Killers of the Flower Moon

The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

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David Grann: Killers of the Flower Moon (2017, Vintage)

347 pages

Published April 18, 2017 by Vintage.

ISBN:
978-0-385-53425-3
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4 stars (4 reviews)

1 edition

Review of 'Killers of the Flower Moon' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Holy mother of god…

How is this not taught in schools? I know. That’s a rhetorical question.

One of the best (???) non-fiction books I’ve ever read. Incredible journalism.

I wish I could make everyone read this. Yes. It is enjoyable to read despite the subject. It is a page turner as thrilling as Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; but it’s also a history lesson. The skillful writing and narrative is the hot dog and the horrible history of white supremacy and pure unblinking evil is the pill.

The silver lining is that there are some good ones out there. Some of us aren’t monsters.

Review of 'Killers of the Flower Moon' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This was an informative and disturbing history of events in the 1920s in the state of Oklahoma. For readers who are stressed out by recent political fighting in the 21st century, this story shows that the intersection of racism, power, and corruption is a longstanding theme in American affairs--both locally and nationally. I’m happy to have learned about this history, though sad to have discovered the inner workings of how the Osage were treated for so long. Overall, I’d recommend this book. However, I found the writing style distracting. I think it’s the attempt to pack the collection of many details and sequences of deep research into a narrative. The stylistic affect is that it’s aimed too low. With all the transitions of “One day, two men were out hunting,” “One day, Hale’s pastures were set on fire,” I often felt like I was reading a 6th grade SRA card. …