Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new edition of Lil Red’s Book Club! Today’s book club review is going to be a bit different from the norm as we are discussing a book very outside the norm. That being the biography of Ed Gein called Deviant written by Harold Schechter. This is going to be a spoiler free setting, as always, because we are not going to be getting into the nitty gritty of this book. Rather, I just have a few thoughts on it especially with the recent hype of the Ryan Murphy Monster series. It goes without saying that a big fat trigger warning will be placed on Deviant for highly disturbing and highly upsetting content. Be warned if you choose to read it for yourself! Now, let’s get to it:

My Johnny works in a cozy corner and listens to historical or true crime podcasts and audio books throughout the day. A while back ago he listened to Deviant and recommended it. For good reason too as it is easily one of the most excellent true crime books I have read. But more on that later! We decided to give the Ryan Murphy Monster series that focused on Ed Gein a go. Yes, we expected some fabrications but went into it with the mindset of we are watching a show – not a true story. At first, at least.

From the jump of Monster, Johnny immediately began pointing out the complete and utter lack of truth to the series. I was more focused on the acting as it was very good. However, there came a point when we just couldn’t do it anymore. This show was such a massive far cry from the truth of the matter at hand and playing it off as the real deal. Monster was, as to be expected, absolutely disgusting to watch. So much so that we refused to finish it. Yes, Ed Gein’s story is disgusting. There is no denying that. But, the falsities included made it even more so as it was strictly there to disgust. It felt completely gratuitous because countless scenes did not need to be included and was painting a picture of deviancy that Gein never participated in. (If you know some of the scenes I’m talking about, you know!) These additions were so flagrantly wrong that Gein’s biographer, Harold Schechter, ended up speaking out.

After our extremely lackluster viewing of a handful of episodes, Johnny bought Deviant for me so I could read it for myself. Throughout the show, I was shushing Johnny but after reading the book I can definitely see where he was coming from! In fact, he should have been shushing me lol. If you found yourself feeling similarly to us, you must read Deviant because this is exactly what the show should have been. It was unputdownable and I finished it in two sittings!

Deviant was so expertly written by Schechter that it almost felt like you were reading it from the perspective of someone looking through the window of the Gein home. This book was fact driven and never once attempted to sensationalize the situation. Only to tell the story based in truth. Schechter presented stone cold facts through first person accounts, newspaper articles and television soundbites, autopsy reports, physical and psychiatric reports, police reports, court proceedings, historical comparisons, obituaries, and photographs. If you want to know about “the original Psycho”, it starts and ends with Deviant.

Obviously, there was SO much that was hard to read in this book and I must warn you again. But, if you decide to dive in, you will find yourself feeling like me. As I flipped the pages, I literally felt like I was a resident of Plainfield. A fly on the wall watching as the story unfolded and I simply couldn’t stop reading. Of course, there is a lot to unpack from this book but the fact remains that these are the facts. This story was sensational without every single pointless shocker that Ryan Murphy carelessly threw into Monster. If you are a true crime aficionado, then you will be hard pressed to find anything that beats Deviant.

Overall, I am going to award Deviant with a ten out of ten stars. That’s not to say I enjoyed the content in this book. It’s to say that I appreciated the amazing writing and dedication to the facts!

What did you think of the Ed Gein Monster series? Do you like learning about true crime? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah