|
|
Kitty GenoveseStock informationGeneral Fields
Special Fields
DescriptionNew York City, 1964. A young woman is stabbed to death on her front stoop-a murder the New York Times called "a frozen moment of dramatic, disturbing social change." The victim, Catherine "Kitty" Genovese, became an urban martyr, butchered by a sociopathic killer in plain sight of thirty-eight neighbors who "didn't want to get involved." Her sensational case provoked an anxious outcry and launched a sociological theory known as the "Bystander Effect." That's the narrative told by the Times, movies, TV programs, and countless psychology textbooks. But as award-winning author Kevin Cook reveals, the Genovese story is just that, a story. The truth is far more compelling-and so is the victim. Now, on the fiftieth anniversary of her murder, Cook presents the real Kitty Genovese. She was a vibrant young woman-unbeknownst to most, a lesbian-a bartender working (and dancing) her way through the colorful, fast-changing New York of the '60s, a cultural kaleidoscope marred by the Kennedy assassination, the Cold War, and race riots. Downtown, Greenwich Village teemed with beatniks, folkies, and so-called misfits like Kitty and her lover. Author descriptionKevin Cook, the award-winning author of Kitty Genovese, Titanic Thompson and Tommy's Honor, has written for the New York Times, the Daily News, GQ, Men's Journal, Vogue, and many other publications, and has appeared on CNN and Fox TV. He lives in New York City. |