Luigi Mangione’s Reading List Went Viral: Here’s What Famous Killers Read

The book that may have inspired the alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO murdered to etch his bullets with words has shot up the bestseller list, marking another alleged killer seemingly inspired by literature.

Luigi Mangione, who has been charged with CEO Brian Thompson‘s murder in New York City, has made all sorts of headlines as he takes on a folk hero-like status across the United States for some, with many turning him into a symbol of their frustrations with health insurance companies. Many others have expressed condemnation and voiced disgust with those showing support for the alleged assassin.

The crime had many colorful flourishes, including the words “Defend,” “Deny” and “Depose” etched onto the bullets the shooter used or planned to use in the killing. The words seemingly refer to the 2010 book Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It, which heavily criticizes health insurance companies for blocking legitimate claims.

That book has now skyrocketed up the bestseller list. CNN reported on Tuesday that the book had reached number two on the Amazon bestseller list. The book was number one on Thursday in Amazon’s nonfiction bestseller list for ebooks.

The fact that Mangione appeared to reference a book as part of his alleged crime led to internet sleuths finding his Goodreads book list, where he seemed to have left many reviews that provided some of his insights and thoughts on various topics.

Most prominently, Mangione had written a review of the manifesto written by the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski. Mangione argued that “you may not like his methods, but to see things from his perspective, it’s not terrorism, it’s war and revolution,” according to The Intercept.

Mangione’s profile data had been set to private as of Thursday. He had left 13 reviews, however, and the profile (lnmangione) had a profile picture that appeared to be Mangione. Other books on the list included self-help and pop psychology volumes such as What’s Our Problem?: A Self-Help Book for Societies and The 4-Hour Workweek.

This is not the only case in which books have entered headlines for associations with major crimes. Here are some of the more famous examples.

Catcher in the Rye

Perhaps the most famous example of a novel linked with murder would be Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, which was linked with three murderers, although one was later dismissed as a coincidence.

Mark Chapman, the American man who murdered John Lennon of The Beatles fame in 1980, was seemingly obsessed with Salinger’s novel, even desiring to rename himself Holden Caufield after the book’s protagonist, according to a 2003 Salon article.

Chapman had the novel with him when he shot Lennon, and on the title page, he had scrawled: “This is my statement.”

The book was also found in the possession of Robert John Bardo when he murdered actress Rebecca Lucile Schaeffer, having stalked her for three years, according to Marca.

John Hinckley, Jr., who attempted to murder President Ronald Reagan in 1981, left the book in his hotel room when he went out to try and kill the president. Investigators later deemed it a mere coincidence, and it was merely the book’s prominence following Lennon’s murder that led many to believe the book had influenced Hinkley as well.

The Secret Agent

Kaczynski himself also made a book famous through his crimes, which included transport, mailing and use of bombs and three counts of first-degree murder. The man known as the Unabomber was fascinated by Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent.

Kaczynski loved Conrad’s novels, but it was The Secret Agent that stood out most to him: He reportedly read the book “two dozen times” and kept it by his bed. He loved the book so much that he appeared to emulate Conrad’s style, which led to his downfall.

When investigators published the Unabomber’s writings in newspapers, hoping someone might recognize the style, Kaczynski’s brother instantly recognized Conrad’s fingerprints and his brother’s own twists. He reported his suspicions to the authorities, who arrested Kaczynski and later proved his guilt.

Donald Foster, who assisted the FBI in analyzing the writings, said that Kaczynski had recommended the novel to his family and felt they “could not understand him without reading Conrad,” even using Conrad as an alias.

An article in The Washington Post published in 1996 just after his arrest linked the book with Kaczynski, reporting that authorities had noted parallels between the Unabomber targeting scientists and tech experts and Conrad’s “theme of science as a false icon” from the novel, among many other parallels that illustrate a clear and singular obsession with the book.

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Cult leader Charles Manson, whose Manson Family group of followers killed between nine and 24 people, also allegedly drew on a number of books in building his organization.

The most prominent example was How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, which he read while in prison for car theft. He also took classes based on the book, which author Jeff Guinn credits for turning Manson into a man who could easily manipulate people, according to Reason.

The 1936 book sold over 30 million copies worldwide, and it was not the only book that people linked to Manson.

The science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein also allegedly influenced Manson, with its plot about a man from Mars who preached free love and caused a major movement on Earth.

However, Manson never read the book, according to a 1991 article by the Los Angeles Times. A journalist for the paper claimed he wrote to Manson after hearing the book linked with his crimes so much and asked if he actually read it, to which a fellow prisoner who said he was “sort of Charles’ personal secretary” said that Manson had not read the book, and public misperception on the connection came from district attorney Vincent Bugliosi.

Papillon

Many might recognize Papillon as a moderately successful 2017 movie starring Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek, or a 1973 film boasting the talents of Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman, but it was based on a biography by Henri Charriere, a Frenchman who was falsely imprisoned for murder.

The book details how he escaped from Devil’s Island, a once-considered “inescapable” prison, which may have inspired Bundy’s own daring escape from prison.

Ted Bundy, a serial killer who confessed to murder at least 30 young women and girls, was enraptured by the novel and couldn’t stop reading it. When Bundy’s girlfriend visited him in prison, she found him reading Papillon and gushing about it, according to Esquire.

“It’s about this guy whose been terribly convicted of a horrible, horrible crime and he gets sentenced to life, but he didn’t do it!” Bundy allegedly told Liz Kendall during one visit. “He obsesses over the day he’ll be free again and spends years hatching escapes, getting caught, punished, beaten, betrayed. But he never loses hope. And that’s my wish for us, Liz. That we never give up hope.”

He also gave her a copy of the book, telling her that he had read it four times. He might have been disappointed to learn that Charriere admitted the book was only “75 percent true.” Another former inmate would later claim he was the true inspiration for the book.

Esquire reported that the 2019 film Extremely Wicked, Shocking Evil and Vile, which detailed Bundy’s two prison escapes, prompted renewed interest in Papillon.