If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer
by The Goldman Family
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Book Reviews of If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer
Book Review: "Closure".... of a sort
Summary: 3 Stars
I don't know if I qualify as a reviewer of this book, as I could only stomach reading bits and pieces of this incoherent mishmosh of Simpson's disturbed mind. The only coherent parts are what the ghostwriter and editor were able to put together. There is nothing of actual substance in this book; there is no actual confession; that would require some kind of honesty and integrity from Mr. Simpson, and he lost those long, long ago.
I lived through the long debacle of Simpson's twisted history in avoiding justice, and there are several things about it I recall that disturb me:
I was in Atlanta, GA during the trial, and I remember a young black man wearing a shirt that said "GUILTY OR NO, WE LOVE YOU O.J." We love a man even if he did murder two innocent people and cut the throat of a helpless woman. It was the most pathetic statement I have ever seen.
Johnny Cochran: He was just as repulsive, in every way, as O.J. Simpson was. The last thing Cochran cared about was justice; his conduct during the trial was sickening, in comparing Simpson to the survivors of the Holocaust. Cochran had no sense of shame.
The Jury: Their lack of I.Q. spoke for itself; one of the woman jurors after the trial actually said "I just loved the defense! But then, I just loved the prosecution, too!" Did you think it was an episode of Survivor, lady?
The book: As others have pointed out, the fact that Simpson would even consent to this book being made (and the tv interview that was dropped because of public outrage), speaks volumes about Simpson's character. But there was one thing I read in the book that convinced me of Simpsons guilt: he recounts about seeing his wife when they were still married, after a drunken party. He describes her physical state, and then says "Ask me how bad she looked".
Quite a statement to make about the murdered mother of your children that you claim to grieve over, Simpson. And years after her murder, you STILL complain about how "bad she looked" after a late-night party? Not the kind of statement a grieving widow makes; more the type a sociopathic killer makes.
The Final Straw: Simpson was stupid enough to finally get himself put in jail for thinking he had the right to lock several people in a room who stole memorabilia from him. The Goldmans finally got a little justice... for the wrong reason. Nicole's children will never get justice for their murdered mother.
The Final Verdict: Simpson can't go any lower. If he had simply confessed at the beginning and accepted his punishment without whining, he could have kept a shred of dignity and even humanity, despite the murders. He could have acknowledged his wrongdoing, and accepted his fate like a human being. But no, he slithered out of justice with the help of a snake even more reptilian than him: Cochran.
Now, there is nowhere else to go. He's gone as far down as he can.
But, knowing Simpson, he may yet have some surprises up his bloody sleeve: he could sell memorabilia from the murder, such as the knife he hid and hair from his victim, or record rap songs about the murder in prison. Simpson may yet be able to dig yet deeper before he dies, and is remembered not for his sports achievements, but for what he really is: a cheap and cowardly murderer; to be slowly and deservedly forgotten about by history.
Book Review: OJ doesn't confess, but he doesn't present a conjecture either, so what is this book?
Summary: 1 Stars
Being a preteen when the events described in this book took place, I probably went into this book with a hazier recollection of the facts than other readers. Even so, it was clear to me that O. J. is relating his skewed view of the events, with a heavy prejudice towards himself. If you knew nothing about the facts, you might actually believe the picture he paints of himself: as a very sensible, family-oriented, patient man; almost flawless, but willing to accept and repent for the minor infractions that he let slip (like in 1989, when he "grabbed" Nicole too forcefully and ended up being convicted of spousal abuse for it). He also doesn't miss any chances to describe Nicole as ill-tempered, obsessive, pedantic, violent... and a drug user to boot.
O. J. includes some actual transcripts from the court case and seems to have gone to some trouble elucidating a back-story to fit the facts that turn up in the transcripts. For example, he explains right before one of Nicole's 911 call transcripts that someone on the set of Naked Gun 33 1/3 told him that Nicole "parties hard" with a "rough crowd." Apparently, that got him worried about his kids and angry enough to confront her about her drug use.
Despite the absurdity and poor writing of his account, I found myself eagerly anticipating the moment of the murder (does that make me a sick person?). O. J. invents an acquaintance named Charlie who dropped by unexpectedly one evening and told O. J. some gossip about Nicole that set him off to the point of dropping everything to go scream at her. Charlie, in my opinion, was O. J's conscience; first, he tried to prevent O. J. from going to Nicole's condo in the first place, then refused to allow O. J. to take the knife in his car with him (why did O. J. have that knife in his car, hmm?). Charlie later tried to cool off O. J. in Nicole's courtyard, but for some inexplicable reason, brought the knife from the car with him. At this point, O. J. grabbed the knife, blanked out for a moment and then realized he was covered in blood with two bodies at his feet. For all his confusion, he seemed to be of sound enough mind to remove his bloody clothing and force Charlie to make his clothes and the murder weapon disappear. The most absurd part, of course, was O. J's temporary amnesia about the climatic moment; he even wonders how he could have missed witnessing the murders when he was standing right there!
In any case, I think If I Did It is a poor title because O. J. never conjectures what it would have been like if he did commit the murders. Nor is I Did It an apt title because he never does admit that he did anything but be an all-around good guy.
And for those wondering why O. J. didn't commit suicide during the Bronco car chase: hearing Dan Rather report that O. J. had a long history with the police department as a domestic abuser made him angry enough to want to stay alive so he could get the truth out there. It only took him over a decade to finally tell his side of it.
[Disclosure: This review also appears on [...], a site for review and discussion of creative works.]
Book Review: A Distortion of Events - but a picture nonetheless
Summary: 5 Stars
We all know the murder and we all know the aftermath. Not guilty by reason of a perfect storm of events. In some eyes it is a justice in and of itself. In others, it shows just how badly things can get derailed. Regardless, it is an event that fed the nation of notions and it kept overlooking just why things like this are interesting - because they have very serious outcomes.
Some part of me feels like this is a ghoulish spectacle that I have helped push somewhat, with my eyes finding their way here since. The only thing that makes it any better, and this is not really that much, is the fact that the family of Ron Goldman owns the rights to this book. While it is not the easiest thing to explain here, the Civil suit did give the Goldman family a lot of stuff and this book is there. On the back it states that the book was given to the family in 2007 with the understanding that it would be published like a confession of deeds. And so it was. From the onset of Simpson's life with Nicole Brown to the murder of her and her partner, it goes through it all. The only word that does not accept blame is the "if" in the title.
When looking at this, you have some things that O.J. obviously wants to show in good favor. He says how he was a good husband and a good father, citing how he never took anything that his wife did as damaging. He lost his temper, sure, but he never hurt anyone on purpose. Even the reports of spousal abuse were wrong - if Nicole were alive she would scoff at all of this. He was a great person, after all, and he only loved his wife a bit too much. Sure, things got out of hand but it was a series of things that caused it. The hurt that came when she wanted to leave suddenly. The feeling he had when she did not want him back. The feelings he had when he thought they would get back. The way it felt when he saw his wife with another man the first time through the windows. The hand on the knife and the blackness inside the moment as he lost it to a lesser man trying to pull some karate (explicit word) on him. (his details).
O.J. has something here and, in a lot of ways, it is odd because it is hypnotic. You know the way things happen and you fill in some things, knowing that O.J. will of course - make himself look better. The snub is that he often does not do that. In fact, he makes himself look awful in places and it doesn't seem to matter. To me this is why it edesrves a chilling 5/5 because it consumed almost everyone and, in a lot of ways, it points to that moment in time.
Even now people feel a specific way and, reading this, you wonder if you felt the right or wrong way. He says a lot here and, even if a piece of it is correct, it is a noose. Luckily the money that comes from it is not his.
Book Review: IF I READ IT!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I never wanted to read it. I swore I never would. He would get NO attention from me! He gives himself enough attention as it is. This has been the biggest miscarriage of justice I have seen in my lifetime! This is how I felt.
Then one day recently I was watching Dr Phil. There was Fred and Kim Goldman. I had watched when they were on Oprah and people were hating on them for wanting to get this thing published. There was a battle between the Goldmans and the Browns about the whole issue.
This time I felt different. Here they were again. Years later and they were still fighting for their lost son. They never seem to give up this fight against this poor excuse of a man. There is Ron, whose life was wasted, and there is the killer, whose life is a waste.
I gave this book five stars because I WANT YOU TO READ IT! I want you to understand why it has to be sold. Why the Goldmans HAVE TO do this.
Trust me, you'll get nauseous, you'll feel anger, bitterness, resentment and sorrow.
Trust me, when he is telling his "story" you'll hear over and over again how he was a great husband, ex-husband, father, friend, lover, athlete and, if you read between the lines you'll hear him tell you how he was a great murderer. He also tells you how screwed up Nicole was, how she slept around, did drugs, was a bad influence on his kids('but she was a great mother'), how she had a real bad temper, how she was the abuser in the relationship, how he gave her a wonderful life, and on and on. Over and over again in his own words, you can hear how wonderful he is and how she messed it all up for them. The only thing I don't think I heard him repeat while telling his story was the word "hypothetical". He said it one time. Right before he describes what HE DID that night. Reading his story was just plain sickening to me. I had to keep putting it down because I was angry. He even goes so far as to say that the painstaking Bronco ride took less than an hour. This guy is so full of it and lives in a world of his own. I feel sorry for anyone who enters that world.
But the rest of this book explains so much about why it must be sold and purchased by all of us. I truly understand why the Browns feel the way they do about this book. But really it only confirms that he is an idiot. As far as it hurting the family and the children, the killer did that already in the worse possible way and that bell cannot be un-rung.
Sell the book and let them reap some of the benefits. He certainly isn't now nor has he in the past, ever put their best interest first.
Book Review: Kind of Boring
Summary: 3 Stars
To be honest, it was kind of a boring book. It starts off with a message from the Goldman family about how the book was about justice and not money (even though it ultimately is ...about money) but I sympathize with them and then also another intro. by the ghostwriter about how O.J. tried to pass this off as something that was pushed on O.J. by everyone else as a confession when it reality it all came from his head and wasn't anyone's fabrication to slader his name. That really gives you (the reader) an idea of how gone from reality O.J. Simpson really is and how in the coming chapters he makes himself into a martyr. Then comes the "If I Did It" book itself. It was nice for the first couple of chapters to get a background on Nicole Brown and O.J. Simpson but it turned into so much egotistical and heavily bias drama. Nicole does this, Nicole does that, police come and go, news, OJ and Nicole split up and get together and then love and hate each other on and off and on and off for the majority of the book to make O.J. look like a really good guy in a misunderstanding. Then comes the "hypothetical" chapter that is really graphic and may disturb some readers. This chapter is really written well and ties together the book and ending but is really the only part worth reading. The fear, the rush, the down to the detail description makes one wonder "Wow, either O.J. Simpson is a brilliant writer or maybe something else is going on here". The end is a bit sad and I even sympathize with O.J.'s grief a little. If he did it or not it really messed him up. After the end there is a bit of info. about the trial itself and some resources to check out if you are either the victim or related to the victim of a horrible crime and seeking justice. It was worth reading to me as I didn't know that much about O.J. but if you know about his history more or less all you really need to read is that one chapter.