Anatomy of a Murder (Traver)

Anatomy of a Murder
Robert Traver, 1958
St. Martin's Press
448 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780312033569


Summary
A gripping legal thriller, Anatomy of a Murder is based on a true the story of the sensational trial of a young soldier accused of murdering a town's well-known tavern owner. In the novel, fictional defense attorney Paul Biegler agrees to defend Frederick Manion—a seemingly impossible task: Manion admits to the killing and there is no shortage of eye-witnesses willing to testify against him.

The story becomes Biegler's as underdog in a tough contest against a high-powered prosecutorial team. Biegler must find a way to legally justify the act in such a way as to overcome the natural sympathies and consciences of the jury. It seems an insurmountable challenge—until Biegler begins to dig beneath the surface and uncovers startling facts have not yet come to light. The truth is far more complex than anyone imagined.

More
First published by St. Martin's in 1958, Robert Traver's Anatomy of a Murder immediately became the number-one bestseller in America, and was subsequently turned into the successful and now classic Otto Preminger film. For the twenty-fifth birthday of a work that is not only the most popular courtroom drama in American fiction, but one of the most popular novels of our time, St. Martin's is proud to introduce this special anniversary edition, with a new introduction by the author.

A gripping tale of deceit, murder, and a sensational trial, Anatomy of a Murder is unmatched in the authenticity of its settings, events, and characters. This new edition should delight both loyal fans of the past and an entire new generation of readers. (From the publisher's 25th anniversary edition.)

Author Bio
• Real Name—John D. Voelker
• Birth—June 19, 1903
• Where—Ishpeming, Michigan, USA
• Death—March 19, 1991
• Education—University of Michigan Law School
• Occupation—lawyer, prosecutor, justice of Michigan
   Supreme Court


Robert Traver is the pen name for John D. Voelker (1903–1991), an attorney, county prosecutor, judge, and author. Voelker based his most famous work, Anatomy of a Murder, on a homicide and trial that originated in Big Bay, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the early morning of July 31, 1952. He was the defense attorney for Coleman A. Peterson, a Lieutenant in the Army, who was charged with murdering Maurice Chenoweth. The alleged motive behind this murder was that Chenoweth raped Peterson's wife the prior evening after she accepted a ride from him. Voelker successfully defended Peterson who was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Voelker was born in Ishpeming, Michigan and spent most of his life there. He graduated from the University of Michigan law school in 1928 and practiced law for a time in Chicago, Illinois before tiring of city life and returning to Ishpeming to enter private practice. Later, he was elected to the office of Marquette County prosecutor. In 1957, he was appointed the 74th justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, and was subsequently re-elected to that position. Voelker retired from the court in 1959 in order to write full-time after the success of his novel Anatomy of a Murder and to fish at his beloved Frenchman's Pond.

Under the pen name Robert Traver, Voelker published a number of novels and short stories with legal themes, all with the small-town Upper Peninsula setting he was most familiar with. He chose to write under a different pen name in order to assure others that his agenda as a writer and a prosecutor were completely separate. He also published three books on fishing which are regarded as classics of the genre. (From Wikipedia.)

Book Reviews 
Rarely have I been so entertained as I have been by this strange novel, and for the life of me I can't tell why..... Traver is a bit naive about writing, putting in all sorts of extraneous things that don't really bear on his story, overlapping the distinguishing marks of his characters, and being careless about their insides.... Nevertheless, ...it held me as few books have, I couldn't put it down. The style is simple, colloquial English, beautifully adapted to its task, and often pungently effective.
James Cain - New York Times, 1958

Discussion Questions 
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for Anatomy of a Murder:

1. Manion's culpability—if you were on the jury how would you vote?

2. Insanity pleas—are we rational or irrational beings? To what degree are we responsible for our actions? Are there extenuating circumstances?

3. The central irony of the work—how the justice system seems to subvert truth. How is truth skewed in this novel? Is justice achieved? Is Traver's portrayal realistic—or simply poetic license ? If realistic, what are the real life implications? (For a good understanding of irony, check out LitCourse 8)

4. Whom did you root for and why? Do you feel Travers manipulates his readers?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

top of page (summary)