Dirty John and Other True Stories of Outlaws and Outsiders
by Christopher Goffard
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Description
A collection of newspaper stories by award-winning Los Angeles Times reporter Christopher Goffard--including "Dirty John," the basis for the hit podcast and the upcoming Bravo series. "Dirty John" is a story about a conman who terrorizes a Southern California family. It originated as a podcast and also ran as a print series in the Los Angeles Times. It wasn't unfamiliar terrain to its writer, Christopher Goffard. Over two decades at newspapers from Florida to California, Goffard has show more reported probingly on the shadowy, unseen corners of society. This book gathers together for the first time "Dirty John" and the rest of his very best work. "The $40 Lawyer" provides an inside account of a young public defender's rookie year in the legal trenches. "Framed" offers an unblinking chronicle of suburban mayhem (and is currently being developed by Netflix as a film). A man wrongly imprisoned for rape, train-riding runaways in love, a Syrian mother forced to leave her children in order to save them, a boy who grows up to become a cop as a way of honoring his murdered sister, another boy who struggles with the knowledge that his father is on death row: these stories reveal the complexities of human nature, showing people at both their most courageous and their most flawed. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
The stories were pretty interesting, and they were told in a very personal way where it felt like you did get to know the people at the heart of the story. However, while some of the stories definitely benefited from the short story format, others I felt like I was left with still more questions and wanted much more information on.
Christopher Goffard is an award-winning Los Angeles Times reporter. Dirty John and Other True Stories of Outlaws and Outsiders is a collection of his best work.
Wow! I was hooked from the first story until the last - and quite sad when I did reach the end. I could happily listen to everything Goffard has written.
Most of the appeal for me is the fact that the stories are true. Goffard takes an event, a happening, a crime, a piece of life, a person and wholeheartedly immerses the reader/listener in the tale. Detail, depth and a unique take on reporting make each piece fascinating.
It's hard to say I liked one more that another. The cover title Dirty John, is the longest and the most frightening. John is a conman, but his new wife can't see show more it. Its a close second Framed. A school volunteer makes an innocent mistake, but the parents involved take retaliation to a whole new level. The $40 Lawyer follows a brand new lawyer as he wades into the court system. There are fifteen stories in this collection and every last one is a winner.
I chose to listen to this book. The reader was George Newbern - a favorite of mine. He has such a unique voice - very, very expressive, capturing the nuances, emotions, drama, absurdities and more of Goffard's work. There's a sardonic tone to his voice that completely suits this audiobook. His diction is clear and easy to understand. Highly recommended! I'll be following Goffard's work from here forward.
Goffard's writing will be in even more formats soon - Dirty John (also a podcast) is an upcoming Bravo series. Framed is being developed by Netflix as a film starring Julia Roberts. show less
Wow! I was hooked from the first story until the last - and quite sad when I did reach the end. I could happily listen to everything Goffard has written.
Most of the appeal for me is the fact that the stories are true. Goffard takes an event, a happening, a crime, a piece of life, a person and wholeheartedly immerses the reader/listener in the tale. Detail, depth and a unique take on reporting make each piece fascinating.
It's hard to say I liked one more that another. The cover title Dirty John, is the longest and the most frightening. John is a conman, but his new wife can't see show more it. Its a close second Framed. A school volunteer makes an innocent mistake, but the parents involved take retaliation to a whole new level. The $40 Lawyer follows a brand new lawyer as he wades into the court system. There are fifteen stories in this collection and every last one is a winner.
I chose to listen to this book. The reader was George Newbern - a favorite of mine. He has such a unique voice - very, very expressive, capturing the nuances, emotions, drama, absurdities and more of Goffard's work. There's a sardonic tone to his voice that completely suits this audiobook. His diction is clear and easy to understand. Highly recommended! I'll be following Goffard's work from here forward.
Goffard's writing will be in even more formats soon - Dirty John (also a podcast) is an upcoming Bravo series. Framed is being developed by Netflix as a film starring Julia Roberts. show less
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Recovery from Psychopath
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Author Information
5 Works 169 Members
Christopher Goffard is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for Feature Writing. He has worked at the St. Petersburg Times and the Los Angeles Times, where he shared in the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
Classifications
- Genres
- Politics and Government, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Art & Design
- DDC/MDS
- 364.15 — Society, government, & culture Social problems and social services Crime Criminal offenses Offenses against the person
- LCC
- HV6789 .G644 — Social sciences Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology Crimes and criminal classes
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 64
- Popularity
- 484,440
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.63)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 3
