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Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper Case Closed
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Plot Summary of Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper Case Closed
"This is a book about using science/facts to determine who Jack the Ripper was, therefore it's hard to really classify this book. It focuses on Walter Richard Sickert, a famous artist, and compares Sickert's life with Jack the Ripper's. There is a strong if unbreakable case for Sickert being the Ripper."
Ann, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper Case Closed
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
job/profession: - criminal (killer)
Job/profession/poverty story Yes
Period of greatest activity? - 1800's

Subject of Biography
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - artist
Eccentric/Mental Yes
Eccentric: - eccentric - obsessed - mentally ill - emotionally unstable - wild
Ethnicity - White
Nationality - German
How sensitive is this person? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other people
Physique - missing body parts/abilities

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 10 ()
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK - France - Germany
Misc setting - resort/hotel - sewers/subways
Century: - 19th century

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - very explicit references to deaths and torture
Book makes you feel? - thoughtful
Commentary on society? Yes
Commentary on - love/sex - decency - selfishness - wicked men
Unusual Style: - a lot of flashback and forwards
Writer's slant towards subject: - neutral
Story of entire life, or part? - story of nearly entire life
How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life? - 76%-100% of book
How much is philosophy rather than life story? - 0-25% of book
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Billy the Kid: A Short and Violent Life by Robert M. Utley
The Innocent Man by John Grisham
The Mad Trapper by Helena Katz
Another City, Not My Own by Dominick Dunne


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