The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth

by Josh Levin Narrated by January LaVoy

Overview

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography

In this critically acclaimed true crime tale of "welfare queen" Linda Taylor, a Slate editor reveals a "wild, only-in-America story" of political manipulation and murder (Attica Locke, Edgar Award-winning author).

On the South Side of Chicago in 1974, Linda Taylor reported a phony burglary, concocting a lie about stolen furs and jewelry. The detective who checked it out soon discovered she was a welfare cheat who drove a Cadillac to collect ill-gotten government checks. And that was just the beginning: Taylor, it turned out, was also a kidnapper, and possibly a murderer. A desperately ill teacher, a combat-traumatized Marine, an elderly woman hungry for companionship -- after Taylor came into their lives, all three ended up dead under suspicious circumstances. But nobody -- not the journalists who touted her story, not the police, and not presidential candidate Ronald Reagan -- seemed to care about anything but her welfare thievery.

Growing up in the Jim Crow South, Taylor was made an outcast because of the color of her skin. As she rose to infamy, the press and politicians manipulated her image to demonize poor black women. Part social history, part true-crime investigation, Josh Levin's mesmerizing book, the product of six years of reporting and research, is a fascinating account of American racism, and an exposé of the "welfare queen" myth, one that fueled political debates that reverberate to this day.

The Queen tells, for the first time, the fascinating story of what was done to Linda Taylor, what she did to others, and what was done in her name. "In the finest tradition of investigative reporting, Josh Levin exposes how a story that once shaped the nation's conscience was clouded by racism and lies. As he stunningly reveals in this "invaluable work of nonfiction," the deeper truth, the messy truth, tells us something much larger about who we are (David Grann, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon).

Editorial Reviews

AUGUST 2019 - AudioFile

Identity theft takes on a new meaning in this mesmerizing biography/social study narrated by the adept January LaVoy. LaVoy, with her modulated, attentive tone, and author Levin, with his thorough research and clear writing style, both try to find the humanity in a woman who may have murdered three people, kidnapped and sold children, and defrauded public assistance programs. Strangely, she served time only for the latter charge—ripping off welfare programs for $7,000. But the "welfare queen" myth that she inspired helped elect Ronald Reagan (who wasn't afraid to embellish the charges against her) and propelled the post-Reagan anti-public assistance movement. Part history and part true crime, this is a sad but true story of lost identity. R.W.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2020 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

05/27/2019

When Ronald Reagan campaigned for the presidency, he referred frequently to a Chicago woman who “used eighty names, thirty addresses, and twelve Social Security cards to collect all kinds of public benefits.” Reagan made that woman a symbol for “a whole class of people who were getting something they didn’t deserve” as part of his assault on the welfare state. Slate editorial director Levin’s dogged investigative work in his impressive debut reveals the truth behind Reagan’s claims, presenting the stranger-than-fiction story of that woman, who called herself Linda Taylor (among numerous other names). Taylor stole more than $150,000 in public assistance in one year, and had planned to “open a medical office, posing as a doctor.” Levin makes the complex narrative accessible by using an indefatigable Chicago police detective, Jack Sherwin, as his initial protagonist. In 1974, Sherwin responded to a bogus burglary complaint filed by Taylor, who alleged that the criminal had somehow managed to shove a jumbo fridge through a very small window. Sherwin’s probe into the suspicious “victim” revealed that Taylor was a recidivist scam artist. Levin uncovers more criminality in Taylor’s history—including child abuse, abduction, and a possible murder—spanning a half-century beginning in 1944. Levin’s piecing together of interviews, court documents, and other records paint as complete a picture as possible of an unrepentant career criminal who was turned into a stereotype for political purposes. Those interested in U.S. urban culture of another era will also be intrigued. Agent: Alia Habib, The Gernert Co. (May)

From the Publisher

"While the story of Linda Taylor is at once bewildering and tragic, there are millions of untold stories of people who suffered because of her infamy, and we may never know their names. But by reading about Taylor's life and the perplexing person she was, we may be able to understand people who live today in poverty. We can meet their challenges with compassion, and not lionize or demonize them, but see them as Linda was never seen in the eyes of the public-as a full person."—Southside Weekly

"A presidential campaign, constructed from a scaffolding of bigotry. Unbridled backlash against the poor. Ideological agendas paving over the truth and ignoring real victims. Josh Levin's The Queen is both an unforgettable story and a vital way of understanding how we got to our current political crossroads. This is a crucial, important book."—Robert Kolker, author of The Lost Girls

"Josh Levin's delicious deep dive into the true story of Ronald Reagan's welfare queen unwraps a bizarre and entertaining yarn of a grifter's journey through the infernal levels of racism, sexism, sensational journalism, slipshod law enforcement, and the twisted family values that brought us from 20th-century America to where we are now."—Robert Lipsyte, author of SportsWorld: An American Dreamland

"An upcoming biography by journalist Josh Levin about Linda Taylor, the Chicago woman whose complicated story was demonized and manipulated by politicians and press (namely, the Chicago Tribune, according to Levin's account) until she was Ronald Reagan's infamous 'welfare queen'...It's tempting to describe Levin's masterful book as alternate history of 1980s Chicago. But no - again, it's this Chicago, on this planet, not twisted on its head, only righted."—Christopher Borrelli, The Chicago Tribune

"Josh Levin's account of the bizarre life of the woman who became known as "the welfare queen" is a triumph of research, insight and evenheadedness...January LaVoy narrates this multilayered biography with clarity and compassion."—-Washington Post, audiobook review

"Levin nimbly explores Taylor's life in a story that becomes more complex the more it's revealed...As the author shows in this excellent piece of true-crime writing, Taylor's case is entirely rare, but the potent political symbolism it inspired certainly did no favors to those who truly needed welfare assistance in the years since"—Kirkus, starred review

"Levin, the national editor of Slate, writes a stunning account of Linda Taylor, the woman famously tagged as a "welfare queen" in the 1970s. His powerful work of narrative nonfiction...demonstrates how a single distortion can ruin lives...Levin does a terrific job of balancing his portrait of a criminal, of the racism of police who didn't bother to solve the three murders connected to Taylor, and of the widespread stereotyping of Blacks that grew out of her crimes and a president's distortions."—Booklist starred review

"Slate editorial director Levin's dogged investigative work in his impressive debut reveals...the stranger-than-fiction story of [a] woman who called herself Linda Taylor (among numerous other names)."—Publishers Weekly

"A jaw-dropping, just astonishing feat of reporting...the sensitivity with which he writes about [Linda Taylor's] childhood and history...is fascinating."—Slate's Culture Gabfest

"In The Queen, Slate editor John Levin takes a holistic approach to Taylor's story, relaying the details of her early life, her crimes, and her unexpected turn as a national debating point, exposing some uncomfortable truths about the era's attitudes, so many of which persist today."—CrimeReads, The Best Crime Non-Fiction Books of May 2019

"Levin, an editor at Slate, returns us to a former era of uproar...in doing so complicating political and cultural debates that have survived to this day."—Talya Zax, The Forward

"Levin writes with sympathy. Themes of rejection, racial confusion and possible mental illness create a strong undercurrent beneath this fascinating story."—Alden Mudge, BookPage

"A compelling new look at Linda Taylor...The Queen is a cross between true-crime story, biography and political history."—Shelf Awareness

AUGUST 2019 - AudioFile

Identity theft takes on a new meaning in this mesmerizing biography/social study narrated by the adept January LaVoy. LaVoy, with her modulated, attentive tone, and author Levin, with his thorough research and clear writing style, both try to find the humanity in a woman who may have murdered three people, kidnapped and sold children, and defrauded public assistance programs. Strangely, she served time only for the latter charge—ripping off welfare programs for $7,000. But the "welfare queen" myth that she inspired helped elect Ronald Reagan (who wasn't afraid to embellish the charges against her) and propelled the post-Reagan anti-public assistance movement. Part history and part true crime, this is a sad but true story of lost identity. R.W.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2020 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170266074
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	05/21/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged

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