Rachel Monroe is a writer and volunteer firefighter living in Marfa, Texas. Her work has appeared in The Best American Travel Writing 2018, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, and elsewh
"Enthralling ... Monroe zeroes in on the aftermath of murder, on
the morbid curiosity that draws eager civilians toward the crime
scene and catapults them into starring roles. She avoids the
formulaic professional tropes of true crime...Monroe has a knack
for nosing a new story out of an old one, like a detective casting
fresh eyes on a cold case."
--The New York Times Book Review "[it] goes deeper than just
recounting the details of various crimes, but looks more closely at
what, exactly, makes true crime such a fascination for women"
--Politico "Necessary and brilliant...Monroe treats each individual
narrative with nuance, empathy and transparency, allowing both the
protagonists and their supporting cast to remain complex. She
delves into the social and political ramifications of each
narrative, making accessible and visible what so often gets
overlooked in these stories because it's too complicated to put
into a headline or summary. Monroe's book is a pleasure to read
because it is smart, well-researched and well-written...But more
than that, Savage Appetites is important because it refuses to sit
inside binaries of good vs. evil, victim vs. perpetrator, innocent
victim vs. mastermind criminal. It doesn't give us easy answers for
why women are the main consumers of true crime narratives, because
there aren't any because women as a category are not monolith and
because it's complicated and nuanced and different for everyone.
The book is important also because I suspect there are more than a
few of us who, like Monroe herself, feel conflicted about their
desire to consume stories of murder and mayhem and wonder what it
reflects about the world around us and ourselves."
--NPR "Monroe resists the need to sweep all of her material into a
single, tidy narrative. Her prose-consistently lyrical and
probing-does a lot of the work towards making it feel cohesive...In
allowing for messiness-narrative as well as moral-her book is a
corrective to the genre it interrogates."
--The New Statesman Savage Appetites is required reading for those
who understand that women aren't just reading true crime to protect
ourselves--we're investigating cold cases, getting close to the
families of victims, leveraging power to get men to embrace the
validity of our "hobbies," and much more.
--CrimeReads "An illuminating exploration rooted in a convincing
thesis, and even the most dedicated true crime reader will find
something new within it to enjoy."
--Buzzfeed, 29 Amazing Books Coming Out This Summer "Monroe has
written a brilliant book where cultural criticism meets
sociological survey in a methodical examination of just what it is
about murder that obsesses us."
--Esquire, Best Books of Summer 2019 "Rachel Monroe's searching
essay collection asks all the right questions, and even better,
doesn't attempt to answer them (or at least, not completely). Why
do women love true crime, the introduction asks, and posits several
likely theories; each following essay takes us into the
idiosyncratic existence of a woman and her obsessions, from Francis
Glessner's tiny crime scenes and love of forensic science, to Lorri
Davis' decades-long quest to free a wrongfully convicted man who
later became her husband. Unsettling, brilliant, and impossible to
put down!"
--Lit Hub, Most Anticipated Books of 2019 "I usually stick to
fiction, but one standout nonfiction read was journalist Rachel
Monroe's forthcoming Savage Appetites, which looks at the
connection between women and the mania for true crime. My favorite
section was about Frances Lee, an upper-class Boston spinster whose
foremost obsession was creating dollhouse-proportioned murder
scenes that she called her 'nutshells.'"
--Lauren Mechling, Los Angeles Times "Savage Appetites is a
chilling, compelling examination of the darkness in us all. This is
obviously a book for true-crime fans, as well as anyone interested
in human nature. A powerful, well-researched inquiry into why we
find violent crime so fascinating, viewed though the stories of
detective, victim, defender and killer."
--Shelf Awareness "This is a book sure to please fans of mystery
and true crime. An insightful invitation to consider the contexts
and causes of a gritty cultural obsession."
--Kirkus Reviews "Monroe's writing is superb and each woman's story
is fascinating...true crime aficionados will appreciate this spin
on the genre."
--Booklist "A provocative work best suited to readers with a strong
interest in true crime and its historical roots...an original and
bold contribution to the genre."
--Library Journal
"In Savage Appetites, Rachel Monroe brings a rigorous and
illuminating gaze to some of our most disturbing fascinations.
Ultimately, she summons generosity and nuance for the discussion of
hungers we might be tempted to dismiss entirely, asking revealing
questions that are ultimately questions about the nature of desire
itself: for intimacy, for freedom, for a sense of meaning. I read
this book in a single day, but I know I'll be thinking about it for
years to come--especially its keen appreciation for the mystery of
what drives us through this world."
--Leslie Jamison, author of The Empathy Exams and The Recovering
"Savage Appetites, Rachel Monroe's study on 'women, crime and
obsession, ' can properly be described as brilliant. It informs,
entertains, and leaves readers with new cultural perspectives that
are long overdue. I'm now a Rachel Monroe fan and after you read
this book, you will be too."
--Jeff Guinn, author of Manson: The Life and Times of Charles
Manson and The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple
"This is like high junk reading, both getting the information,
snickering at the misinformation, stalking the stalkers and really
brooding on the possibility that the dead female body at the top of
the film is feeding a female appetite for death and malfeasance and
not yawn more jerk off fodder for men. Our corpses, ourselves!"
--Eileen Myles, author of Evolution "Rachel Monroe has long been
one of my favorite writers at the intersection of crime and
culture, and her first book, Savage Appetites, is the grand
culmination of her reporting. It's a standout, formally inventive,
and refreshing examination of the way we consume true crime, and
the way it consumes us."
--Sarah Weinman, author of The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally
Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the World "I don't know how
Rachel Monroe wrote a book so vivid and perceptive, but I couldn't
put it down. Savage Appetites is an original: at once a thoughtful,
beautifully written treatise on why women are drawn to crime
stories and a gripping read to satisfy any murder obsessive. I'm
not exaggerating when I say Monroe has written a new true crime
classic, one that both adds to and challenges the genre."
--Alice Bolin, author of Dead Girls "Smart and seductive. In the
tradition of Janet Malcolm, Rachel Monroe has turned our cultural
hunger for crime stories back on itself, both evoking and
interrogating the fascinations that grip us. I learned a great deal
from this book, but what's more, I couldn't put it down."
--Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, author of The Fact of a Body "A deeply
intelligent, intensely gripping work of metacrime. Rachel Monroe is
a brilliant new journalist with a sparkly goth heart."
--Claire Vaye Watkins, author of Gold Fame Citrus and Battleborn
"Getting pulled into a true crime story is like coming down with a
fever -- all at once it envelops you, then leaves you wondering
what overtook you. Rachel Monroe dissects the nature of that
obsession on both individual and societal levels in lucid and
beautiful prose. You'll find this book as engrossing as any true
crime wormhole on the internet."
--Michelle Dean, author of Sharp: The Women Who Made An Art of
Having An Opinion "A brilliant book, laced with a perspective
that's long been missing from the world of true crime. Rachel
Monroe holds up a mirror to our fascination with illicit tales--and
her own--all while deftly unspooling four unforgettable stories
from the other side. Savage Appetites is wholly unique and utterly
riveting."
--Evan Ratliff, author of The Mastermind "No one writes about crime
like Rachel Monroe, who brings to her subject a profound emotional
acuity, a piercing grasp of fixation and frailty, and a precise
sort of beauty that never glamorizes but always illuminates. In
Savage Appetites, she shows crime obsession to be an equally
idiosyncratic, irresistible subject--full of treachery and full of
thrills."
--Jia Tolentino, author of Trick Mirror "I loved this book. I'm not
a true-crime fan, but I am fan of brilliant reporting, nuanced
cultural criticism, sparkling-clear writing, disarming wit, and the
kind of courageous self-indictment that marks the best personal
writing. Savage Appetites is a beautiful hybrid of a book that made
me question my relationship to celebrity, media, and my own baser
appetites."
--Claire Dederer, author of Love and Trouble and Poser "Savage
Appetites is a marvel of original reportage and cultural criticism,
and could not be more timely. Like a first responder to a crime
scene, Rachel Monroe methodically investigates every inch of
America's obsession with murder stories, unearthing more than a few
discoveries, and showing that what makes us tick now has been there
all along."
--Kate Bolick, author of Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own
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