Book · 1990 · True crime
Deranged
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So, in addition to reading Deranged, which is a legitimately good book, uh I also watched this documentary, Albert Fish, when I was prepping for this.
Why people recommend it
Deranged by Harold Schechter is a true crime exploration of the life and crimes of Albert Fish, one of America's most notorious early twentieth-century serial killers and child murderers. On Behind the Bastards, Robert Evans brought up the book as his primary research material while preparing for an episode on Fish, enthusiastically praising it as a legitimately good book. During their discussion, Evans asked guest Maggie Mae Fish if she had read it, noting that it had been recommended to him multiple times. He relied on Schechter's historical analysis to reconstruct the panic that gripped communities following the abduction of young Billy Gaffney, describing how angry mobs repeatedly assaulted suspected kidnappers across several states in the immediate aftermath. Evans also referenced the book to explain how the media sensationalized these horrific events in the tabloids, mirroring earlier abduction frenzies. To contextualize the scale of the crisis, Evans quoted statistics from Schechter's work revealing that in 1932 alone, hundreds of kidnappings were reported across dozens of states, with a vast majority of perpetrators evading capture entirely. By grounding his historical narrative in Schechter's thorough documentation, Evans highlighted the terrifying social climate that allowed such predators to operate in plain sight.
Every mention
Robert Evans So, in addition to reading Deranged, which is a legitimately good book, uh I also watched this documentary,… 5
“My research for this was mainly I read a book called Deranged by Harold Shear. Have you Have you given that one a read? Uh, I've not given it, although it has been recommended to me several times.”
“According to Harold Shear's Deranged, in the immediate aftermath of Billy's abduction, over the course of a single week, three separate angry mobs assaulted different suspected boogeymen.”
“So, Depraved says the the book that I read for this says that uh the story unspooled in the tabloids in kind of the same way that the Gaffne abduction had.”
“The kidnapping craze had come. Uh, here's a quote from Harold Shector's Deranged. In 1932 alone, there were 282 reported kidnappings in 28 states, and all but 65 of the perpetrators had gotten away scot-free with their crimes.”
“So, in addition to reading Deranged, which is a legitimately good book, uh I also watched this documentary, Albert Fish, when I was prepping for this.”
