June’s First Thursday Book Discussion title, “Hollywood Con Queen” by Scott C. Johnson couldn’t get a more apt tag line its tag line “The Hunt for an Evil Genius.” The story starts when a private security consultant first comes across a corner of the “Con Queen’s” web of deception and follows a years long hunt to understand and uncover the con. Johnson’s writing stands out in answering all the questions, peering into all the crannies, including the criminal’s childhood and medical history in an effort to answer, “why?”
Maybe some of us are noble enough not to ‘rubberneck’ at the roadside accident, but I’m not, and traffic studies repeatedly show that most people can’t resist this particular type of temptation. I like to think our fascination with misfortune comes from a some basic human drive to understand danger with the hope of avoiding it yourself.
While there is no shame in reading Johnson’s book as a well-written and compelling curiosity on its own, it can also be viewed a vital cautionary tale and a study in vulnerabilities unique to our time — mostly the false sense of intimacy that can be fostered through technology without proximity.
I’m sure there will be no shortage of topics to discuss at the program in the Columbia Public Library at noon on June 6! Please join us!
