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True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa Paperback – August 15, 2006

by Michael Finkel (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 1,454 ratings
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The improbable but true story of a man accused of murdering his entire family and the journalist he impersonated while on the run

In 2001, Mike Finkel was on top of the world: young, talented, and recently promoted to a plum job at the New York Times Magazine. Then he made an irremediable slip: Under extraordinary pressure to keep producing blockbuster stories, he fabricated parts of an article. Caught and excommunicated from the Times, he retreated to his home in Montana, swearing off any contact with the media. When the phone rang, though, he couldn’t resist. At the other end was a reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle, whom Finkel congratulated on being the first in what was sure to be a long and bloodthirsty line of media watchdogs. The reporter was puzzled.

In Waldport, Oregon, Christian Longo had killed his young wife and three children and dumped their bodies into the bay. With a stolen credit card, he fled south, making his way to Cancun, where he lived for several weeks under an assumed identity: Michael Finkel, journalist for the New York Times.

True Story is the tale of a bizarre and convoluted collision between fact and fiction, and a meditation on the slippery nature of truth. When Finkel contacts Longo in jail, the two men begin a close and complex relationship. Over the course of a year, they exchange long letters and weekly phone calls, playing out a cat-and-mouse game in which it’s never quite clear if the pursuer is Finkel or Longo―or both. Finkel’s dogged pursuit of the true story pays off only at the end, in the gripping trial scenes in which Longo, after a lifetime of deception, finally tells the whole truth. Or so he says.

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  1. Print length
    336 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harper Perennial
  4. Publication date
    August 15, 2006
  5. Dimensions
    5.31 x 0.76 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0060580488
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0060580483
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Carefully structured, rigorously reported, and fascinating till the end.” — Esquire

“Astute and hypnotically absorbing . . . there’s a burning sincerity and beautifully modulated writing on every page.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A riveting, disturbing and magnificent merging of two men at their lowest moments. — New York Newsday

Combines crime and intellectual heft...could well become a classic of the genre. — Washington Post Book World

Always fascinating, sometimes funny, often very weird . . . simply terrific from the first page to the last. — Jeffrey Toobin

A compulsively readable amorality tale. — Boston Globe

A memoir as creepy as it is compelling...expertly and suspensefully told. — Outside magazine

From the Back Cover

In February 2002, New York Times Magazine writer Michael Finkel received a startling piece of news: a young man named Christian Longo, wanted for killing his entire family, had been captured in Mexico, where he'd taken on a new identity: Michael Finkel of the New York Times.

The next day, on page A-3 of the Times, came another troubling item: a note from the editors explaining that Finkel, having falsified parts of an investigative article, had been fired. Nonetheless, the only journalist Longo would speak with was the real Michael Finkel, and so Finkel placed a call to Oregon's Lincoln County jail, intent on getting the true story. So began a bizarre and intense relationship—a reporting job that morphed into a shrewd game of cat-and-mouse. Part mystery, part memoir, part mea culpa, True Story weaves a spellbinding tale of murder, love, and deceit with a deeply personal inquiry into the slippery nature of truth.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (August 15, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0060580488
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0060580483
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.76 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 1,454 ratings

About the author

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Michael Finkel

Michael Finkel

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Michael Finkel is the author of "The Art Thief," "The Stranger in the Woods," an international bestseller, and "True Story," which was adapted into a 2015 motion picture starring James Franco and Jonah Hill. He has reported from more than 50 countries and written for National Geographic, GQ, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and The New York Times Magazine. His work has been anthologized in The Best American Sportswriting, The Best American Science and Nature Writing, The Best American Travel Writing, and The Best American Non-Required Reading. He lives with his family in northern Utah and southern France.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
1,454 global ratings
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Its stained, bent, torn & has some nasty stuff on the cover...Definitely not what I expected.
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Top reviews from the United States

Book Babe
5.0 out of 5 stars The Truth is More Horrific Than Fiction
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2023
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This is an interesting, well written true story. The author was able to recreate the self-created stress in Chris Longo's life to the point that I felt stressed out. He was pulled in by Longo's lies and personality even while recognizing it himself. Longo's personality and charisma would be difficult to convey but I think he did as good a job as anyone could. If you are fascinated by true crime, this is as horrible as it gets. This murderer is unlike any other - the story is tough to get through - but I do think it's important to recognize that there are people in this world for whom evil doesn't exist. All that exists is them and what they want.
3 people found this helpful
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Megs
4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating true crime story
Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2015
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First off, I have say that I feel that Finkel used this book to talk about getting fired from the New York Times. Every other chapter, for at least the first half, is an explanation for why he did what he did and how sorry he is. Yes, this ties into the Longo story slightly. But I like the way they handled this in the movie. It was acknowledged in the beginning, and then they moved on.

As for the rest of it, I really liked it. I enjoyed both the book and the movie. I find the Longo murders to be very interesting, and Finkel's relationship with Longo himself is fascinating. It's like you're right there with Finkel, along for the ride: is Longo a good guy who made some bad choices? Or is he playing everyone?

This is a great read. Highly recommended for true crime buffs.
3 people found this helpful
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Robert B. Lamm
5.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing, Weird, Creepy - and Unputdownable
Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2023
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Michael Finkel is a failed journalist who’s been fired from the prestigious NY Times for filing a false story. Chris Longo is a mass murderer - of his wife and three children. They are both, at least to some degree, narcissists who are able to justify their bad acts and move on without too much of a look back. The story of how they came to know each other is weird and creepy, and the weirdness and creepiness escalate as they establish a written and later telephonic and personal relationship. Eventually, Longo is tried for the murders and, eventually, both Longo and Finkel move on - sort of.

If this sounds like an absurd and just too weird book, it is. But it is fascinating and, apparently, true. I almost literally couldn’t put it down, even though both characters are repugnant to some degree.

So much better than Finkel’s current best-seller, The Art Thief.
3 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars 5 Stars for writing, 1 Star for an attempted double-whammy con job.
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2015
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Finkel is a good writer. I believe he accurately reported the content of the letters and phone calls he shared with Longo. However, I am very sceptical of his and Longo's revelations of their innermost thoughts and feelings. They're both con artists in their own way. I've read that approx. 4% of people have sociopathic tendencies. Most are on the lower end of the scale: liars, cheaters, people who create havoc in the lives of their friends and families over and over and don't really seem to care. Then, of course, there is the far end of the spectrum where you find the Ted Bundys and John Wayne Gacys. (For the record, I am not a mental health professional and am only relating what I have read). I believe Longo is on the extreme end. Finkel', for all his assertions of remorse, new self_awareness, etc. attempted to con readers throughout the book. At the end of the trial he writes the single word, B***S****, on his notepad, expecting us to believe that only at that moment did he have an epiphany. He was conning Longo the whole time, fully intending to drop him like a hot potato as soon as he had his story. Of course, Longo was conning him, too. And I was stunned that no one seemed to comprehend why Longo killed his family! For the same reason that so many other convicted sociopaths have done it: they get trapped in a web of lies, cheating, crime, and when they finally find themselves going under from the pressure or on the verge of being revealed as scumbags, the only way they feel they can save themselves is to quickly rid themselves of the wives (and sometimes the children) who are millstones around their necks. Fortunately they are never as smart as they think they are and their hubris leads them to believe they can con people about murder as easily as they have conned everyone about financial p problems, infidelity, etc.
16 people found this helpful
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Kathryn
5.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2023
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I will say it took me a chapter or two to really get into this book, but once I did I had a hard time putting it down. As soon as I thought I could clearly see a character, my views were adjusted every other chapter or so. Solid read, worth your time.
One person found this helpful
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Plato Closeted
4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and Bizarre
Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2015
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Now here's a strange situation. The author was well on his way to becoming a first class journalist, with pieces published in the best press. Then he went and messed himself up royally by phonying up a story about folks in Africa. Got caught. Got fired. Went into deep depression. Then he finds out that this dude who killed his whole family has escaped to Mexico and taken on his persona..
WHAT?
Yes, and the two of them embarked on a long-term correspondence which is the story in this book. Very well written and just as bizarre as you might imagine. And a great insight into the true nature of a psychopath.
2 people found this helpful
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Carolina John
5.0 out of 5 stars Great!
Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2024
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One of my favorite books! Fascinating story, and incredibly written. If you are a fan of true crime, you have to read this book!!
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Deenabean83
5.0 out of 5 stars Page-turner
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2024
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I heard about this case through a crime podcast, so I was curious to read the book. I couldn’t put this book down. Very well written book in first person narrative.
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Top reviews from other countries

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CGrogan
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 2, 2021
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This is a heartbreaking story to read, keeps you enthralled. There is a film based on the book, however, the book wins hands down. Well written, sad in many parts, the author has relayed a sympathetic account of a terrible set of circumstances and gave an honest self assessment and insight into his own feelings. A must read !
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Sushil
5.0 out of 5 stars Read in one sitting
Reviewed in India on December 29, 2020
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Watched the movie first and felt it did not do justice to the story that was behind it. Mike Finkel should have started his career as a biographer rather than as a reporter. Superb narration, full of emotions.
One person found this helpful
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Francesca Bentivoglio
5.0 out of 5 stars Da leggere
Reviewed in Italy on October 15, 2020
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Libro bellissimo, in lingua originale è utilissimo per ampliare i propri orizzonti circa la lingua inglese. Finkel qui geniale.
One person found this helpful
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Sharon Abramson
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read
Reviewed in Canada on September 2, 2015
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Good interesting book. A must read for the true crime with a twist enthusiast. The insights into both himself and into longo were raw, honest and thought-provoking.
One person found this helpful
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Hank
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Australia on August 6, 2015
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A good read and a fascinating insight into the mind of a killer.
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