "primitive tribal convert" to a talented painter who toured with literal miles of canvas that scrolled behind him as he told tales of the Mississipi, almost every feature of life you can think of is touched on. Some were well meaning idealists searching for a better life for mankind as a whole via miracle cures, while others were professional fraudsters. All made an impression at the time, ranging from at least moderate public interest, to full blown international celebrity status. None are remembered today, except by the occasional specialists like the few who still study an attempt at a music based universal lanugauge (although the interest in it now is mainly from a linguistic and cryptologic view, rather than actual users of the language. Even then, there are still only around a dozen who are familiar with and study it.)

If you like the weird, wonderful, and occasionally poignantly tragic, this is a great anthology.

Who Killed These GIrls

Who Killed These Girls
Cold Case: The Yogurt Shop Murders

Beverly Lowry

I'm not going to lie - this book is a really tough read, mainly due to the subject matter. WHether because of the horific nature of the crime, or the fact that this is a fairly recent atrocity, and through no fault of the author, you will find yourself changed in some way by this.

For the basics, this begins with a horrific murder and sexual assault of four young teenagers who were working at a yogurt shop in Austom, or were waiting there for their friends to get off work. The author does not glamorize or sensationalize these crimes, everything is detailed as factually and straightforward as possible. Then we move into a botched police investigation leading to the arrest of four young men who were later proved to not be involved (although despite DNA evidence showing they were not the perpetrators, many local residents and even police officers remain stubbornly dedicated to their belief that they could not have made a mistake. Unfortunately, this is based on the fact that a couple of the boys involved confessed after coercive and questionable interrogations, including one in which police turned away a requested attorney for the accused on a technicality.

If you are into true crime, despite the horror; or if you have an interest in watching how a whole investigation, trial and conviction can be made, even though the accused are innocent, you will enjoy this book. Be warned though, there are no happy endings for anyone involved in this crime, only horror for the surviviing families of the victims and the accused alike.