True Crime journalist and novelist Michelle McNamara was embedded in the True Crime genre. In addition to creating truecrimediary.com, the Notre Dame and University of Minnesota alum worked tirelessly to bring justice to the serial rapist and murderer she dubbed “The Golden State Killer,” putting in countless time to sift through police reports and interviews she had conducted, both with families of victims and victims themselves.
Following lead after lead, McNamara became further immersed in the mind and history of the sadistic and mysterious figure, but following her sudden, untimely death in 2016, the book sat unfinished — until comedian Patton Oswalt, who was married to McNamara until her passing, decided to help tell the story.
Two years after McNamara’s passing, the book, I’ll Be Gone In The Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search For The Golden State Killer, hits bookshelves both physical and digital today (February 27).
You did it, baby. The book is excellent, the writing brilliant. You tried to bring kindness to chaos, which was your way. #IllBeGoneInTheDark #MichelleMcNamara pic.twitter.com/xUKgEXOmR7
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) February 27, 2018
Oswalt, who also added an afterword to the book, will be bringing I’ll Be Gone In The Dark around the country for a series of Q&A’s, with a stop in Brookline this Thursday (March 1) at Coolidge Corner Theatre. He will be joined by the host of NPR’s Here and Now, Robin Young.
Oswalt was able to finish the book with the help of McNamara’s colleagues who knew her work best, and during a recent interview with NPR’s Scott Simon, Oswalt explained why feels McNamara had “a true cop’s heart and mind,” as well as how she felt empathetic towards the victims and families affected by The Golden Stage Killer, and how she got a sort of thrill out of her investigating.
“She very much admitted it — that, oh, there was a bit of a thrill to this,” Oswalt told Simon. “There was — there certainly wasn’t a thrill in reading about people being killed. But there was a thrill in, oh, I could maybe catch this guy and figure out — you know, not only capture him but then find out who he is and find out his reasons and what made him that way.”
PATTON OSWALT IN CONVERSATION WITH ROBIN YOUNG :: Thursday, March 1 at The Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St. in Brookline, MA :: 6 p.m., all ages, $27.99 (admission includes a copy of ‘I’ll Be Gone In The Dark’ :: Advance tickets :: Brookline Booksmith event page :: Featured image via Brookline Booksmith/Eventbrite
