The Witch of New York: The Trials of Polly Bodine and the Cursed Birth of Tabloid Justice

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Product Details
Price
$29.95  $27.85
Publisher
Pegasus Crime
Publish Date
Pages
336
Dimensions
6.2 X 9.2 X 1.4 inches | 1.15 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9781639363919

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About the Author
Alex Hortis, author of The Mob and the City, is a constitutional lawyer and crime historian. He has been interviewed on national television for AMC's The Making of the Mob and has been a featured speaker at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas, the New York Public Library, and the Enoch Pratt Free Library. He is a former federal law clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and is a graduate of New York University School of Law. Alex lives in Washington, DC. Please visit Alex at www.alexhortis.com
Reviews
"A lively history of early New York through one woman's horrendous ordeal. Hortis has combed the archives for material related to Bodine's three explosive trials, and he makes palpable the shameful character assassination that Bodine endured."--Kirkus Reviews
"In The Witch of New York, Alex Hortis invites us along on a bumpy yet entertaining ride that features the dueling attorneys and unscrupulous shysters who transformed the terrible murder of a mother and child into this country's seminal tabloid trial. Meticulous research and concise writing adroitly capture the zeitgeist of 1840s New York City, in the end effectively demonstrating how "tabloid justice would, one way or another, alter American law." --David Dominé, author of A Dark Room in Glitter Ball City
"Against a backdrop of scandal sheets and tabloid justice in 1840s New York, Alex Hortis deftly chronicles the sensational murder trials of Polly Bodine, the most infamous woman in America, and their lasting effects on the public's imagination."--Susan Wels, Author of Assassin in Utopia
"In this excellent work of true crime, Hortis examines the case of Polly Bodine, who became infamous after she was accused of murdering her sister-in-law and infant niece. Hortis's historical detail makes the episode come to life, and he successfully evokes contemporary tabloid scandals like the Amanda Knox trial. Fans of Daniel Stashower will love this."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A fascinating look at the crime and what came after. Hortis covers the material with workmanlike efficiency and a keen eye for courtroom theatrics. As quaint as some of the story's details may seem, its themes feel remarkably contemporary: We still rush to judgment, resort to stereotyping and fall for all kinds of propaganda. It's impossible to argue with the book's thesis: 'Tabloid justice would, one way or another, alter American law.'"--Kate Tuttle, The New York Times Book Review
"A riveting true crime story from history, Alex Hortis's The Witch of New York chronicles the misogynist frenzy surrounding a notorious murder trial."--Foreword Reviews
"The Witch of New York reconstructs the events and subsequent trials [of Polly Bodine] in great detail. It is an engaging story, skillfully told. To read The Witch of New York is to understand the ancestry of the current true-crime craze."--Rachel Lloyd, The Economist
"A compulsively readable book. Emphasizes the deep misogynist roots of witch trials, real and metaphorical, and belong firmly within the contemporary examination of the United States' ongoing and multifaceted satanic panic."--Ilana Masad, The Washington Post
"Through meticulous reconstruction and vivid storytelling, Hortis delves into the depths of the Polly Bodine case, illuminating the shadows of suspicion and scandal that surrounded it."--Staten Island Live