The story of Alfred Packer is rather interesting and gripping. Unfortunately this piece about him is not.

Yes, true crime can be dry especially when dealing with the 19th century turn-of-phrase and style of dictation, I'll admit that. But the books layout presents a jumpy narrative which interrupts what little flow the book has going for it making it hard to get caught up in the events being discussed. Added to that is the overly plodding pace set by the author which makes it feel like a textbook rather than look inside the lives of living people.

On the good hand I have to give enough credit that the research was very well done which offered up a very nice bibliography for other sources to look up later. Schechter did try to do justice to the subject but it just didn't have the grip to make me want to finish the book for the sake of enjoyment but rather to be able to say I'd done it and never again. ( )

The story of Alfred Packer is rather interesting and gripping. Unfortunately this piece about him is not.

Yes, true crime can be dry especially when dealing with the 19th century turn-of-phrase and style of dictation, I'll admit that. But the books layout presents a jumpy narrative which interrupts what little flow the book has going for it making it hard to get caught up in the events being discussed. Added to that is the overly plodding pace set by the author which makes it feel like a textbook rather than look inside the lives of living people.

On the good hand I have to give enough credit that the research was very well done which offered up a very nice bibliography for other sources to look up later. Schechter did try to do justice to the subject but it just didn't have the grip to make me want to finish the book for the sake of enjoyment but rather to be able to say I'd done it and never again. ( )

Man-Eater: The Life and Legend of an American Cannibal by Harold Schechter is a true story about a crazy character from the wild west! The author did a wonderful job with the research and presenting it without boring the reader to death. The book revolves around Parker who claims he ate his buddies because he was starving. This book goes through all the craziness about Parker, the justice system, and newspapers article's effect on the stories Parker tells. Very interesting on a creepy subject! ( )

The story of Alfred Packer, a person suspected to have eaten (after he killed) 5 men to stay alive in the Colorado mountains in 1893. Packer was wily and his story was full on inconsistencies, as was the prosecution, which was nothing but conjecture. Packer was incarcerated for 20 years. Besides being Packer's story, the author throws in a few other suspected cannibals, from Jamestown to the 1960's. Those were thrown in to add to the page numbers, because they certainly added nothing to the story nor were they in detail. There were lots of court reports and letters contained within this book. All, in all, it was fairly interesting and an average read. 373 page ( )

[b: Man-Eater: The Life and Legend of an American Cannibal|24965089|Man-Eater The Life and Legend of an American Cannibal|Harold Schechter|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1432756849s/24965089.jpg|44628213] follows the life of Alfred Packer as best it can manage. This man lived at the tail end of the 19th century, fought in the civil war, worked as a tracker, had horrible epilepsy, and ultimately may have murdered and eaten five of his travelling companions in the Colorado mountains.

May have. But the evidence is pretty damning.



So, let's name a grill after him.

The book is extremely accessible. It's easy to read, even with the subject matter at hand, and tells the story with ample reference back to the source material. While it has no pictures, somewhat disappointing considering the number of woodcuts referenced, the author does an admirable job of describing all that he wishes to convey.



The court cases themselves were interesting. I enjoyed the high number of quotations, the rich vocabulary, and the ample history given not simply of the figures themselves, but of the towns they grew up in. The murders that took place happened at a time when the West was still being settled, and [a: Harold Schechter|51490|Harold Schechter|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1255731750p2/51490.jpg] conveys the changing America spirit well. The frontier days are done by the end, and it's amazing how quickly such a change can take place in national character.

While I would be slightly hesitant to recommend this book to just anyone by virtue of its subject matter alone, I would feel slightly better doing so knowing that the main source of reference I had for this historical event was Cannibal: The Musical.



So, if you ever want to know the true story behind that - or are simply interested in cannibalism for some reason, this is a wonderful book containing not only story of Alfred Packer but quite a bit more tales of madness from those frontier days.
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