Man-Eater: The Life and Legend of an American Cannibal

I first discovered Harold Schechter with his series of engrossing books dedicated to serial killers. Deviant (Ed Geins), Depraved (H.H. Holmes), Deranged (Albert Fish) were three of the most fascinating, disturbing, goose bump inducing non-fiction books I have read. I recommend each very highly for the reader looking to scratch the morbid itch.Unfortunately I cannot do the same for Man-Eater....There was a spareness to those earlier works that really helped drive the abominable subject matter straight to the gut. Here, though the subject matter is at least on par with those titles, Mr. Schechter seems to have lost his narrative line a bit. Instead of storytelling we get reporting, instead of vivid images we get stilted accounts. While these are not necessarily problems in a work of non-fiction the tendency to repeat facts over and over and the penchant of dropping every single name even remotely associated with the crime makes for an unnecessarily weighty read.The story told is that of Alfred G. Packer. A man who at times seems like a swindler, at others a compulsive liar, who poses as a guide to lead a band of prospectors through the Colorado Rockies during the winter of 1873. The group splits and after weeks of being lost in the blinding snow Packer emerges from the wilderness alone and none-the-worse for his ordeal. Immediately suspicions of the other survivors force a search to be made and the inevitable discovery of cannibalism is realized.What follows is numerous re-tellings with little or no new information to justify the repetition. Perhaps because Packer himself changed his tune so many times and tried numerous attempts within his testimonies over several trials both formal and informal at a sort of insanity by hunger plea, some of this can be excused. But knowing Mr. Schechter's immense talents displayed in those other works, I felt time and again some of the later accounts could have been paraphrased considerably. Even unchanging witness testimonies at each trial are presented again and again until I felt as if I was re-reading earlier chapters by accident.Perhaps if I was unfamiliar with Schechter I may not have been so confused by what seemed to be clumsy storytelling. Perhaps if I was a history student needing to know transcript level details of the trials I may have been more appreciative of Mr. Schechter's scrupulous use of source materials. Alas, I am just a reader who wanted to be fascinated by the dark tale with just enough historical accuracy to add to, not detract from the story. As it is, the book became a chore by the time Packer is given the opportunity to meet with reporter Polly Pry to recount for the umpteenth time his version of events.

Schechter is now doing "narrative nonfiction" about famous (or once-famous) crimes and criminals, as opposed to his earlier works which are considered true crime nonfiction. The difference between the two categories seems to be a wider focus on the times in which the crime(s) were committed, rather than a focus upon just the life and crimes of one criminal. The difference is slight though, as Schechter has always included long sections of social history in his works, which add immeasurably to their interest. Certainly despite the "narrative" in the description, he does not indulge in the creation of dialogues and conversations , or pretensions of omniscience regarding his subject's private thoughts and emotions.Man-Eater does give a straight forward recounting of Packer's crimes, his escape, his years on the run , his trials and ultimate conviction, his long years in prison culminating in a crusading reporter's efforts to win his release and pardon, followed by Packer's permanent entry into pop-culture mythology. But what's really fascinating is the way the reader sees "truth" not so much discovered as created: Packer's multiple and differing confessions , his evasions , his "penchant for self-serving fabrications" (p. 9), the utter loathing in which he was held by his party even before the crimes were committed, his "foul" letters to his own sister, his threats against witnesses and his own family members...All overlooked by his supporters, who want to see a person who (at the very least) sounds like an anti social personality, as a "dauntless embodiment of American manhood" : The end of the Wild West era made any relic of that period (even one as grisly as Packer) the object of sentimental sympathy. And so even Packer's most obvious lies wind up as the very "evidence" pointed to by his defenders : How can a man who was (allegedly ...)a scout for General Custer NOT be , if not completely innocent, than surely a man who was driven to commit horrific acts by sheer survival instincts alone?Man-Eater is probably about as definitive a work as we're likely to get about criminal acts committed almost 150 years ago. Schechter has persuaded me that his "considered belief" (p 290) is the correct one....But the actual truth is known only to Packer and the five murdered men....

But very drawn out. Could have been shorter and still got all the info in.

I am a fan of Schechter's work and this, like many of his other books, tells a grisly tale. The difference between this and some of his others is that there really is no mystery to the Packard story. This is a straight on account of the crimes of Alfred Packard, the man who may or may not have murdered his companions as they trekked thru the wilderness. He did, without doubt, cannibalize them to stay alive; that's the selling point.Schechter, as usual, cuts to the chase to tell the tale but, because it isn't much of a mystery, ends up doing some padding to flesh out the book. It's a good book and I enjoyed it. It's just not as good as his work on H.H. Holmes, Ed Gein or, my favorite of his, Albert Fish.

I am a huge fan of true crime and a bigger fan of cannibalism. With that in mind, I should have loved this book. Instead, I found it lackluster.This complaint has nothing to do with the author and everything to do with the subject matter. Alfred Packer just isn't all that interesting. He's kind of dim, a petty criminal, and sort of stumbles into cannibalism. He's no Dahmer or Gein, that's for sure. He's life isn't that interesting to read about, but Schechter tries his best. What's unusual about his tale, though, is that all the interesting things happen to the people surrounding the notorious cannibal.But then again, none of them ever ate anyone.

Really enjoyed this book. It was fantastic to learn of all the other historical “cannibals” in North America.Definitely recommend ❤️

Unlike Schechter' s other works, this one lacked the grip I was looking for. Plagued with long-winded descriptions of courtroom battles and newspaper stories of those days and some other weakly related materials about contemporary murderers to increase the number of the pages of a badly tailored tale, this book fails in every way to fulfill the lurid fantasy of a true crime buff.

Started to read this but i had to put it dawn. Waiting till someone is here with me too shocking... 😲😵

All Schechter's books are well written and read smoothly. First 1/3 reads very well (with, as usual, broad historical background). Unfortunately, the rest of the book (for MYSELF!) was unexpectedly boring. Must say, I did not finished reading it ;-(.