A Father's Story

by Lionel Dahmer

Overview

Raising a Serial Killer

Father's Search for Answers

In July of 1991 the country was shocked by the unfathomable crimes of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. But no one was more shocked than his parents. In A Father's Story, the reader is witness to the incremental unraveling of a parent's image of their child, and the "thousand different reactions" that follow. In his attempt to understand the nature of his son's psychosis, Lionel Dahmer methodically scrutinizes every possible contributing factor to his son's madness. His desperation is palpable as he searches for clues in the emotional, psychological, and genetic landscape of his son's life.

Riveting and soul-wrenching, this unprecedented memoir is the confession of a father who must "confront the saddest truth a human can know-that his child has somehow crossed the line that separates the human from the monstrous."

Echo Point's updated edition is also available in hardcover (search for ISBN 1648370535).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635615630
Publisher:	Echo Point Books & Media, LLC
Publication date:	05/28/2021
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	268
Sales rank:	40,990
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.61(d)

Editorial Reviews

If readers are expecting sensational revelations from this earnest memoir by the father of mass-murderer Jeffrey Dahmer, they will be disappointed. We are instead given a glimpse into the macabre life of one of the most demented killers in the nation's history, a man who kept a full human skeleton in his closet. Jeffrey was born in Milwaukee in 1960 after his mother had endured a very difficult pregnancy (after giving birth to another son, she would spend time in a mental institution). Jeffrey seemed like any other child; it was only as he grew older that he began to withdraw. His father sees many similarities between himself and his son: both are emotionally distant, fear abandonment, like to control people and feel inadequate. The author, a chemist, writes that he was so involved with his work that he never noticed that Jeffrey, even in high school, was an alcoholic. Dahmer goes on to recite his son's litany of failure: dropping out of college after only one semester; being kicked out of the army for his alcoholism; his interest in devil worship and seances. The strongest statement in the book is Dahmer's denial of an allegation made by a former male lover of Jeffrey's that he sexually abused his son as a teenager. A book for criminologists, psychiatrists and the ghoulish. Photos not seen by PW. Author tour. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Although he knew his son Jeffrey was disturbed, the author, like most parents, hoped he was ``just a blink away from redemption.'' Thus, he was as horrified as others when Jeffrey's gruesome serial murders of young men came to light. (See Anne E. Schwartz's The Man Who Could Not Kill Enough , LJ 4/15/92). In this brief, honest book, Dahmer, a research chemist, searches for answers to the question of how his son became a monster. In retrospect, there are some clues--Dahmer even speculates that he is ``a man whose son was perhaps only the deeper, darker shadow of himself.'' While no one, not even his father, can ever really know what produces a Jeffrey Dahmer, this is brave, heart-wrenching testimony. The author's unique point of view reminds us that the lives a murderer ruins include those who loved him most. Recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/93.-- Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis

Library Journal

The father of convicted serial murderer Jeffrey Dahmer writes eloquently of himself and his son. He chronicles Jeffrey's life, his crimes, and his apprehension and trial; but more importantly, he shares his own ruminations about Jeffrey's psychology and his own. No scholarly paraphernalia. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews