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All That Is Wicked
All That Is Wicked: A Gilded-Age Story of Murder and the Race to Decode the Criminal Mind | Kate Winkler Dawson
6 posts | 6 read | 6 to read
Acclaimed crime historian, podcaster, and author of American Sherlock Kate Winkler Dawson tells the thrilling story of Edward Rulloffa serial murderer who was called too intelligent to be killedand the array of 19th century investigators who were convinced his brain held the key to finally understanding the criminal mind. Edward Rulloff was a brilliant yet utterly amoral murderersome have called him a Victorian-era Hannibal Lecterwhose crimes spanned decades and whose victims were chosen out of revenge, out of envy, and sometimes out of necessity. From his humble beginnings in upstate New York to the dazzling salons and social life he established in New York City, at every turn Rulloff used his intelligence and regal bearing to evade detection and avoid punishment. He could talk his way out of any crime...until one day, Rulloff's luck ran out. By 1871 Rulloff sat chained in his cella psychopath holding court while curious 19th-century "mindhunters" tried to understand what made him tick. From alienists (early psychiatrists who tried to analyze the source of his madness) to neurologists (who wanted to dissect his brain) to phrenologists (who analyzed the bumps on his head to determine his character), each one thought he held the key to understanding the essential question: is evil born or made? Eventually, Rulloffs brain would be placed in a jar at Cornell University as the prize specimen of their anatomy collection...where it still sits today, slowly moldering in a dusty jar. But his storyand its implications for the emerging field of criminal psychologywere just beginning. Expanded from season one of her hit podcast on the Exactly Right network (7 million downloads and growing), in All That Is Wicked Kate Winkler Dawson draws on hundreds of source materials and never-before-shared historical documents to present one of the first glimpses into the mind of a serial killera century before the term was coinedthrough the scientists whose work would come to influence criminal justice for decades to come.
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JackOBotts
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Safe to say that I‘ll consume all KWD media. 📚 🎧

Her deep dive into Edward Rulloff goes beyond the content of her first season of “Tenfold More Wicked” - I was worried it would be a “rehashing” & was happy to be wrong. #Roll100

PuddleJumper Brilliant! 11mo
LoverOfLearning So so interesting! The audiobook lost some intrigue for me which was sad because the story is so fascinating! 4 stars! I need to read a physical copy next time! 10mo
JackOBotts @LoverOfLearning Did the author narrate the audiobook? I listen to her podcasts and love her voice. I may have had an advantage with this one because it was the story from her first podcast season. The book went beyond the podcast, so it wasn‘t a rehashing, but that may have helped me through some reading valleys. I thought this one was fascinating: (edited) 10mo
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StellaDz
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I definitely thought this was a going to be a study of multiple cases, but I eventually saw the importance of focusing on Edward Rulloff. This was the beginning of the battle between Alienists, Phrenologists and Neurologists. It was the beginning of forensic science and the study and understanding between nature vs. nurture, and psychopathy. The chapters focussing on these budding sciences were truly fascinating.

Vacation read: 1

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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RamsFan1963
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23/150 An interesting examination of a "brilliant" killer, a psychopath who charmed and duped many people. I don't believe Edward Rulloff was brilliant, but he was very lucky. Lucky to have committed his crimes before the advent of forensic science, before photography was wide spread, before finger printing. In that time, a criminal could just move from place to place, change their name and start over, none the wiser. Continued in the comments ⬇️

RamsFan1963 Justice was eventually served, but not before many lives were destroyed by this monomaniacal, narcissistic monster. 3 🗡🗡🗡 1/2 2y
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EvieBee
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Today‘s library haul is all non-fiction. What in the what?

Librariana Are they holds that came in for you at the same time? 2y
sarahbarnes I want to read It Won‘t Always Be Like This! I heard the author on NPR. 2y
EvieBee @Librariana They were! And after I left I got a notification that one more had come in. When it rains it pours, lol! 2y
EvieBee @sarahbarnes Ohhh! I'll have to find that interview when I'm done. 2y
58 likes4 comments
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OutsmartYourShelf
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I mostly enjoyed reading this but I didn't get the sense of Rulloff being some criminal mastermind. Whilst he was undoubtedly extremely intelligent, in my view a great deal of Rulloff's 'genius', like Jack the Ripper, was down to the luck of committing his crimes before the advent of forensic science & the widespread use of photography. (Continued in comments)

OutsmartYourShelf Furthermore, I know doctors in the nineteenth-century had no concept of the character of psychopaths, but it was maddening to read about person after person falling for his schtick. It also became a little repetitive in places. Overall it was interesting but I was left feeling a little disappointed. 3.5🌟

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Icon Books, for the opportunity to read an ARC. #NetGalley
2y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 2y
TheSpineView Awesome 2y
Catsandbooks Terrific! 🐈‍⬛ 2y
23 likes5 comments
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OutsmartYourShelf
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Day 3 prompt for #ScarathlonDailyPrompts is Killer.

This is my next read, an ARC published 6th October (so I'd better get a move on) about a serial killer in New York in the 19th century. (non-fiction).

#TeamSlaughter #Scarathlon2022 @clwojick

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