Money, Murder, and Dominick Dunne: A Life in Several Acts

Theater critic Hofler (The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson) treats readers to a thoroughly researched tour of the life of famous writer Dominick Dunne (1925–2001). Starting in Dunne’s childhood, Hofler then recounts his WWII Army combat service, work in early television, 1970s stint as a film producer, and late-in-life fame as a novelist (People Like Us) and a true-crime columnist at Vanity Fair. His writing career started with his coverage of the 1983 murder trial of the man who killed his daughter, the actress Dominique Dunne, and lasted until his death. Hofler gives readers a vivid sense of the struggles of life in the closet for a bisexual man of Dunne’s era. Otherwise, the book’s tone is chatty and gossipy, and Hofler seems to enjoy dropping famous names and salacious tidbits as much as his subject did. The first half of the book emphasizes Dunne’s turbulent personal life; later chapters shift their focus to the true-crime cases he covered, notably the Menendez brothers and O.J. Simpson trials. The book teems with interesting stories, but the narrative sometimes stumbles on awkward sentences and chronological glitches. The absence of any in-depth exploration of Dunne’s longtime romantic relationship with painter Norman Carby also feels like an odd omission, especially since Hofler interviewed him. (Apr.)