Book Beginnings: Golden Boy: A Murder Among the Manhattan Elite by John Glatt
Every Friday Book Beginnings hosted by Rose City Readers asks you to grab the book you are reading and share the first sentence or paragraph and then give your feelings on it or anything else that it inspires. Be sure to include the title and the author
I really enjoy non-fiction books, however I do tend to push them aside for the more fun fiction books, so at the beginning of the year, Ro and I challenged ourselves to read one non-fiction book a month for the entire 2021 year, and I am proud to say we have both been doing well at it, and about to finish this baby up!
Yesterday I started The Golden Boy by John Glatt which is my non-fiction for October, so I thought I would share the beginning of it with you.
GOLDEN BOY: A MURDER AMONG THE MANHATTEN ELITE BY JOHN GLATT
SUMMARY:
By all accounts, Thomas Gilbert Jr. led a charmed life. The son of a wealthy financier, he grew up surrounded by a loving family and all the luxury an Upper East Side childhood could provide: education at the elite Buckley School and Deerfield Academy, summers in a sprawling seaside mansion in the Hamptons. With his striking good lucks, he moved with ease through glittering social circles and followed in his father's footsteps to Princeton.
But Tommy always felt different. The cracks in his façade began to show in warning signs of OCD, increasing paranoia, and--most troubling--an inexplicable hatred of his father. As his parents begged him to seek psychiatric help, Tommy pushed back by self-medicating with drugs and escalating violence. When a fire destroyed his former best friend's Hamptons home, Tommy was the prime suspect--but he was never charged. Just months later, he arrived at his parents' apartment, calmly asked his mother to leave, and shot his father point-blank in the head.
Journalist John Glatt takes an in-depth look at the devastating crime that rocked Manhattan's upper class. With exclusive access to sources close to Tommy, including his own mother, Glatt constructs the agonizing spiral of mental illness that led Thomas Gilbert Jr. to the ultimate unspeakable act.
But Tommy always felt different. The cracks in his façade began to show in warning signs of OCD, increasing paranoia, and--most troubling--an inexplicable hatred of his father. As his parents begged him to seek psychiatric help, Tommy pushed back by self-medicating with drugs and escalating violence. When a fire destroyed his former best friend's Hamptons home, Tommy was the prime suspect--but he was never charged. Just months later, he arrived at his parents' apartment, calmly asked his mother to leave, and shot his father point-blank in the head.
Journalist John Glatt takes an in-depth look at the devastating crime that rocked Manhattan's upper class. With exclusive access to sources close to Tommy, including his own mother, Glatt constructs the agonizing spiral of mental illness that led Thomas Gilbert Jr. to the ultimate unspeakable act.
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It was a routine Sunday afternoon for Thomas Gilbert Sr, the founder of a multimillion-dollar hedge fund and a longtime fixture on Wall Street. After playing two strenuous rounds of tennis at the River Club, he was relaxing in his bedroom watching a football game. Three days earlier, on New Years day 2015, the tall athletic financier had quietly celebrated his seventieth birthday and showed no signs of slowing down.
Next door in the living room, his petite wife, Shelley, was chatting with friends on her laptop when the doorbell rang around 3:15 pm It was a surprise, they werent expecting anyone, and their doorman usually called to announce visitors.
I don't read much true crime, which is surprising, because that is about all I watch on TV, but I have really enjoyed this book so far, it has been a fairly quick book and interesting enough where I hate putting it down.
Be sure to drop your link to you post today in the comments so I can come by and visit!
Sounds like a heart-breaking tale of nonfiction. My Friday quotes
ReplyDeleteThis one sounds good. Thanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.
ReplyDeleteI should read more non-fiction and especially True Crime. I have read one or two books by Anne Rule and enjoyed it tremendously!
ReplyDeleteHave a good weekend and happy reading.
Elza Reads
Wow! I don't read true crime but this one has me very intrigued. Thanks for sharing! Hope you have a great weekend! :)
ReplyDeleteThis does sound like a fascinating read.
ReplyDeleteI've been on a true crime kick and this sounds like one to add to the list. I want to find out more about the father. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLooks interesting. I don't read true crime either, but I'm fascinated to learn why crimes are committed.
ReplyDeleteAs a native New Yorker, this is the kind of story that fascinates me.
ReplyDelete