When my parents, and their generation, look back they have memories of history-making events that truly changed the world. I remember my mother telling me how, when she was young, she remembers the first moon landing, and the assassination of JFK. Want to know what memories I'll pass on to the grandkids I'm not having? O.J.'s wild flight in the white Bronco. I was 17 years old and that's one of my vivid teenage "memory-of-historic-stuff". My generation sucks.

The idea of O.J. Simpson writing a book about his relationship with, and the murder of, his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson was abhorrent to most Americans but actually reading the book is truly telling of the man's self-delusion and inability to take responsibility for his part in the disastrous relationship. For two hundred pages he rambles on about his deep love for Nicole and his willingness to make things work, even though she was the aggressor in the relationship. It was she that instigated the violence, she was the one that caused the fights, she pushed for marriage, and she wanted so much from him. Even his "hypothetical" explanation of the night of the murders comes down to nothing more then Nicole "deserved" it. Ron Goldman was obviously there to have sex with her while his kids were in the house, under the same roof and O.J. snapped... "hypothetically" speaking, of course.

The book includes a forward by the Goldman family, who want to try to explain why they have done this, in light of the criticism they have received over the taking of blood money. It also includes a very telling forward from the ghostwriter, Pablo F. Fenjves, who spent several days face-to-face with O.J. and still believes wholeheartedly that he is guilty. The society diarist Dominick Dunne wraps it up with an afterword about his time spent at O.J.'s trial. Dunne became very close to the Goldman family at that time, sharing in their grief as only the father of a murdered child can.

As I'm sure you can imagine, this is a rough review to write. My job as a book reviewer is to be neutral. I give my opinion of the material to the best of my ability and try to stay away from the social and political implications, also to the best of my ability. The only thing I can say in favor of this book is that it's wrapped in the forwards and afterword, as well as an exhaustive list of victims resources at the end. The family is also giving a portion of the proceeds to a charity in Ron Goldman's name and O.J. will never see a penny of the money. Other then that... I really don't know what to say. It seems to be nothing more then a killers attempt to cleanse his soul, sitting comfortably in the knowledge that the double jeopardy laws are alive and well in America.
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Hardcover: 254 pages
Publisher: Beaufort Books; 1 edition (September 13, 2007)
ISBN-13: 978-0825305887
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