The Spectacle of Death

by Boudreau, Kristin

• ISBN13: 9781591024033
• ISBN10: 159102403X
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2006-04-04
• Publisher: Prometheus Books

Summary

In this unique and fascinating glimpse into public reactions to prominent executions, from colonial times to the 1990s, Kristin Boudreau focuses on the central role of populist, often ephemeral literary forms in shaping attitudes toward capital punishment.

Author Biography

Kristin Boudreau is associate professor of English at the University of Georgia.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	9	(2)
Preface	11	(8)
Theoretical Introduction to Execution Literature: Early American Criminal Narratives, the Power of Reading, and the Problem of Public Sentiments	19	(18)
Rewriting the Fall River Murder: A Factory Town Turns to Sentimental Narratives	37	(30)
The Haymarket Anarchist Trial of 1886	67	(38)
Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation Abandoned: The Lynching of Leo Frank	105	(24)
No Other Remedy: Community Awakening and the Lynching of Emmett Till	129	(34)
Witnesses to an Execution: Norman Mailer's Spectacle of Death	163	(24)
The Sweetheart of Death Row: Karla Faye Tucker and the Problem of Public Sentiments	187	(20)
Conclusion Artful Uprisings: The Campaign against Capital Punishment	207	(18)
Notes	225	(44)
Bibliography	269	(12)
Index	281