Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Arrested Adolescence:
As if being a murderer wasn’t enough.
Quick synopsis:
The story of how Nathan Leopold fooled a lot of people after the murder of Bobby Franks.
Fact for Non-History People:
Leopold worked as a nurse in prison and helped in a malaria cure trial.
Fact for History Nerds:
James W. Mulroy and Alvin H. Goldstein won the 1925 Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for their work on the Leopold and Loeb case.
My Take on Arrested Adolescence:
Arrested Adolescence by Erik Rebain is the story of how Nathan Leopold got away with it. Of course, Leopold of the notorious Leopold and Loeb murder case did go to jail. However, his life after jail is very often treated as a footnote in numerous books which almost exclusively focus on the murder of Bobby Franks. I am not someone who has dived completely into the case and has read only a couple of books on the subject. Leopold and Loeb are a cottage industry of true crime, but Rebain forges a new path by putting the spotlight on just Leopold. The result is a well-written and infuriating look at a man who never reformed, just merely changed the way he ruined people’s lives.
The book is really in three main parts. The first is Leopold’s childhood and the murder of Franks. I don’t think there is much new territory for anyone to cover here. The real revelations begin in the second part which focuses entirely on Leopold’s incarceration. I found this section to be at least partially enlightening as Rebain shows the manipulative and parasitic side of Leopold. Often, the incarceration story ends with the murder of Loeb. Here, Rebain continues to the third part which is the post jail life of Leopold. This section is an enraging revelation as Leopold is shown to have never changed. He is still using people, only caring for himself, but becomes much better at self-promotion. It is a must read for true crime buffs and a a welcome addition to the Leopold and Loeb anthology.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Rowman & Littlefield.)
Verdict:
Unsettling but an important coda to a famous case. Buy it here!
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