--- product_id: 13960073 title: "True Story tie-in edition: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa" price: "VT6480" currency: VUV in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.vu/products/13960073-true-story-tie-in-edition-murder-memoir-mea-culpa store_origin: VU region: Vanuatu --- # True Story tie-in edition: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa **Price:** VT6480 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** True Story tie-in edition: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa - **How much does it cost?** VT6480 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.vu](https://www.desertcart.vu/products/13960073-true-story-tie-in-edition-murder-memoir-mea-culpa) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description The improbable but true story of a man accused of murdering his entire family and the journalist he impersonated while on the run In 2001, Mike Finkel was on top of the world: young, talented, and recently promoted to a plum job at the New York Times Magazine. Then he made an irremediable slip: Under extraordinary pressure to keep producing blockbuster stories, he fabricated parts of an article. Caught and excommunicated from the Times, he retreated to his home in Montana, swearing off any contact with the media. When the phone rang, though, he couldn’t resist. At the other end was a reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle, whom Finkel congratulated on being the first in what was sure to be a long and bloodthirsty line of media watchdogs. The reporter was puzzled. In Waldport, Oregon, Christian Longo had killed his young wife and three children and dumped their bodies into the bay. With a stolen credit card, he fled south, making his way to Cancun, where he lived for several weeks under an assumed identity: Michael Finkel, journalist for the New York Times. True Story is the tale of a bizarre and convoluted collision between fact and fiction, and a meditation on the slippery nature of truth. When Finkel contacts Longo in jail, the two men begin a close and complex relationship. Over the course of a year, they exchange long letters and weekly phone calls, playing out a cat-and-mouse game in which it’s never quite clear if the pursuer is Finkel or Longo―or both. Finkel’s dogged pursuit of the true story pays off only at the end, in the gripping trial scenes in which Longo, after a lifetime of deception, finally tells the whole truth. Or so he says. Review: The Journalist and the Killer: Lives Strangely Linked - This is a compelling and disturbing book. Author Michael Finkel tells both his own story and that of Christian Longo, who was convicted of killing his wife and three children in Newport, Oregon in December 2001. Their lives became intertwined when Longo fled to Mexico following the killings. There, he adopted the identity of a journalist whose work he had read and admired: Michael Finkel. Then came a twist of fate no screenwriter could get away with. As Longo was being escorted back to the U.S. for trial following his arrest, the New York Times Magazine announced it was dropping the real Finkel as a regular contributor because he had created a composite character for one of his stories. (Disclaimer: I have a strong personal interest in the Longo case. I covered the killings, his arrest and trial as a radio news reporter; my apartment is a two-minute walk from the condominium where the killings took place. As the trial unfolded, we in the press were aware that Longo was in regular contact with Finkel, though he had turned down all other requests for interviews.) Finkel wrote a letter to Longo in jail, explaining that he wanted to know why he had assumed his identity. This led to weekly hour-long telephone conversations between the two men and a regular correspondence that stretched to more than a thousand pages on Longo's part. Although both men pledged complete honesty to each other, neither kept that vow. Finkel came to realize that each was using the other. Seeing some of his own worst qualities magnified in Longo, Finkel was looking for a form of personal and professional redemption. Longo, meanwhile, was using Finkel as a sounding board for the persona and story he would present to the jury. In the beginning, Finkel went out of his way to give Longo the benefit of the doubt, despite strong evidence linking him to the killings. In the end, when Longo stood exposed for the despicable liar that he was, Finkel found himself unable to make sense of a supremely senseless act. If there's any frustration for the reader--at least this reader--it's the discovery that there are no answers in these pages to help make any better sense of this tragedy. Longo may be beyond redemption, but Finkel is not. He's an obviously talented writer who has brought to life a tragic event in all its awful detail.-William C. Hall Review: Fascinating true crime story - First off, I have say that I feel that Finkel used this book to talk about getting fired from the New York Times. Every other chapter, for at least the first half, is an explanation for why he did what he did and how sorry he is. Yes, this ties into the Longo story slightly. But I like the way they handled this in the movie. It was acknowledged in the beginning, and then they moved on. As for the rest of it, I really liked it. I enjoyed both the book and the movie. I find the Longo murders to be very interesting, and Finkel's relationship with Longo himself is fascinating. It's like you're right there with Finkel, along for the ride: is Longo a good guy who made some bad choices? Or is he playing everyone? This is a great read. Highly recommended for true crime buffs. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #233,401 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #36 in Journalism Writing Reference (Books) #210 in Serial Killers True Accounts #362 in Crime & Criminal Biographies | | Customer Reviews | 4.3 out of 5 stars 1,654 Reviews | ## Images ![True Story tie-in edition: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/715J87CPfGL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Journalist and the Killer: Lives Strangely Linked *by C***L on June 7, 2005* This is a compelling and disturbing book. Author Michael Finkel tells both his own story and that of Christian Longo, who was convicted of killing his wife and three children in Newport, Oregon in December 2001. Their lives became intertwined when Longo fled to Mexico following the killings. There, he adopted the identity of a journalist whose work he had read and admired: Michael Finkel. Then came a twist of fate no screenwriter could get away with. As Longo was being escorted back to the U.S. for trial following his arrest, the New York Times Magazine announced it was dropping the real Finkel as a regular contributor because he had created a composite character for one of his stories. (Disclaimer: I have a strong personal interest in the Longo case. I covered the killings, his arrest and trial as a radio news reporter; my apartment is a two-minute walk from the condominium where the killings took place. As the trial unfolded, we in the press were aware that Longo was in regular contact with Finkel, though he had turned down all other requests for interviews.) Finkel wrote a letter to Longo in jail, explaining that he wanted to know why he had assumed his identity. This led to weekly hour-long telephone conversations between the two men and a regular correspondence that stretched to more than a thousand pages on Longo's part. Although both men pledged complete honesty to each other, neither kept that vow. Finkel came to realize that each was using the other. Seeing some of his own worst qualities magnified in Longo, Finkel was looking for a form of personal and professional redemption. Longo, meanwhile, was using Finkel as a sounding board for the persona and story he would present to the jury. In the beginning, Finkel went out of his way to give Longo the benefit of the doubt, despite strong evidence linking him to the killings. In the end, when Longo stood exposed for the despicable liar that he was, Finkel found himself unable to make sense of a supremely senseless act. If there's any frustration for the reader--at least this reader--it's the discovery that there are no answers in these pages to help make any better sense of this tragedy. Longo may be beyond redemption, but Finkel is not. He's an obviously talented writer who has brought to life a tragic event in all its awful detail.-William C. Hall ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fascinating true crime story *by M***S on May 21, 2015* First off, I have say that I feel that Finkel used this book to talk about getting fired from the New York Times. Every other chapter, for at least the first half, is an explanation for why he did what he did and how sorry he is. Yes, this ties into the Longo story slightly. But I like the way they handled this in the movie. It was acknowledged in the beginning, and then they moved on. As for the rest of it, I really liked it. I enjoyed both the book and the movie. I find the Longo murders to be very interesting, and Finkel's relationship with Longo himself is fascinating. It's like you're right there with Finkel, along for the ride: is Longo a good guy who made some bad choices? Or is he playing everyone? This is a great read. Highly recommended for true crime buffs. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ EXCELLENT *by A***R on July 10, 2005* This is an excellent book on two fronts: one, the author's mea culpa...... and two, a true crime story. I had already read most of the details of the Christian Longo murders in Carlton Smith's book, but it was no problem reading them again because the crimes were so dastardly and this book so well written. I also was curious about the author's so called crime of inventing parts of a piece he wrote for the New York Times. So, after reading the author's account of his "crime" (which alternates in this book with Long's horrific crimes), plus the account of the NY Times and others, I do not see evidence of a crime of any sort. For all those writers (journalists) who think they are being totally truthful and tell the truth and nothing but the truth, have they forgotten that "there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:19) and that therefore all writing is in some way pilfered from other sources. For Finkel, who is a fine writer, to have been fired for what he did is as ridiculous as historian Doris Kearns Goodwin's name being smeared in a hateful manner for doing something similar. How on earth can a story be told, any story, without using something that is not entirely new? There are only so many ways the scant letters of our alphabet can be arranged. That being said, this is a very readable book and I wish the best to the author and hope to read more of his works soon. Hopefully, the shunning of Finkel, Goodwin and others will soon halt in the face of common sense. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.vu/products/13960073-true-story-tie-in-edition-murder-memoir-mea-culpa](https://www.desertcart.vu/products/13960073-true-story-tie-in-edition-murder-memoir-mea-culpa) --- *Product available on Desertcart Vanuatu* *Store origin: VU* *Last updated: 2026-06-05*