Ron Hansen is the author, most recently, of the true-crime novel A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion.For the Wall Street Journal, he named a five best list of literary tales of real-life crimes.
One book on the list:
The Executioner's SongRead about another book on the list.
by Norman Mailer (1979)
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, "The Executioner's Song" describes the life of Gary Gilmore, imprisoned for 22 of his 36 years, who murdered two Utah men during petty robberies. Researcher and film producer Lawrence Schiller interviewed everyone involved in the case, then turned the mountain of material overto Norman Mailer, who crafted a stunning narrative. When Gilmore shot a gas-station attendant (the other victim was a motel clerk), Mailer notes, the killer designated one bullet as coming from him, the other from his girlfriend. The book's longer, second part, called "Eastern Voices," describes the convolutions in Gilmore's court trial, the legal appeals and his successful quest to be executed by firing squad. Epic in length and brilliant in its examination of the American justice system, this is Norman Mailer's masterpiece.
The Executioner's Song also appears on Sarah Weinman's list of the seven best true crime books; it is one of five books that made a difference to Josh Brolin.
--Marshal Zeringue
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