Book Description

Now updated with new material that brings the killer's picture into clearer focus ... Read more

Reviews (482)

Good content, bad presentation
I was really excited to read this book, but I have to say, I was pretty disappointed by it. I guess if the goal was convince me that Walter Sickert was Jack the Ripper, then the goal was accomplished. The problem I had with the book is that the presentation was very hard to follow. The book was constantly jumping back and forth between Walters Sickerts history, the different murders and the present in a way that I found confusing. A timeline of when the murders occured (including the ones she speculates are done by Sickert, but are not thought of as "Jack the Ripper" murders) would have been helpful to try to see patterns. Another missing piece for me is why Jack the Ripper suddenly stopped. Patricia Cornwell speculates that he probably didn't stop committing murders, but why did he stop writing the letters? He obviously loved the attention it brought, so why stop after that had been his modus operandi for so long? The last criticism I had of the book is the ending. The book ended abruptly with the death of his 2nd (of 3) wife. Why end there? I couldn't believe when I turned the page and that was the end! There was no wrap up or conclusions of any kind.

For anyone who has always wondered who Jack the Ripper was, you must read this book. It's extremely detailed and as I said, convincing. Her insights into the psychopathic mind are fascinating. She also makes a strong case that Walter Sickert was a violent psychopath. However, you may find as I did that the book could have been much better had the presentation been clearer.

More bodies on the pyre
If anything, this book is perhaps proof that the Jack the Ripper obsession will never die, if only because it's unlikely it will ever be solved, at least 'conclusively'.

The book is arrogantly sub-titled 'Case Closed', and of course, it's anything but a closed case that Walter Sickert was Jack the Ripper, or that James Maybrick was the Ripper, or Lewis Carroll was the Ripper, or the royals were involved, etc.

I'm not sure what to make of the whole business anymore. There are now close to 20 suspects in the Ripper case, and indeed in the 1990s alone quite a few new suspects appeared on the scene thanks to research and fanaticism on the part of various writers. Now Cornwall has thrown herself into it, and it's somewhat troubling.

Of course, at the end of the day, there's no smoking gun. There hasn't been a smoking gun, and given that the murders took place in 1888, and evidence and various records are long gone, it's highly unlikely there will be a smoking gun. The whole business already inspired someone to forge a 'Ripper' diary and try to pass it off. This has since been debunked numerous times, with the author himself swearing that it's a forgery, yet people still believe it. Every year someone discovers someone who was in London in 1888, hated women, etc, etc.

Folks who are interested in the Ripper may peruse this book, but it's clear from the 'evidence' and the layout that this is anything but 'Case Closed', if anything, it says something about Cornwall, who writes about her own doubt to this theory. And admittedly, while there are some nice coincidences, and Sickert indeed may have been a bit off his rocker, and indeed may have penned Ripper letters (of which there were many fakes), it's no more convincing than several other theories of the past ten years.

Notice the '71% off' price tag of this book, which shows you something in comparison to other books on the subject. There are much better books about the whole case, and you'll likely learn more from those if you care. It would be nice to put the whole Ripper case to rest, finally. The energy and resources some folks have put into 'solving' this business is becoming more alarming. Recommended if you must, but it's hardly a 'final chapter'.

Absolute tosh: says more about Cornwell than Sickert
I can't think of another character assassination that is as unfounded as this, based as it is on pure conjecture and highly selective and inconclusive 'evidence'.

And just think of the irony of a writer who has based her entire written output on lingering over the sordid details of murder and mutilation claiming that Sickert was a violent psychopath because of the subject-matter of his paintings. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

This book reveals more about the neuroses and obsessions of Cornwell's own sick mind than it does about Sickert. Rather than 'case closed' on Sickert, it is 'case closed' on Cornwell.

Cornwell's reputation as a writer of FICTION remains intact.

Rambling and Premature, and That's Being Generous
I am a fan of Cornwell. I find her to be an intelligent woman, an interesting interview, and a talented author...and she's a fellow Davidson alumnus, a definite plus for this fellow Wildcat. I purchased the unabridged audio of this book eager to listen to what surely must be a well-reasoned, well-grounded theory backed up by at least some evidence. I was horribly disappointed.

Even if Cornwell is correct, this is the farthest thing from a closed case I have ever encountered. Some of the logical leaps and contortions in this book are downright laughable and should justifiably draw outrage from Sickert's admirers or surviving relatives. As other reviewers have noted, it is POSSIBLE (as far as anyone knows) that Sickert might have been a creep, that he might have written a ripper letter, even that he may have been the famous killer, but anyone wanting to bring a case against Sickert would find almost nothing useful in this tome.

The conviction with which Cornwell delivers many of her conclusions (the narrator is suitably melodramatic and judgmental in tone), no matter how tortuous, absurd, strained, or self-serving they may be, makes this book one whopper of a bitter horse pill to swallow for any reader/listener who has somehow managed not to either: a) toss the book into the wall in frustration, or b) fall asleep while attempting to follow the last convoluted line of argument to it's "inescapable" conclusion.

I WANTED Cornwell to come up with an exciting new theory I could buy in to, but at best this book is premature in it's title and conclusion (unless evidence is no longer a prerequisite for closing a case), and at worst this book may be both intellectually dishonest and shockingly irresponsible.
Sadly, this is a must-miss that will leave the reader with more lingering doubts about Cornwell than Sickert.

Case closed? Not quite but....
She's presented us with a very strong theory of who Jack the Ripper was.
The only things she has conclusively proved are: 1: that Walter Richard Sickert wrote some of the Ripper letters (including one that came with a kidney). 2: That more of the ripper letters were written by the same person than previously thought (the use of paint rather than ink, watermarks and language point to one writer). 3: That Walter Richard Sickert was not a very nice guy and had a facination with the violent deaths of women. 4: That Walter Richard Sickert prefered the kind of women in the original five Ripper murders.

I doubt the evidence that Ms. Cornwell provides would pass the reasonable doubt requirement with a jury. Then again, I doubt that enough evidence even still exists to convict anyone of these crimes.

Sickert is definately someone ripperologists should give a closer look.

Her evidence (or lack of) aside, Portrait of a Killer offers a rare view into the underbelly of Victorian England and a fairly entertaining read. ... Read more

Book Description

Walter Sickert (1860-1942) was a leading figure in the development of British painting and the graphic arts. Influenced by Whistler and Degas early in his career, by 1914 he was respected as a major figure within the Camden Town Group and a renowned painter in his own right. Yet Sickert's life and art were never stable, and he was never complacent. His work varies strikingly--from a strongly worked paint surface laden with impasto to the thinnest and sparest application; from an overtly modern set of subjects to apparently nostalgic images. But whatever form his art took, Sickert always remained what he was so often called in the 1910s: "a painter's painter."

This study examines the dynamism of Sickert's work from his earliest career at the Slade School of Art to his last works. It argues for Sickert as a major figure in the history of attempts to record modern life and to develop a distinctly modern mode of painting. ... Read more

Book Description

Walter Richard Sickert (1860-1942) was a major European artist and critic of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, whose statements on art from the 1880s to the 1930s have been used by artists and writers for more than half a century. Containing over 400 entries, this collection offers new insight into Sickert as an artist and provides valuable information about other British artists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. ... Read more

Book Description

Walter Sickert (1860-1942), perhaps the most important and influentialearly modern British artist, completed an outstanding body of prints that have been littlenoticed until now. This catalogue raisonné brings together for the first time Sickert's 226prints, many in rare or unique impressions, and discusses the artist's unorthodoxtechniques, the influences on his work, and the evolution of his printmaking career.Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art ... Read more

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Critical Survey, published by Berghahn Books, Inc. on January 1, 2004. The length of the article is 6495 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Jack the Ripper, the dialectic of enlightenment and the search for spiritual deliverance in White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings.
Author: Alex Murray
Publication: Critical Survey (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2004
Publisher: Berghahn Books, Inc.
Volume: 16Issue: 1Page: 52(15)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description

This digital document is an article from New Statesman (1996), published by New Statesman, Ltd. on January 24, 2005. The length of the article is 1175 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Small is beautiful: to Walter Sickert, the British art scene was dominated by snobbery, money and fashion. He would not have liked the Turner Prize, writes Matthew Sturgis.(arts)(Biography)
Author: Matthew Sturgis
Publication: New Statesman (1996) (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 24, 2005
Publisher: New Statesman, Ltd.
Volume: 134Issue: 4724Page: 38(2)

Distributed by Thompson Gale ... Read more

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Epoca, published by Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA) on April 13, 1998. The length of the article is 566 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Maestro y alumno.(los pintores britnicos James McNeill Whistler y Walter Richard Sickert exhibirn sus obras en Espaa)(TT: Teacher and student.)(TA: British painters James McNeill Whistler and Walter Richard Sickert will exhibit their work in Spain)
Publication: Epoca (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 13, 1998
Publisher: Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA)
Page: 66(1)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more