My Friend Dahmer
Before I get started, I should point out the interview on this site with Derf. Just in case you hadn’t seen it the first time. As for this book, I have to admit that I’ve avoided getting it for years. I thought that the guy was just trying to make a buck (although in an unlikely medium), or that he was just trying to put out a sensationalistic story, or maybe he just wanted to get some notoriety on his own. After reading this, I’m pretty sure that I was wrong on all counts. He has a lengthy introduction explaining why he had to do this book, and it was basically because he had a story to tell. Simple as that. Even so, it took him about 10 years after the crimes were discovered that he was able to put this together. So what’s this book about? Well, except for the gory sample I picked, there’s not a bit of violence in here. Instead, its a tale of obvious (in hindsight) signs of mental problems, a lack of attention paid by anybody in a position in authority, and a boy who pretends that he has cerebral palsy to get anybody to notice him. The picture in here is of a young man who had literally no friendly contact with the world, and his slow and noticeable descent into madness. The problem is that everybody has their own problems, and most people don’t have time to stop to try and fix something like this. Derf thinks that Dahmer could have been saved. I’m not sure, after reading this, if that was a real possibility, but at least the damage could have been minimized. This is probably $3 or $4, but it’s really worth a look. Not just for some sick fetish with serial killers, but to see what these people are like when they’re just trying to fit in. Here’s a website…
