In Review

21 November 2008 18:16 BST

If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer by OJ Simpson and the Goldman Family

Published by Gibson Square, out November 15th, 204 pages, £12.99.

In a nutshell...

Two books in one, both boiling with rage and bordering on insanity. OJ Simpson reveals - hypothetically - how he killed his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman.

The Goldman family explain why they own the rights to the book, defend their right to do so and throw in some background on how it was written and readied for release, with contributions from ghost writer Pablo F. Fenjves and journalist Dominick Dunne.

What it's all about?

The book centres around the 'confession' of NFL legend and the star of Naked Gun, OJ Simpson, painting the background to the brutal murders in 1994 of waiter Ron Goldman and OJ's ex-wife Nicole. OJ was famously found not guilty at the 1995 murder trial but three years later, in a civil judgment, was found liable for willfully and wrongfully causing the deaths of Ron and Nicole. As a prelude to the book, the Goldmans lay out their determination to bring the man they believe responsible to justice by publishing what they say is a confession and to "raise awareness for the Ron Goldman Foundation for Justice". Presumably they'd also like to recoup some of the $38 million outstanding from the unpaid civil judgment (OJ has not proved the most willing debtor after declaring himself bankrupt and opting to move to Florida where his hefty NFL pension and home are protected by law from the repayment). We also get to hear the ghost writer explain why he took on the project and how he solicited details from OJ.

Who's it by?

This is arguably where it gets interesting. The rights to the book – after a protracted legal battle – belong to the Goldman family. The ghost writer – who also pens a chapter of his own and who testified for the prosecution at the original trial – is Pablo F Fenjves. And then there's Orenthal James Simpson, the subject, part-author and lead protagonist of the piece, better known as OJ or 'The Juice'.

As an example...

"Readers will have the chance to read his version of how and why he stabbed Ron and Nicole to death on June 12th 1994. There is no doubt in our minds this book was originally written so he could tell his side of what happened." (p.xxiv) [The Goldman Family]

"OJ suddenly looked upset. 'I don't know what the hell you want from me,' he said. 'I'm not going to tell you that I sliced my ex-wife's neck and watched her eyes roll up into her head.'" (p. xxxiii) [Pablo F Fenjves]

"I've read all the stories: That I did it. That I did it but I don't know I did it. That I can no longer tell fact from fiction. That I wake up in the middle of the night, consumed by guilt, screaming.
Man, they even had me wondering, What if I did it? Well sit back people. The things I know, and the things I believe, you can't even imagine." (p.1) [OJ's 'confession']

"I again looked down at myself, at my blood-soaked clothes, and noticed the knife in my hand. The knife was covered with blood, as were my hand and wrist and half of my right forearm."(p132) [OJ's 'confession']

Likelihood of becoming a Hollywood Blockbuster

A cast iron guarantee – do you remember the 'chase' as OJ fled down the highway in his distinctive white Bronco with a gun pointed at his own head, or the key turn of events in the trial and associated catchphrases ('The Glove Don't Fit!') and star turns, never mind OJ's career in the upper echelons of one of America's favourite sports?

And did we mention OJ is currently facing trial on armed robbery for holding up some memorabilia collectors who he reportedly believed had stolen his gear?

What the others say

"A book that is simultaneously morally disgusting and excruciatingly dull." Rod Liddle, the Times

So is it any good?

The autobiographical passages, which are the context and the filler for the 'confession', are no better than the hundreds of ho-hum ghost writer-penned accounts of sports stars as they go about their life being recognised and feted. The writing is not "a lasting work of art", as Fenjves himself admits, but he is half-right in his assertion that it is a "compelling read". That it builds up to the pivotal - and brutal - murder scene is enough to keep going and, while the 'confession' scene is inevitably an anticlimax, it is difficult not read the book without your jaw dropping open: at the events recounted; at how those events came to be recounted and at what the book is trying to achieve.

This is post-modernism in the hands of Rupert Murdoch, whose News International organisation originally bought the rights to the book before handing them over after realising he had, for once, misjudged the public mood.

If I Did It is a book about the making of a book; a hypothetical confession of a man who has been found guilty before a jury and not guilty by another; a lurid fictionalised murder story written about the real-life murder of two people by the purported perpetrator and the victims' family.

The book is like a contortionist getting through a series of ever smaller hoops, as the respective parties explain their roles and who was to blame and why everything is morally justified in the end and, ultimately, why they were in the right, with the simple sad truth of two untimely deaths almost an aside.

Simply astonishing, only in America.

1/10 for the content, 10/10 as a curio

Nathaniel Bertram

"We're talking about the 'crime of the century' here. In my opinion, OJ has gotten away with nothing! Everyone with a brain knows he did it. The only reason he got off was the veritable circus that the trial became; causing confusion and (un)reasonable doubt. But make no mistake, he has found himself in a special type of prison since the day he was pronounced 'not guilty'. The level of disdain for this man is unmatched in the (global) court of public opinion. No one would want to be him. He is the 'quintessential pariah' destined to spend his remaining time on earth dealing with low-lifes and criminals (such as some of the people in the latest alleged scheme). Frankly, I don't think it will be much different for him on the inside." - Brian Sneed

"I fully agree with the last writer. I followed the trial carefully and he is not only guilty, it is impossible for anyone else to be involved, as only his, Nicole and Ron's blood intermingled was EVER found. Not one speck was ever traced to anyone else, case closed. I don't believe ANY mishandling was ever done as no one knew who was the killer until after the DNA work was done. Now all of a sudden he comes back with a gash on his finger at the very time his ex-wife and her friend are murdered. How coincidental." - Denise Lingle