Maureen Orth

Despite only mentioning Versace in the title, this book is essentially a biography of his killer, Andrew Cunanan. While it was pretty interesting to follow a serial killer’s descent to his final, horrific days, I don’t feel the book has aged very well since its first publication in 1999. The author seems to be titillated by details of “the gay lifestyle” because so many in the gay community were closeted at the time due to societal prejudices. Twenty years later, it came across to me as a bit voyeuristic.… (meer)

Earlier this year I watched and completely fell in love with FX’ The Assassination of Gianni Versace. Previous to watching I was familiar with the story of Versace’s murder and knew some basic facts, but the series constructed a fascinating story, and I got interested in the source material for one of the best pieces of television I watched this year.

This book is fascinating. It gives heaps of cultural context that helps to analyze Cunanan’s upbringing, his way of life and his grandiose ideas about himself and what he thought the world owed him. It doesn’t evoke sympathy towards Cunanan, but it does help to understand the world in which he operated.

Orth’s style really resonated with me – you can feel her goal is to be as objective as possible, presenting the facts substantiated by evidence and interviews, and never letting her own feelings or thoughts bleed through. The resulting account can be somewhat detached and cold, but not salacious, always respectful, and in the parts that were detailing Cananan’s victims I’d even say empathetic.

I’m not American, so for me personally, all the legal and procedural details were really interesting. I’m always up for learning about the nitty-gritty of how other countries operate, and this book provided plenty of fascinating tidbits on that front.

The book is also a pretty detailed study of our relationship with fame and wealth. Cunanan, by all accounts a pretty clever and talented young man, was nurtured and then twisted by astounding materialism, which left him with no aspirations of being anything but rich and famous, which what success meant for him personally.

Overall, it’s a very impressive effort to establish the timeline of the murders and get into the context of hows and whys of Cunanan’s killing spree. But it’s a pretty dense read, full of facts, names, and small details, so I’d definitely recommend watching the show first, since it is extremely close to the book, sometimes with quotes lifted directly from it, not to mention it’s chock-full of amazing performances, including a truly tremendous work from Darren Criss as Cunanan. And then, if you’re really interested, read Vulgar Favors to complete the picture.… (meer)