The details of Eddie's confessions and the quotes from psychiatric reports are very interesting as well. While it may be impossible to fully understand mental illness, this book makes an attempt to explore the workings of a demented mind.

(Note: this book has none of the usual gory photos; for these, see judge Gollmar's book.)

The one link you will find when researching the lives of violent criminals, is that they come from homes with violent, abusive fathers or father figures. And they often grow up watching their fathers abuse their mothers, as was the case in the Gein family. Augusta is depicted by Schechter as the controlling one, but her husband hit her often, according to the book. Someone who is getting beaten regularly is not an unambiguous model of power. Gein grew up in a household where violence was acceptable, especially violence toward women.

Gein was also beaten by his father, and that is the key to the formation of Ed's rage as well as his lack of compassion. Violence begets violence, and plays a role in psychopathology. Sigmund Freud overlooked early exposure to violence in human personality formation and instead focused mainly on a subject's mother's personality. Schetcher makes the same mistake.