Review

I believe I will like the movie version of this book, more than the book itself. To be sure, the book is interesting, informative and often sad to the point of being harrowing. But ultimately, it is essentially a chronicle of murders; and the astonishingly predatory group of white men preying on a small tribe of Osage Native Americans who had what initially seemed to be the blessing of having discovered oil on their land--but that "black gold" ultimately proved to be more of a curse. The book follows the various criminal investigations, and the "birth" of formal criminal detection and the FBI itself. And while it is all that, it is considerably more. It is a story of extraordinary venality, and the whites preying on the Osage, not surprisingly, evoke echoes of how black people were treated--and murdered--in the American South. There is, however, a contention in the book that gave this reviewer considerable pause. The author suggests that "History is a merciless judge.... wielding the power of hindsight like an arrogant detective who seems to know the end of the mystery from the outset." This is, of course, a commonly-held view--but perhaps wrongly held. We do tend to judge conduct and performance--in sports; in life; and this case, crime detection--by looking backward. Quite often when we look back at earlier conduct and performance, we judge, or mis-judge, them by subsequent results. But the concept of "the distorting effect of history" must not be minimized. Having made that observation, however, Killers of the Flower Moon is a compelling book. You will be better informed (likely, much better) for having read it. P. S. Spoiler Alert: I just saw the movie. The first line of this review is.... wrong!

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