Of men and monsters
Subtitle: Jeffrey Dahmer and the construction of the serial killer
By: Richard Tithecott ; foreword by James R. Kincaid
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Madison
Language: eng
Number of pages: 192
Subjects: Serial murderers
Description: Of Men and Monsters examines the serial killer as an American cultural icon, one that both attracts and repels. Richard Tithecott suggests that the stories we tell and the images we conjure of serial killers - real and fictional - reveal as much about mainstream culture and its values, desires, and anxieties as they do about the killers themselves.

Why, for example, does Hannibal Lecter, though clearly dangerous, seem brilliant, even alluring, while his dark counterpart in Silence of the Lambs, Buffalo Bill, represents pure monstrosity? In a nation where murders occur every day, why do those we name "serial killers" seem so different, meriting a flood of public and media attention?

Looking at how Jeffrey Dahmer's story was told - on the Geraldo talk show and CNN specials, in Washington Post editorials and People Weekly pictorials - Tithecott argues that the serial killer we construct for ourselves is a mythical figure in the contemporary world. Transcending boundaries between madness and sanity, civilization and savagery, the idea of the serial killer fulfills dreams of masculinity, purity, and violence.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 183-188) and index.