Book Buzz:-->"Deviant" by Harold Schecter (1989)

"Nobody's gonna change my world.
That's something too unreal.
Nobody will change the way I feel."
Black Sabbath

NO SPOILERS:
Truth is stranger than fiction crime writer...Harold Schecter...has written a fascinating study of warped-minded Ed Gein...a small and lonely nobody of a man from a small town...who committed some of the most sickening crimes imaginable.

And though not quite what I would call a serial killer...certainly a murderer of at least two people. And Gein, to this day, is suspected of committing others.

"Deviant" (1989 / 256 pages) reads like a page-turning novel...with plenty of facts and theories about Ed Gein and his macabre deeds. And the observations of the small town life and the reactions of the good people of Plainfield, Wisconsin upon discovering these gruesome crimes are especially interesting.
Ed Gein house of macabre.
The little town of Plainfield was certainly put through hell during this stretch and easily warrants sympathy from this reader.

Loser Gein has been credited with being the inspiration for several cult films...as well as for the infamous..."Psycho" character...Norman Bates.

One can't help but wonder what other evidence might have been uncovered... had the investigators not been limited by their 1950s crime solving techniques.

And though more insight into the workings of Ed Gein's mind would have been welcome...Harold Schechter's offering of "Deviant" is still a tremendous read.

MoSkeet

When "Technical Ecstasy" was released by Black Sabbath in 1976...critics threw nothing but ka-ka its direction.

It was well known that Ozzy and the boys were falling apart...so critics must have been chomping at the bit to come up with clever and unfair ways to diss this disc...even before it came out.

Thirty-plus years later...this panned release...though obviously not Sabbath's best...generates enough pleasure to my ears to recommend giving this one another listen.
Good stuff.
Casey

Black Sabbath
:-->"You Won't Change Me" (Technical Ecstasy) (1976)
(Must Own)

Comments

Liberty said…
The link is not working on this one.
Happy New Year!!
Casey said…
I fixed it. Try it again!!
whiteray said…
Ed Gein . . . wow! My best friend when I was a '60s kid had cousins in Wisconsin, and whenever they went to Milwaukee on vacation, he came back with new Ed Gein jokes. I don't remember them, which may or may not be a good thing.
Casey said…
Whiteray...You're right.
Ed Gein jokes were much the rage back during those times. Tasteless...to be sure. But I'm glad to learn that kids back then were just as silly as today.
Also...recently on TV (Biography)
has been running an episode about this guy which was pretty interesting...if you happen upon it.
Art said…
Amazing! I have never seen Technical Ecstasy even mentioned on a music blog before. You are correct in saying that it's not Sabbath's best but the treatment this recording got from the music establishment as well as a couple of generations of Sabbath fans is unfortunate. It is not that bad and it does grow on you. Thanks for posting this.

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