Man-Eater: The Life and Legend of an American Cannibal

I first discovered Harold Schechter with his series of engrossing books dedicated to serial killers. Deviant (Ed Geins), Depraved (H.H. Holmes), Deranged (Albert Fish) were three of the most fascinating, disturbing, goose bump inducing non-fiction books I have read. I recommend each very highly for the reader looking to scratch the morbid itch.

Unfortunately I cannot do the same for Man-Eater….

There was a spareness to those earlier works that really helped drive the abominable subject matter straight to the gut. Here, though the subject matter is at least on par with those titles, Mr. Schechter seems to have lost his narrative line a bit. Instead of storytelling we get reporting, instead of vivid images we get stilted accounts. While these are not necessarily problems in a work of non-fiction the tendency to repeat facts over and over and the penchant of dropping every single name even remotely associated with the crime makes for an unnecessarily weighty read.

The story told is that of Alfred G. Packer. A man who at times seems like a swindler, at others a compulsive liar, who poses as a guide to lead a band of prospectors through the Colorado Rockies during the winter of 1873. The group splits and after weeks of being lost in the blinding snow Packer emerges from the wilderness alone and none-the-worse for his ordeal. Immediately suspicions of the other survivors force a search to be made and the inevitable discovery of cannibalism is realized.

What follows is numerous re-tellings with little or no new information to justify the repetition. Perhaps because Packer himself changed his tune so many times and tried numerous attempts within his testimonies over several trials both formal and informal at a sort of insanity by hunger plea, some of this can be excused. But knowing Mr. Schechter’s immense talents displayed in those other works, I felt time and again some of the later accounts could have been paraphrased considerably. Even unchanging witness testimonies at each trial are presented again and again until I felt as if I was re-reading earlier chapters by accident.

Perhaps if I was unfamiliar with Schechter I may not have been so confused by what seemed to be clumsy storytelling. Perhaps if I was a history student needing to know transcript level details of the trials I may have been more appreciative of Mr. Schechter’s scrupulous use of source materials. Alas, I am just a reader who wanted to be fascinated by the dark tale with just enough historical accuracy to add to, not detract from the story. As it is, the book became a chore by the time Packer is given the opportunity to meet with reporter Polly Pry to recount for the umpteenth time his version of events.

I normally enjoy cannibalism as a subject. I think it’s fascinating, and what motivates people to feast on their fellow humans is usually complex and captivating. But Schechter seems to feel the need to ‘flesh out’ Packer’s rather sparse tale with endless
repetitions of his testimony, along with the testimonies of those who appeared in court as witnesses. Schechter then throws in accounts of other notorious man-eaters without much context. I really couldn’t get into the story after the third or fourth retelling of how Packer’s companions were found on the trail to Saguache.

I am a huge fan of true crime and a bigger fan of cannibalism. With that in mind, I should have loved this book. Instead, I found it lackluster.

This complaint has nothing to do with the author and everything to do with the subject matter. Alfred Packer just isn’t all that interesting. He’s kind of dim, a petty criminal, and sort of stumbles into cannibalism. He’s no Dahmer or Gein, that’s for sure. He’s life isn’t that interesting to read about, but Schechter tries his best. What’s unusual about his tale, though, is that all the interesting things happen to the people surrounding the notorious cannibal.

But then again, none of them ever ate anyone.

This book starts out very strong, and there’s a lot of interesting historical detail and context about instances of cannibalism as a desperate, last resort in historical survival situations. But the last quarter or so (from about chapter 41 to the end — there are 53 chapters in all) seems like a series of retellings of the same story that’s already been laid out by three different historical figures in the narrative.

Court testimony is a rehash. The melodramatic version written by an ambitious newspaper reporter is a rehash. Later accounts by various witnesses are all rehashes. If there were dramatic differences in the various versions of the story and there were reasons worth exploring for those differences, that would be one thing. But since there aren’t, it ends up being a repetitive slog through the final chapters.

The story isnt one I was familiar with. I am glad that I decided to read it. The history, crime, trial, legal battle, and finale were written and presented in such a clear, conversational tone that I read it in one day. Fascinating history of early America and the brutal reality of frontier life versus morality and how they blurred regularly.
I would recommend this book and I will read more from this author.

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