True Story

I enjoyed this story slot. It was interesting to meld the guilt that the author shared with his protagonist who is not just a liar but a murderer. However the real story was what exactly drove a reasonably intelligent man to murder his entire family. There were some explanations put forward but I'm not sure I really could ever understand such twisted thinking

I liked this book a lot. I disagree with reviewers who said that Finkle spent too much time defending himself about his altered New York Times article, and his resulting termination. In my perception, his including this material was relevant in describing his relationship with Longo and his own transformation as events unfolded. I enjoyed this read and in my opinion it was a clever blend of a true crime story married to a memoir.

I wanted to read this book after seeing this story on TV. It was well written and certainly held my attention. Even though I knew the outcome, there was much suspense just because of the mystery of this murderer. What a trusting wife he had to follow him in all his lies and unlawful ways to continue a lifestyle he certainly could never afford.

An interesting, but not great read. Longo was a pretty contrived character. His decisions grew both tiresome and increasingly unbelievable. The commonality between the two men became obvious about halfway through the book, and I kept waiting for something more than the denouement, something more novel, no pun intended.

Lies a well-written tale, bursting at the seams with journalistic credibility, and not just because the author desperately needs it to be so (although that makes for a pretty good framework device, if a little overwrought toward the end). No, this is good solid reporting, as engaging as a well-written fiction thriller, with two solid lead characters who are not only cinematic in their portrayal but also disarmingly, and in the case of Longo, creepily, familiar. There's a little bit of each of us in each of them; in part what makes the story so page-turning and compelling.
Kinkel does his subject, and himself, true justice.

This book was outstandingly written. Its sad to see how chris manipulated mike but turned out to hp him in his ownife. The way and what chris says. Will make you sick on how feelingless he is. Couldnt put the book down!!!

When I purchased the book, I was expecting a more in-depth, detailed look into the mind of a killer who stole the author's identity. In fact, after reading it, I watched the 48 Hours episode online and realized that I could have just simply watched the episode and saved all this time reading the book.

True Story is a great read and incredibly compelling. If the story were not "True" -- I would have found it hard to believe. And which made the book even more intriguing. But most importantly **DO NOT SEE THE MOVIE** Thankfully, I watched the True Story movie after reading the book -- as I can not imagine reading the book if I first witnessed that train wreck. The acting was comically bad, but the worst part was that the story undermined the veracity of the book itself. The movie's plot was twisted and tortured to fit standard Hollywood parameters, and what came out the other end not only paled in comparison to the book, but actually told a very different story. Which was a HUGE disservice to the author/reporter/Mike Finkel, as one of the underlying themes of the book was that every word was 100% TRUE.

Less compelling than I had hoped, given the subject matter. I appreciate Finkel's attempt to work out his angst over his journalistic failings, but that seemed to distract him from a more satisfying portrait of Christian Longo.

This was an interesting story. It was well-written and flowed nicely. Chris Longo is definitely a dangerous man when things don't go his way. Even though Casey Anthony was not convicted, I see similarities in their personalities.

The book is really just Michael Finkel's attempt to explain why he was fired from the New York Times- with a sprinkling of an interesting true crime story. If you have the patience and time to wade through all of Mr. Finkel's whining and belabored explanations of the events surrounding his termination, you may find some things to like about the book--happy scavenging.

A highly talented author. I would encourage his to write more books as he handles the language exceptionally well. His descriptive ability is excellent and the best that I have ever come across. I jut didn't like the story. Sorry

This reminded me of "The Stranger Beside Me", by Ann Rule about her true story friendship with Ted Bundy.

I loved this book. I read it in two sittings in a 24 hour period. It's extremely well-written and the story is simply amazing; it's impossible not to become absorbed in it.

It bears mentioning that the author managed to 100% gain my trust. If you're not aware, part of the deal here is that he'd been fired from the New York Times for falsifying facts in an article, theoretically ending his career.

His candor was incredibly refreshing. His confessions were so honest, it was ALMOST uncomfortable sometimes to read at times. Journalists almost never turn the investigative lens on themselves, but it was cathartic and moving to read about his redemption through his contact with Longo (the killer).

I bought the book because I read the esquire article about the story, which was apparently written after the book came out. I concluded this because Longo provides a more comprehensive confession in the article, which the book didn't have. It'd be awesome if the book was expanded to include the organ donation and fuller confession.

This reminded me of "The Stranger Beside Me", by Ann Rule about her true story friendship with Ted Bundy.

I loved this book. I read it in two sittings in a 24 hour period. It's extremely well-written and the story is simply amazing; it's impossible not to become absorbed in it.

It bears mentioning that the author managed to 100% gain my trust. If you're not aware, part of the deal here is that he'd been fired from the New York Times for falsifying facts in an article, theoretically ending his career.

His candor was incredibly refreshing. His confessions were so honest, it was ALMOST uncomfortable sometimes to read at times. Journalists almost never turn the investigative lens on themselves, but it was cathartic and moving to read about his redemption through his contact with Longo (the killer).

I bought the book because I read the esquire article about the story, which was apparently written after the book came out. I concluded this because Longo provides a more comprehensive confession in the article, which the book didn't have. It'd be awesome if the book was expanded to include the organ donation and fuller confession.

I found this fascinating. I stayed up until two o'clock in the morning to finish it. It is a true crime story written in a clear, elegant style. Every sentence is polished, and every sentence is planned and placed in exactly the right place. There is no obvious striving for effect, no lurid prose, no fancy writing. Michael Finkel employs what George Orwell once called the invisible style. The writing is so unobtrusive, so deliberate in not calling attention to itself that what the reader experiences is the story itself, pure and simple.

Or stories. The book is like a film or a commercial novel in that there is a main plot and a subplot. The main plot is the story of Christian Longo who murdered his wife and three children and then ran to Mexico where he pretended to be Michael Finkel, ace reporter for the New York Times. This was a startling coincidence because Finkel had just been fired from the Times for falsifying a story about cocoa plantation "slaves" in West Africa. He was disgraced and fallen from the pinnacle of journalistic prestige. That is the subplot. Both stories are interwoven together in a masterful way. And the sequence of events is presented in a dramatic--not a strictly chronological--way so that the tension is maintained and the reader is led to eagerly turn the pages.

The overall story began when Finkel found out about Chris Longo impersonating him. Struck with the coincidence, he felt compelled to know more about Longo and why the accused murderer took on his name. He contacted Longo and worked hard to establish rapport and a friendship. His motive was to get as much information from Longo as he could in order to write a book. The book would fuse the story of his disgrace with that of a man who had murdered his family. The thread that ties the stories together is not just the initial coincidence but an obsession with honesty that haunted both men and the obvious lack of honesty that they both practiced. Both Finkel and Longo strove again and again to come completely clean about what they had done and what they were doing while using each other under the guise of friendship. Longo used Finkel as somebody to talk to (he had been isolated from the other prisoners and had almost no contact with anyone other than his lawyers) and as a sounding board for his defensive strategy. Finkel used Longo as a source for a story that would restart his career. As Finkel makes vivid, both men were more than a little desperate.

At one point Finkel gives part of the voluminous correspondence he had with Longo to three shrinks. They conclude that Longo has a narcissistic personality. He may indeed be narcissistic, but more to the point, Longo is a psychopath. He has all the classic features: a charming personality; a behavioral record of lies and thefts and murders; a grotesque sense of ultimately caring about nobody but himself; and finally an ability to be completely without remorse and able to party after his crimes, as he did in Mexico.

Ironically, I think it is Finkel who has at least a touch of the narcissistic personality. We can see this in his tendency toward an exaggerated sense of his own importance, first in imagining that the world would be all that interested in his story (ah, but he made the world interested by his skillful writing) and in this from page 267 (he's talking to Longo's lawyers who want ideas for Longo's defense): He writes, "I felt, at that moment, as though Longo's life was in my hands--that if I said the right thing, he'd be spared the death penalty." We can also see this in the tremendous amount of energy Finkel put into researching and writing this book. He desperately wanted to regain his reputation and to be regarded again as a top flight journalist.

Both men are caught in a moral confusion about lies and honesty, Longo because he's a psychopath who doesn't understand how people can be so upset about lying since it would seen to be the natural thing to do if it might benefit you (sociopaths learn at an early age that they are supposed to be remorseful about lying, and that it's bad, but they never really appreciate why, and so they are fascinated with the dynamics); Finkel because as he freely admits has told many lies in his life including the lies that ended his career at the New York Times. Neither has apparently thought much about Emerson's "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Neither seems to understand that it is not so much the absolute consistency of what you say as it is your motive for what you say and especially how what you say affects others. That is what counts. Most people know this. Furthermore everybody lies at one time or another, but not when bearing witness and not when the lives of other people might be adversely affected.

I think what fascinated Finkel about Longo was that he could see in him a caricature of himself; and as long as he could imagine that Longo might not be guilty or as long as he didn't look too closely at the murders, that was tolerable. However after sitting through the trial and hearing Longo's grotesque self-serving lies about the murders and the horrific details, Finkel had to psychologically distance himself from his would-be, partial alter-ego. And rightly so since there is something terribly unsettling about their symbiotic relationship.

But in the final analysis I say good for Michael Finkel. This is an outstanding work, a fine addition to a genre I like to call "participatory journalism." What Finkel learned about himself from this chancy venture is possibly as important as what this book has done for his career and for his self-esteem.

This book was wonderful. I originally watched the movie and felt like there were so many details being left out, and boy was I right! This book gave an in-depth explanation to the events leading up to the murders as well as clear explanation on Finkel's firing (which was hardly covered in the movie). The reading level of this book was pretty simple and didn't require intense concentration. While the details of the events are disturbing at times, the book really helped to make the connection between the similarities between both men.

Back in December 2001, a heinous act occured along the Oregon coast that would forever alter the lives of the people involved with it. Christian Longo, newly relocated to the area a few months back, savagely took the lives of the people closest to him, and then fled the country. The shock and horror of the crimes reverberated strongly through the community and the state. While in Mexico, Longo assumed the identity of disgraced NY Times reporter Michael Finkel. Thus, this unusual pairing of these two men was born, and the end result, this quite unusual recounting of the Longo murders in "True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa".

Michael Finkel was once top of his game, reporting on serious stories with serious implications. However, due to frabrications made in an "child slavery" story, he quickly fell from grace, retreating to his life in Montana. No sooner than that happened, his phone rang, and a reporter calling from the Oregonian fills him in on the Longo story. Having nothing better to do with his time, Finkel contacts the now-captured Longo, who responds, creating a very strange, symbiotic relationship during the time Longo was awaiting trial for the murders.

This whole book is quite amazing. From Finkel's complete, honest confession to his fabrications, to the letters that Longo writes to him, the story is quite the page turner. Finkel's writing style is uncluttered and easy to read. He builds his story well, from the introduction to the final, horrifying conclusion. Finkel's honesty is compelling; he cuts himself no slack for his fabrication. You must forgive him for his mistakes, and hopefully, he'll find himself back to writing.

This story is chilling, in so many aspects. Longo, a merciless killer, sits on Oregon's death row, living with his crimes. You wonder how he does, but after reading Finkel's book, which provides an unusual insight into the distorted mind of a killer, more light is shed on this subject. In short, it's a great read.

A long trip, by a novelist caught cheating himself, into the mind of a likable, but dastardly killer. Supposedly that novelist emerges the better for it. I, on the other hand, could never separate the story from the horrendous deed.
Read at your own risk- It’s not a happy story!

Very disappointing read. I bought it after seeing the previews for the film and knowing I usually am drawn to dark, crime-ridden psychological studies. Unfortunately, the voice of Michael Finkel comes across as self indulgent and self involved. We learn much about his fall from grace the NYT (honestly, this part of the book, covered in the first few chapters turned out to be some of the most interesting material in the book). The character of Christian Longo never is ambiguous enough to be compelling. Are we ever to really believe, as we move thru the book, that he DIDN'T kill his family? I didn't. Did you? He wasn't complicated or nuanced at all. Instead, he seemed like a religious nut who married young and never had any real skill set or ambition. His wife seemed stupid to have married him or followed him around during all his failings. His children seemed to be the victims of negligence and worse. Longo is never sympathetic in the least, and Finkel seems to want us to believe he is...at least until the final chapter or so. Skip it.

Veritas. Truth hides itself in lies such that light hides in darkness. There is much more to this story than meets the eye. I find great satisfaction in the authors way of being shockingly blunt in telling the truth but lying just enough to led the audience into a slumber of accepted deceit. The duality of mind, shedding the shroud of the soul in plain sight, for us to see; yet, leading us gently toward a trough of lies. The inquisitive, or even just intuitive, mind will see a Juvenalian style satire in the midst of the reader, the audience, and the gullibility of society. Those mostly belonging to the latter. "True Art"

This true story is about identity theft of the worst kind, by an alleged murderer who chose the name of his favorite journalist, Michael Finkel. How in a million years could he choose that name out of a hat?

Alastair Reid wrote, "What is true lies between you and the idea of you -- a friciton, restless, between the fact and the fiction" in his book WHERE TRUTH LIES. We can all take what we want to believe and make it 'truth' as we see it. It may be a fantasy or, as in this case, a coverup for something bad.

Sometime in 2001, the Longo family (wife and three children) are found murdered; the father, Christian, is captured in Mexico using the alias of Micahel Finkel of the 'New York Times.' The real M. F. is indeed a writer for the 'Times magazine.' After the capture of the 'false' M. F., the real one is fired for "falsifying part of an investigative article."

He now has the time to dig and discover why this particular individual wanted to be him. The two men exchange nearly 1,000 letters, talk on the phone about his upcoming trial, and talk face-to-face in the prison visiting area. He becomes emotionally involved in the case and sets out to prove the innocence of his new friend (in a slightly unusual way). It seems that Longo had lived a life of deception and lies, and the truth is never as he tries to make it.

This reads more like a novel with the two protaganists on the same side of the law, and yet at times, they are disbelieving of each other and the reasons they are communicating. Of course, the journalist gets a book out of the process. But what does the theif of his identity receive as a consequence. The author lives in Bozeman, Montana.

After Michael Finkel's deceit that cost him his job at the New York Times Magazine, things took a decidely different turn for Mr. Finkel. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would find himself fired from the job he coveted so much. But even more so, never did he ever expect to find himself in the middle of a murder trial where he played a central role.

Christian Michael Longo decided to become Michael Finkel of the New York Times at almost the exact time Finkel lost his job at the Times. Longo, wanted for the murder of his family in Oregon, had fled to Mexico and assumed the identity of reporter Finkel. All that happens next is something that sounds straight from a Hollywood screenplay. Except, this time there's no deceit to "get the story," - it's all real. Finkel finds himself with a true-crime story of a lifetime dropped in his lap.

Another reviewer described this book as "genre-busting" and I couldn't agree more. This is a story of a reporter's fall from grace, his (sometimes bizarre) relationship with a murderer, and a true crime book that follows the Longo case with many psychological twists and turns. Finkel, throwing convention to the wind, makes it work.

Where Finkel goes from here will ultimately be decided by peers who will decide whether his problems at the NY Times Magazine was an aberration of character that was a mistake, but one that most certainly will not be repeated - or in this day of moral and ethical purity, he is shunned. What a shame that would be. If that's the ultimate take on Finkel, he has a career (if he so desires) as a writer of true crime, bringing his journalistic curiosity to some of the multitudes of heinous criminal behavior that perplexes us all. He's proven he can do that - and do it well.

I cannot recommend this "genre busting" book highly enough.

The personal angle makes this look at murderer Christian Longo riveting, multifaceted, and very revealing.

Christian Longo, seemingly the perfect husband, murdered his wife and three young children in Oregon three years ago. He fled and used an alias down in Mexico: Mike Finkel, travel writer for the Times. At the same time, the real Mike Finkel had just been busted by the Times for having created a composite character in one of his articles and apparently passing it off as a single person, desperate to make the story come out the way his editor wanted it.

Finkel, a dedicated journalist and sportsman whose other articles were proven to be completely factual, only messed up one time, but it was a big enough judgment error to put his career on hiatus. As he recouped at home in Montana, he learned of the Longo story, and entered into a correspondence with Longo while Longo was in jail.

What made this riveting was that Longo provided Finkel with so much information that the reader knows everything about his origins and subsequent downward spiral. Longo fell in love with his wife, an older woman, while he was a teenager ; they eventually married and moved north and had three children. He was always desperate to win everyone's respect, and he began making shady deals to keep his business afloat. Somehow, reading Finkel's fine details of the downward trend, you get insight into Longo's intent to appear perfect. If he can maintain the perfect family, keep up his business, and not get caught having stolen a van from a dealership, maybe he'll pull through.

It had me wondering if Longo would have been able to keep his criminal impulses in check if everything had worked out for him. Or would they have come out nevertheless? And in what way? Are there other psychopaths walking around who don't end up committing murder because their lives end up just fine? An odd thought, but this book brings it to mind.

Finkel's economy of words was especially skillful in this storytelling.

This book is a unique combination of personal rehabilitation and true crime. When an accused murderer assumes the identity of a NY Times Magazine writer who is being fired and humiliated, their two stories become intertwined in a complex, almost dangerous way. Well-written, both back stories are interesting and evenly paced. If this book is well received (and I think it should be) then Finkel's 'mea culpa' may become his redemption as a writer.

Michael Finkel claims to be a famous writer ( although he does admit to being fired for stretching the truth in a news story) The truth is while he may be an egotist, he cannot write well at all. He is trying to get blood money from victims MaryJane and the three Longo Children. He actually brags about how well liked he is by killer Longo. I am an avid trued crime reader. Michael Finkel is truly at the bottom of the barrel

What if your worst moment was someone else's dream? In True Story, journalist Michael Finkel tells the story of how his identity was stolen at the worst moment of his life. As he is being fired from his dream job at the New York Times, a man is being arrested, a man who was pretending to be Michael Finkel who was alleged to have killed his own wife and three children. The man stole Michael Finkel's identity because he wished to be Michael Finkel.

Michael Finkel gets to know Christian Longo, and in the process of writing about this man accused of killing his family, he must also reveals his own flaws and worst traits. It's a profoundly affecting book, as Finkel explores how his own excesses led to his downfall, at the same time talking about how Longo's problems led to his making heinous choices. That the two share some traits is very disturbing. The book asks the question, "What separates the journalist from the subject? What separates the writer from the murderer?"

I recommend this highly.

This book makes you think/question.....deeply. I truly honestly completely believed Chris Longo's first version of the killings. That he killed his wife and last child and someone else (his wife) killed the 2 older kids. I just believed it in the bottomless pits of my stomach. And to later read that Longo lied?!?!?!??!?! I had to put down the book for a day and re-access my ability to read/understand people. I am truly shattered, I can tell you. I am not stupid to believe in the truthfulness of mankind. We all lie for one reason or the other. But Longo???? He is con artist. A cruel man. A liar liar liar. I am so hurt. I cant even imagine how Finkel feels. This book...em em em! I recommend again and again and again.