In his search for a writer to portray his case in a good light, MacDonald had written to Joseph Wambaugh requesting that the novelist would take on the job but Wambaugh declined. It’s hard to feel much sympathy for MacDonald, but McGinniss’ despicable behaviour during the drafting of the book has been laid bare by Janet Malcolm in The Journalist and the Murderer (1990) and in Laura Browder’s essay ‘True Crime’ for The Cambridge Companion to American Crime Fiction (2010). MacDonald sued McGinniss and the case was eventually settled out of court.

However, Fatal Vision presented an uncompromising portrayal of a pure psychopath guilty of multiple murders. MacDonald and McGinniss spent a lot of time together during the murder trial and MacDonald was fully expecting the book to portray him sympathetically and help prove his innocence. Fatal Vision was a bestselling book which told the story of Captain Jeffrey MacDonald, a Green Beret and army physician, who was convicted for the murder of his pregnant wife and two young daughters. Since then McGuinniss’ output has been mixed, with his nadir coming with the true crime book Fatal Vision (1983). McGinniss shot to fame with his debut book The Selling of the President (1968) which examined the successful ‘marketing’ of Richard Nixon during the 68′ election campaign.

Now I am not a fan of Sarah Palin politically, but I do feel that it’s unfortunate an author with McGinniss’ shady reputation has set his sights on her. McGinniss claims Palin had an extramarital affair and snorted cocaine amongst other sordid details. I can guarantee you will never think of the month of February the same way again.Joe McGinniss’ latest book The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin is released today, and its controversial claims about the former vice-presidential candidate have already generated a storm of publicity. What is most interesting about this book is that McGinniss wrote it from an unbiased view point so the reader can judge for themselves whether or not this man committed these crimes. He is still in a cushy prison in California today, adamant he didn’t commit those murders, but when you hear his testimony and compare it against the evidence the police collected…it is extremely damning. McGinniss attended every single court appearance, lived with MacDonald during the trial and wrote this engrossing tale of the obscene actions this man was so close to getting away with. This is the unbelievably true account of a handsome Princeton educated doctor and Green Beret Captain Jeffrey MacDonald, an all-American man by all appearances who murdered his pregnant wife and two young daughters. Reviewed by Cassidy Hammel (Library Staff)

Fatal Vision by Joe McGinniss