They All Love Jack, Bruce Robinson
They All Love Jack, Bruce Robinson
3 Rating(s)
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They All Love Jack
Busting the Ripper

Author: Bruce Robinson

Narrator: Bruce Robinson, Phil Fox

Unabridged: 30 hr 25 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 10/13/2015


Synopsis

The iconoclastic writer and director of the revered classic Withnail & I—"The funniest British film of all time" (Esquire)—returns to London in a decade-long examination of the most provocative murder investigation in British history, and finally solves the identity of the killer known as "Jack the Ripper."In a literary high-wire act reminiscent of both Hunter S. Thompson and Errol Morris, Bruce Robinson offers a radical reinterpretation of Jack the Ripper, contending that he was not the madman of common legend, but the vile manifestation of the Victorian Age's moral bankruptcy.In exploring the case of Jack the Ripper, Robison goes beyond the who that has obsessed countless others and focuses on the why. He asserts that any "gentlemen" that walked above the fetid gutters of London, the nineteenth century's most depraved city, often harbored proclivities both violent and taboo—yearnings that went entirely unpunished, especially if he also bore royal connections. The story of Jack the Ripper hinges on accounts that were printed and distributed throughout history by the same murderous miscreants who frequented the East End of her Majesty's London, wiping the fetid muck from their boots when they once again reached the marble floors of society's finest homes.Supported by primary sources and illustrated with 75 to 100 black and white photographs, this breathtaking work of cultural history dismisses the theories of previous "Ripperologists." A Robinson persuasively makes clear with his unique brilliance, The Ripper was far from a poor resident of Whitechapel . . . he was a way of life.

About Bruce Robinson

Bruce Robinson is the director and screenwriter of Withnail & I, How to Get Ahead in Advertising, Jennifer 8, and The Rum Diary. He has also written the screenplays for The Killing Fields, Shadow Makers (released in the US as Fat Man and Little Boy), Return to Paradise, and In Dreams. He is the author of The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman, Paranoia in the Launderette, and two books for children, The Obvious Elephant and Harold and the Duck, both illustrated by Sophie Windham. He lives in London.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Edward on January 07, 2016

This is Bruce Robinson at his best. It is a testament to his writing that this sprawling exposé of the Victorian corruption and the Jack the Ripper investigation entirely sweeps you away in an odd fusion of storytelling and furious invective. I recall Robinson, in Alistair Owen’s excellent 'Smoking......more

Goodreads review by Randy on May 06, 2016

I am conflicted about this book. First, the author presents an excellent theory and candidate for Jack The Ripper. And more than that, I think he helps to resolve many of the "mysteries" that are actually coverups and obfuscations from the elite and Masonic insiders of the day. However . . . The author......more

Goodreads review by Bill on February 04, 2017

I'm not sure how many books I've read on the subject of Jack The Ripper over the years (perhaps too many ?), but this is one of the best. At over 800 pages it's not a short read, so I have been reading it in stages over the last four months. Most people will remember Bruce Robinson as the writer & d......more

Goodreads review by Nigeyb on August 31, 2021

'They All Love Jack: Busting the Ripper' is the second book I have read in 2017 that exposes breathtaking levels of corruption within the British establishment. The other is the excellent 'A Very English Scandal' (about “the Thorpe affair”). In 2016 I also read 'In Plain Sight: The Life and Lies of......more

Goodreads review by Ian on February 25, 2016

This book is an absolutely astonishing achievement. It is a compelling, fascinating read. It is also somehow totally Robinsonian (I'm coining that now, if it hasn't already been) in its style and tone, turn of phrase ("He couldn't look at a bottle of ink without fishing it for lies"), humour and for......more