Talked to Death: The Life and Murder of Alan Berg

This tautly structured true-crime tale relates the tragic collision between Berg, a Jewish talk-show host on Denver radio, and the Bruders Schweigen, a neo-Nazi group based in Idaho with members drawn from all over the West. Singular, a Denver Post staffer, tells in alternating chapters the story of Berg's life and the lives of those who murdered him in 1984. Unfortunately, the tapes of Berg's programs reprinted here do not capture the nervous energy that obviously excited and attracted his many listeners; the working-class right-wingers who abhorred him are more tellingly limned. The material on these fascists is chilling, as it raises questions about how many like them there may be in the country who hate blacks, Jews, leftists, homosexuals, Hispanics and other minorities with enough vehemence to commit murder. Photos not seen by PW. 50,000 first printing. (March 24)