A Wilderness of Error The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald [Paperback]

Academy Award–winning filmmaker Errol Morris examines one of the most notorious and mysterious murder trials of the twentieth century

In this profoundly original meditation on truth and the justice system, Errol Morris—a former private detective and director ofThe Thin Blue Line—delves deeply into the infamous Jeffrey MacDonald murder case. MacDonald, whose pregnant wife and two young daughters were brutally murdered in 1970, was convicted of the killings in 1979 and remains in prison today. The culmination of an investigation spanning over twenty years and a masterly reinvention of the true-crime thriller,A Wilderness of Erroris a shocking book because it shows that everything we have been told about the case is deeply unreliable and that crucial elements of case against MacDonald are simply not true.APublishers WeeklyBest Nonfiction Book of 2012

The literary equivalent of one of [Morris's] movies. It’s a rough-hewed documentary master class....A Wilderness of Errorupends nearly everything you think you know about these killings and their aftermath. Watching Mr. Morris wade into this thicket of material is like watching an aggrieved parent walk into a teenager’s fetid, clothes- and Doritos-strewed bedroom and neatly sort and disinfect until the place shines. ...He will leave you 85 percent certain that Mr. MacDonald is innocent. He will leave you 100 percent certain he did not get a fair trial... If this headstrong book doesn’t change your sense of the Jeffrey MacDonald case, I'll eat my Chuck Taylors.
—Dwight Garner,The New York Times

Critics sometimes confuse great books with important books — exceptionally written literature isn't always the same as literature that can powerfully affect society. ButA Wilderness of Erroris both great and important — it's a beautifully written book, and it has the potential to change the way the lƒ7