Foxcatcher

November 24, 2014
In this disturbing, heartfelt memoir, the life of champion wrestler Schultz plays out against the backdrop of his brother's murder in 1996 at the hands of John du Pont, heir to the du Pont family. An Olympic gold medalist and two-time world champion, Schultz drives himself relentlessly toward success, following the example of his older brother, Dave, who is also a gold medalist and world champion. As the brothers struggle after college, they are drawn to Foxcatcher Farms in Pennsylvania by du Pont's promises of financial support and state-of-the-art training facilities. Once there, they find themselves making excuses for the eccentric behavior of the multi-millionaire who writes their paychecks. While the murder casts shadows throughout the book, Schultz's focus remains very much on his dogged rise to wrestling fame. Schultz is honest about his obsessive, insecure nature and the profound sacrifices necessary to be great in a brutal sport. The book is timed to publish with Sony's release of the movie Foxcatcher, which is based on the event, not on Schultz's memoir. Schultz writes about his constant interactions with Daveâtheir shared apartments, his brother's marriage and childrenâyet his brother's life largely takes place offstage. That said, the relationship between Schultz and his more easy-going, older brother is vividly portrayed as one of sibling rivalry and real love.

October 15, 2014
Memoir of time spent with a deeply unpleasant and, in the end, murderous mogul.John du Pont (1938-2010) had it all: He grew up wealthy on a huge estate near Philadelphia with all the toys, and his fortune was inexhaustible. His passions were diverse, and he had a museum-worthy collection of natural history specimens. He also sponsored athletes, funding training for young Greco-Roman enthusiasts. "Now, I realized, he was collecting wrestlers," writes athlete and trainer Schultz, his tone characteristically aggrieved. "We were his newest trophies...and we were more fun to play with than his seashells and birds because we were collectables that he could manipulate." Inexpert at human relations, du Pont seems to have wanted to buy acceptance, and even though, Schultz insists, the wrestlers had nothing but contempt for him, they seem not to have had any trouble taking his money. In the end, du Pont shot Schultz's wrestler brother to death and, ever disassociated, went off to prison for his crime, where he died. The author establishes that du Pont was manipulative and abusive and would have been very lonely without his money. ("I get it that it must be tough growing up rich, not knowing whether people like you because of your money or because of who you are.") Yet Schultz does little more than recount all those negative things, undermining his narrative authority by admitting to such things as using drugs on du Pont's dime, contemplating killing du Pont himself and taking the money without qualm ("John paid me forty thousand dollars per year even though I had left"). He gives no strong evidence for why the court was in error in deeming du Pont mentally ill, though he insists du Pont was feigning insanity, and he makes no compelling case for thinking the verdict was flawed. A clumsy account about a tragic collision in which justice seems already to have been served.

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