Son of a Grifter

 (74 customer reviews)

The story of Sante and Kenny Kimes is widely known since their murder trial last year. But here we now have all the details under one cover. It is amazing to realize that one single human being can accomplish every crime imaginable, from shoplifting to murder. Sante sure has a focused negative mind, like a black marketeer who cannot envision a legal deal. And, like a gambling addict, she has to feed her habit. Amazing is the fact that she is basically dumb: all her major deals went wrong.Kent, her oldest son who wrote this book, tells us that he has weaned himself from his mother. Yet he still calls her Mom and constantly mentions his love for her. I thought it very telling that in the many pictures he added to the book he constantly shows his mother - but never his father.The book is completely disorganized, jumping around in time, location and subject. Properly edited, it could have been shortened considerably.

OK - first of all, the content is fascinating. A highly detailed account of growing up in a family of sociopaths, and the aftermath thereof.What makes this book special, though, is how it doesn't just recite the criminal history of the Kimes family, but uses it to rise above the true crime genre. Instead of just reciting the sleaze and scams that Sante Kimes and her family pull off (which, let's face it, no matter how much of a highbrow you might be, are worth reading about in and of themselves), Son of a Grifter elevates this material by describing how the Kimes' criminal activities map into (and out of) that defining aspect of our society, the search for the American Dream. This book is not your usual tabloid quickie designed to cash in on a hot crime story. Thing more along the lines of Norman Mailer's "The Executioner's Song" or Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood." It's scrupulously researched, incredibly well written, and really captures the voice of...Read more

This book is packaged and marketed like a standard brick of true crime with a photo section in the middle, but it is actually a unique and enthralling personal memoir, and a valuable contribution to late 20th century social history to boot. The prose is superb, and the clarity of Kent Walker's psychological insights, into both his family history and own mind are beyond impressive. Anyone generally interested in the phenomenon of charisma (REAL charisma, the Weberian kind, not manufactured "charisma" as seen on tv) will profit from this book, which plumbs its mysteries with particular intelligence. One would not think, either from the descriptions or photographs, that anyone would be able to find Sante Kimes as anything other than repulsive. And yet, she had this incredible, awful capacity to influence and control those around her, through sheer force of personality. This is a horrifying story, but also, in the strangest of ways, an inspiring one, in that Kent Walker...Read more