If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer

IF I DID IT: Confessions of the Killer
by The Goldman Family
Beaufort Books. 254 pages. $24.95

Unreliable narrator doesn’t begin to describe O.J. Simpson. Within the first pages of his text, "If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer" readers will become keenly aware of being manipulated.

Simpson’s literary voice is charming. He assures us that he will share the facts of the murder because he knows them better than anyone else. Maybe everyone is right. Maybe he did do it. What if he did? A few pages later, he assures us once again that he will tell the truth.

By the end of the book, the only certainty is that two people are dead. This man, acquitted of murder, is telling us that he did it. He is also telling us how he killed them, and why. But then, it’s all hypothetical and he’s telling us the truth.

The death of Nicole, his wife and Ron Goldman, an innocent bystander, made instant celebrities of court reporters. It riveted the country and divided a nation along racial lines. It informed the public about domestic violence and made jury nullification a household word.

Those who cheered at the nonguilty verdict will not find a rallying cry here. Simpson is all about himself. There is no mention of race. Nothing other than building a case that Nicole had it coming to her.

She was materialistic, "venomous and full of rage and anger." But it’s the domestic violence charges that annoy him the most. He didn’t hit her, he grabbed her. "The ones (bruises) on her arms – I put them there. Her face? I didn’t hit her, but it’s possible she hurt herself while we were scuffling."

In his defense of her famous 911 call: "I hit her once – not even hit her technically – and ever since that day I’d been known as a wife-beater." Hit but not hit. Kill but not kill. His capacity for rationalization is boundless.

Much is made of Chapter 6, which describes the murders, but Chapter 5 is more problematic. Throughout the text, he has built a case that Nicole’s friends were into drugs and other sordid activities. It appears that he will make a case that her friends killed her. Instead, he says, "If you’ve got kids, you’re stuck with that person for the rest of your life. It was not a pleasant thought."

He wasn’t going to be dragged down. So he killed her... Maybe. When confronted with a knife-wielding Simpson, Ron Goldman, an unlucky fellow that night, adopted a karate stance to defend himself. It only made Simpson angrier. He killed him, too... Perhaps. There are no gory details because he claims he doesn’t remember them. He only recalls being soaked in blood afterward.

So we don't really know if he killed her or not.

There is no introspection and no sense of responsibility. Even in murder, Simpson is the hero, the rescuer, the one who dispenses justice. There is no empathy.

His name isn’t in the credits. Officially, the author of this book is The Goldman Family. The copyright for Simpson’s text is under the name of Lorraine Brooke Associates. LBA, for short, was founded so Simpson could profit off the book without paying the family for the civil judgment owed them.

Both a Federal and California court ruled that the company was a sham, according to The Goldman Family’s commentary in the beginning of the book. While LBA was founded to provide money for his children, Simpson used the entire book’s advance to pay off an IRS debt and pay down his mortgage.

Pablo F. Fenjves, the ghostwriter and collaborator for the book wrote the prologue. Ironically, he also testified at Simpson’s trial – for the prosecution. Fenjves heard the dog’s wail that night. He tells us that this fact didn’t figure into the collaboration. Simpson had complete editorial control over the book and didn’t hesitate to use it.

When the Goldmans won the rights to Simpson’s text, they were also compelled by the court to publish it. A portion of the proceeds benefit the Ron Goldman Foundation for Justice. Nicole’s family fought against the book, and only later changed their minds. By then it was too late.

Regardless of how one feels about the Goldman Family or the entire affair, exposure is closure. Simpson’s narcissism, his manipulations and inability to accept responsibility are clear throughout the book.

Emerson once said that "People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character." Ambiguity and distraction might work in the U.S. Justice system, but in this case his words convict him.

(Update: I forgot to include a small edit that was in a later draft of this review. The ambiguous chapter six paragraph was made slightly more ambiguous in this review. After all, he did did not sorta mighta maybe had something to do with whatever went on that night.)