I finally finished reading the new David Grann book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. I first heard about it on NPR last month in an interview with David Grann himself on an episode of Fresh Air. For my Native American friends, this is not a new story and pretty much well known within their communities. This is a story that has been white washed through history so for people who are not Native American, this series of awful events is new. For a long time I was definitely well aware how white washed the American history I was forced fed through my entire education but I really wasn't aware just to what extent how white washed the so-called "American" history I was taught. I knew ThanksTAKING was a bloody joke, and Christopher Columbus did not discover America and was responsible for the genocide of the indigenous population in North America.
When I listened to the interview and read the transcript to the Fresh Air episode, my curiosity was immediately piqued. Thank heavens I did not have to wait very long for the book release. I think it was just a day. I bought a copy for my trip to Chicago. Let me tell you finding a copy at my local Barnes and Noble (now closed for good) was a bitch but in the end I found the lone copy the store had. Rarely do I believe in the concept of destiny or fate but in this situation, I will say that finding that one copy was fate. I was ready to give up looking for the book when I turned around and saw the book staring straight at me. Of course I did not hesitate and brought it home with me. I waited to started reading the book when I went to Chicago almost two weekends ago.
I read a lot. Some books click with me and some don't. The books that don't click with me is because I had found the writing to be tedious with all the information crammed down my throat. The author does not even take in consideration about the reader. In the case of Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann provides a lot of well researched information but he also writes in a style that makes it very easy for this reader to get into the book and stick to it. I could not put this book down when I was in Chicago or on the train going home. This book really got under my skin which not many books do.
What struck me the most is how much Killers of the Flower Moon read like both a fictional crime thriller as well as a history book. I never read a book before that read like fiction and non-fiction at the same time. There were moments when I had to put the book aside and remind myself this is a real life tragedy, a mass murder that had not been publicized to the rest of the country now. I also had to put the book down because it broke my heart to finally understand that distrust the Native American population has towards both levels of government. The massive amounts of cruelty inflicted about the indigenous population is devastating to say the very least which is putting it mildly.
I am glad that David treated the victims of the Osage Reign of Terror with respect. Anna Brown, one of the victims, was far from perfect and certainly flawed but David didn't rake her over the proverbial coals and attacked her character. He made sure to remind the reader that she was a victim and did not deserve to be murdered in such a brutal, ruthless manner. The brutality and cruelty inflicted upon Mollie Burkhart, her family, and the Osage tribe is astonishingly vile and goes beyond the very definition of evil. I could hardly believe the amount of work that William Hale and other vile individuals invested in to attain the money of the Osage tribe when they came into money because they discovered that oil was underneath the land they lived on. It truly sickens me what happened then and what is currently going on regarding the Dakota Pipeline at Standing Rock. The treatment of the water protectors goes beyond hideous. To treat people who have been living on those lands for generations, longer before the European settlers invaded the country, like they are parasites is completely unacceptable.
I was also fascinated by the story of Tom White and the creation of the FBI. I was particularly interested in Tom White and his investigation of the deaths of Mollie Burkhart's family as well as other members of the Osage tribe. My impression is that he was a man of integrity. He definitely wanted justice for Mollie and her tribe. He certainly was very by the book and meticulous when it came to pursuing William Hale and his cronies and gathering evidence against them. Of course J Edgar Hoover sounded like the same asshole that I have read about him. Nothing new to say the very least. Hated him when I first read about him years ago, still do after this book.
In the last quarter of the book, David brings back the reader to the present time. He meets up with various members of the Osage tribe which included relatives of Mollie Burkhart and William Stepson. David really put a lot of effort into the book by forging a relationship with the people he met in the Osage tribe. I think this book wouldn't have been as compelling as it was had he not been given the amount of access to the information by the friends and relatives of Mollie and other victims of this horrific tragedy. The amount of work David invested into writing Killers of the Flower Moon really shows. You can see in the list of archival and unpublished sources, and notes at the end of the book as well as the last few chapters when he meets up with the likes of Kathryn Red Corn, Maggie Burkhart, and Martha Vaughan.
As deeply upsetting as Killers of the Flower Moon was for me, I got so much more out of reading it. For me it was a history lesson that should NOT have been white washed out of American history. It also got me interested in the history of Vietnam, the country I was born and left just six months after I was born as part of Operation Babylift. I can easily say that this was the best book I have read in such a long time. No book has had such a lingering and profound effect on me as this has except maybe the graphic novel Persepolis. I am definitely going to have to read David's other two books The Lost City of Z and The Devil and Sherlock Holmes.
When I listened to the interview and read the transcript to the Fresh Air episode, my curiosity was immediately piqued. Thank heavens I did not have to wait very long for the book release. I think it was just a day. I bought a copy for my trip to Chicago. Let me tell you finding a copy at my local Barnes and Noble (now closed for good) was a bitch but in the end I found the lone copy the store had. Rarely do I believe in the concept of destiny or fate but in this situation, I will say that finding that one copy was fate. I was ready to give up looking for the book when I turned around and saw the book staring straight at me. Of course I did not hesitate and brought it home with me. I waited to started reading the book when I went to Chicago almost two weekends ago.
I read a lot. Some books click with me and some don't. The books that don't click with me is because I had found the writing to be tedious with all the information crammed down my throat. The author does not even take in consideration about the reader. In the case of Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann provides a lot of well researched information but he also writes in a style that makes it very easy for this reader to get into the book and stick to it. I could not put this book down when I was in Chicago or on the train going home. This book really got under my skin which not many books do.
What struck me the most is how much Killers of the Flower Moon read like both a fictional crime thriller as well as a history book. I never read a book before that read like fiction and non-fiction at the same time. There were moments when I had to put the book aside and remind myself this is a real life tragedy, a mass murder that had not been publicized to the rest of the country now. I also had to put the book down because it broke my heart to finally understand that distrust the Native American population has towards both levels of government. The massive amounts of cruelty inflicted about the indigenous population is devastating to say the very least which is putting it mildly.
I am glad that David treated the victims of the Osage Reign of Terror with respect. Anna Brown, one of the victims, was far from perfect and certainly flawed but David didn't rake her over the proverbial coals and attacked her character. He made sure to remind the reader that she was a victim and did not deserve to be murdered in such a brutal, ruthless manner. The brutality and cruelty inflicted upon Mollie Burkhart, her family, and the Osage tribe is astonishingly vile and goes beyond the very definition of evil. I could hardly believe the amount of work that William Hale and other vile individuals invested in to attain the money of the Osage tribe when they came into money because they discovered that oil was underneath the land they lived on. It truly sickens me what happened then and what is currently going on regarding the Dakota Pipeline at Standing Rock. The treatment of the water protectors goes beyond hideous. To treat people who have been living on those lands for generations, longer before the European settlers invaded the country, like they are parasites is completely unacceptable.
I was also fascinated by the story of Tom White and the creation of the FBI. I was particularly interested in Tom White and his investigation of the deaths of Mollie Burkhart's family as well as other members of the Osage tribe. My impression is that he was a man of integrity. He definitely wanted justice for Mollie and her tribe. He certainly was very by the book and meticulous when it came to pursuing William Hale and his cronies and gathering evidence against them. Of course J Edgar Hoover sounded like the same asshole that I have read about him. Nothing new to say the very least. Hated him when I first read about him years ago, still do after this book.
In the last quarter of the book, David brings back the reader to the present time. He meets up with various members of the Osage tribe which included relatives of Mollie Burkhart and William Stepson. David really put a lot of effort into the book by forging a relationship with the people he met in the Osage tribe. I think this book wouldn't have been as compelling as it was had he not been given the amount of access to the information by the friends and relatives of Mollie and other victims of this horrific tragedy. The amount of work David invested into writing Killers of the Flower Moon really shows. You can see in the list of archival and unpublished sources, and notes at the end of the book as well as the last few chapters when he meets up with the likes of Kathryn Red Corn, Maggie Burkhart, and Martha Vaughan.
As deeply upsetting as Killers of the Flower Moon was for me, I got so much more out of reading it. For me it was a history lesson that should NOT have been white washed out of American history. It also got me interested in the history of Vietnam, the country I was born and left just six months after I was born as part of Operation Babylift. I can easily say that this was the best book I have read in such a long time. No book has had such a lingering and profound effect on me as this has except maybe the graphic novel Persepolis. I am definitely going to have to read David's other two books The Lost City of Z and The Devil and Sherlock Holmes.
