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Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O.J. Simpson Got Away with Murder Audible Audiobook – Abridged

Vincent Bugliosi (Author), Joseph Campanella (Narrator), Phoenix Books (Publisher)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 733 ratings
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What went wrong in the O.J. Simpson double-murder trial? Former prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi dares to lay bare the bungling he perceived in the case. Incriminating evidence was never presented and lapses in strategy left prosecutors Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden at a disadvantage. These are just a few of the fatal errors that led to a victory for the defense. Listen as Bugliosi weaves his own final summation, laying out the evidence in its proper sequence and forestalling or rebutting the ploys of the defense. Bugliosi is familiar with high-profile murder trials, his most famous one being the Charles Manson case, which became the basis for his book, Helter Skelter.

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  1. Listening Length
    5 hours and 7 minutes
  2. Author
    Vincent Bugliosi
  3. Narrator
    Joseph Campanella
  4. Audible release date
    December 16, 1999
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Phoenix Books
  7. ASIN
    B0000545WL
  8. Version
    Abridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 5 hours and 7 minutes
Author Vincent Bugliosi
Narrator Joseph Campanella
Audible.com Release Date December 16, 1999
Publisher Phoenix Books
Program Type Audiobook
Version Abridged
Language English
ASIN B0000545WL
Best Sellers Rank #92,012 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#149 in Criminology (Audible Books & Originals)
#461 in Murder True Crime
#1,068 in Crime & Criminal Biographies

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
733 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book provides excellent and informative insight into the case. They describe it as a thorough review of the trial, the jury, and the legal teams. Many find it an interesting read that holds their attention. However, some readers found the writing style repetitive, boring, and dry. The language was described as inflammatory, rambling, and condescending.

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InsightReadabilityWriting styleLanguage
71 customers mention "Insight"68 positive3 negative

Customers find the book provides an excellent insight into the failures of the Simpson trial. They say it's more informative than most books about the subject, providing a thorough review of the trial, the jury, and the legal teams on both sides. The author's clear and concise writing is appreciated.

"Vincent Bugliosi is 1 of the most Interesting and intelligent Prosecutors in history...." Read more

"...Outrage" is well-written and well-researched like all Bugliosi books...." Read more

"...Anyway. Overall, a pretty good read. Lots of good data that you’ve probably never seen...." Read more

"Interesting take on the OJ trial. Good coverage from the other side!!!!" Read more

68 customers mention "Readability"63 positive5 negative

Customers find the book engaging and well-written. They describe it as an intelligent read that holds their attention. The author is described as an excellent writer.

"...This book is a must read!" Read more

"...Bottom line: This is one of the most intelligent books I have ever read...." Read more

"...Anyway. Overall, a pretty good read. Lots of good data that you’ve probably never seen...." Read more

"...general tone of self-righteousness, but a solid four stars for this unique work on the Simpson trial...." Read more

34 customers mention "Writing style"0 positive34 negative

Customers find the writing style repetitive, boring, and dry. They feel the book provides too much detail after the point has been made, making it not worth their time and effort.

"...They did a poor job in witness instruction, jury selection..." Read more

"...the happenstance of the jury being comprised of uninformed, unintellectual dunces...." Read more

"...Minus one star for the excessive verbosity and the author's general tone of self-righteousness, but a solid four stars for this unique work on the..." Read more

"...it (after the court locations was already botched), but parts of the book were repetitive, and I just wanted to finish the book and move on to..." Read more

6 customers mention "Language"0 positive6 negative

Customers find the language inflammatory, repetitive, and boring. They find the outrage rambling, arrogant, condescending, and full of insults. The author's anger is extreme and acrimonious.

"...case like the OJ Simpson murder trial and make it boring, offensive, and tiresome?..." Read more

"...The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is the inflammatory language, a more scholarly approach would be more likely to convince doubters of Simpson..." Read more

"...about why a guilty man was not successfully prosecuted, his anger is so extreme that he lost some credibility with me...." Read more

"...Outrage is rambling, repetitive, arrogant, condescending, and full of tangential weirdness, like his anti-religion rant...." Read more

Bugliosi the media ringmaster, full of angst and disgust, admits to paying no attention to the Simpson trial.
1 out of 5 stars
Bugliosi the media ringmaster, full of angst and disgust, admits to paying no attention to the Simpson trial.
How does a true investigator take Vincent Bugliosi seriously in his analysis of the OJ Simpson case when in the first paragraph of the INTRODUCTION, the first thing he says, after lauding his accomplishments, and venting the opening salvo of his disgust and outrage with the Simpson verdict, "I FOUND I HAD VERY LITTLE INTEREST IN THE CASE ITSELF". 'If Simpson had testified I would have been interested ....but other than that THE CASE HELD LITTLE FASCINATION FOR ME". "THE REASON IS SIMPLE"...."HOW DO YOU SUSTAIN YOUR INTEREST IN A CASE, OR ANYTHING, WHEN YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT HAPPENED?" So this became the man that the media chose to examine the important elements of the Simpson case and its subsequent trial. Barnum and Bailey would have loved him, and probably would have placed him at center ring as an exceptional ring master when the clown cars rolled in. Bugliosi who was sold to the public as an expert, turns out to be a clown that knows very little to nothing in regard to the manipulation and malfeasance of sworn court officers of his former agency of employment, the LADA's office, to conceal evidence in the most important pop culture trial of the 20th century. This book is a pure D mess, only important to the angry souls who've bothered to do no due diligence, like Bugliosi, believing the best of all sworn officers of the court. I still struggle to get all the way through this book because of its lack of true insight and its racially insinuating hyperbole. However, my book shelves are full of the limited few as well as the bad books, like this one, so I would never tell anyone not to buy the book. It may provide further insight to the wrongs associated withthis case, but as some of the other books by Simpson detractors reveal their participation in malfeasance, this book seems to be just theramblings of a court juster, a clownish entertainer, whose writings my second mind continues to suggest I could have ended reading after theINTRODUCTION. Rating.....One star, if that.....
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking & intelligent
    Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Vincent Bugliosi is 1 of the most Interesting and intelligent Prosecutors in history. I read this book after reading 5 others on the OJ trial after it happened over 30 yrs ago, and his insights are spot on regarding the 5 reasons for OJ getting away w/murder. I hadn't personally followed much of the original trial, but being a new lawyer at that time I was intrigued but disgusted by the nightly talk shows. I wanted to believe OJ didn't commit this horrible crime, and w/his recent death, I decided to finally bring my head out of the sand to reality. This book is a must read!
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  • mwreview
    4.0 out of 5 stars "There was no mystery in the Simpson case"--Vincent Bugliosi
    Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2009
    Verified Purchase
    I bought the paperback edition of "Outrage" soon after it came out when the Simpson murder trial verdict was still fresh. When OJ made news again with his recent conviction for armed robbery and kidnapping, I got the audio version of the book--which is the version I am reviewing--to relive the trial that took control of the media for months. I remember my local news station (Sacramento) aired an extra half hour just to recap the happenings at the Simpson trial. I was in college at the time and CNN was always on in the student union which constantly covered the Simpson trial. When the verdicts were read, some teachers took their classes to the union so they could watch it live. No time in my memory--I don't think even 9-11--has the news been taken over by one event--and a trivial one at that only made important because it involved a celebrity. Let me clarify "trivial." Yes, two people were savagely killed (and there are murders every day) but, besides their families and friends, it didn't effect the country. OJ wasn't going around murdering people right and left and the LAPD wasn't conspiring against people right and left. It was newsworthy, yes, but not to the point of dominating the news like it did.

    As the title indicates, Vince Bugliosi was very angry at the verdict and it is reflected in the tone of the book. In his view, the main reason is that the prosecution was incompetent and did not present all the evidence they had or effectively defend their argument against the ridiculous accusations of the defense. The defense was no "Dream Team" as the media was proclaiming them to be. They profited from the failures of the prosecution. The following are the "5 Reasons Why OJ Simpson Got Away With Murder" that Bugliosi covers:

    (1) In the Air--What the Jurors Probably Knew. Bugliosi explains how the media lionized OJ and his defense team. The defense was made out to be celebrities in their own right--like the silver-tongued defense attorneys in the movies. The pro-OJ, pro-Dream Team sentiments influenced the jurors before the trial and during through conjugal visits where we can assumed they would be updated on what the talking heads analyzing the trial were saying on television between their, uh, conjugating.

    (2) The Change of Venue. As most remember, the jury was considered to be of less than average intelligence. Their post-trial quotes to the media seemed to bear this out. One elderly female juror said she didn't understand the DNA evidence, so she disregarded it. Another female juror did not believe the domestic abuse evidence had any place in a murder trial. But, Bugliosi explains, they did not have to be stuck with that jury because the trial should not have been moved from the affluent Santa Monica (where the residence were more reflective of OJ's peers). The reason the trial was moved to downtown LA was because the D.A. in charge of the decision made a false assumption---an incredibly poor way to make such an important decision.

    (3) A Judicial Error. Bugliosi is highly critical of Judge Ito in this book. He tried to take a vacation during closing arguments because it was pre-planned, he gave the jurors a blimp ride, he allowed OJ to make a statement without having to undergo cross-examination, and he allowed cameras in the courtroom. The biggest problem Bugliosi had with Ito, however, was his allowing the defense to play the race card. Ito even played all 61 excerpts of Mark Fuhrman saying the N-word in open court. The jury was not present but, as Bugliosi explains, jurors could have heard about it through conjugal visits. Mark Fuhrman became a side-trial that clouded the real issue of the case. This section also reveals the incriminating statement OJ made to a fellow ex-football player in the visitor's area.

    (4) The Trial. As critical as Bugliosi is towards Judge Ito, he is even more critical of the prosecution. They did a poor job in witness instruction, jury selection (Marcia Clark thought black women would be more sympathetic to Nicole Brown Simpson even when she was advised by a focus group that ended up correctly predicting they would be more sympathetic to OJ and would not like Clark), but, worse yet, they did not disclose many important pieces of evidence they had. Bugliosi goes over some of this evidence including a suicide note and receipt for a disguise purchased before the murders.

    (5) Finally, Bugliosi discusses the weak final summations of the prosecution. He briefly goes through how he would have prepared and presented his final summations for the case. His summations sound very impressive, of course, but while listening to them I thought of the defense objecting all the time. It would not have been uninterrupted as it is delivered on this audio without the need to change wordings here and there or going into a different direction because of sustained objection as would no doubt have happened in a trial.

    Bugliosi's end notes include an interesting take on the inner city black community's view of police corruption. It is police brutality that cause black suspicion, not police conspiracies of which the defense team was trying to convince the jury, though I don't know if such a revelation would have swayed the opinions of the jury in the OJ case. Another thing I question in this book is Bugliosi's take on OJ not taking the witness stand as another piece of evidence as to his guilt: "there is no other truly valid reason in this case for his not doing so." Of course, a jury cannot take a defendant's decision not to take the stand into account, but I think there are other reasons. If a defendant (even one who is not guilty) is quick to anger or is weak-willed or minded and may be easily confused or flustered by a cunning prosecutor, I can understand why he or she would not want or be advised to take the stand. I do not believe that, if someone was accused of a crime they did not commit, they would have to knock people over to get to the stand. Some people may not present themselves well, guilty or not.

    "Outrage" is well-written and well-researched like all Bugliosi books. It contains a lot of silly cliche's, though, that I think is unnecessary and "dumbs down" the book a bit. The audio version is on 8 cassettes and is read by Broadway and television actor Joseph Campanella whose voice, at first, I thought was a bit soft but I got used to it.
    28 people found this helpful
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  • Frederick
    5.0 out of 5 stars A great book with an unintended result, causing injustice in the Los Angeles Court system.
    Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Sure, it's an old story by now, but I'm a Vincent Bugliosi fan. As a Los Angeles attorney, I have seen the aftermath of the OJ Simpson case in our criminal justice system. The juries have become very pro prosecution. They do want to let a guilty person get off, and would rather take the risk of a few innocent people going to jail. Our criminal justice system is supposed to put a heavy burden of the prosecution. The policy is that it is better to let 9 guilty people go free, than it is to have one innocent person convicted. The logic to that is that it is immoral to ever have an innocent person deprived of his freedom. And if that causes guilty people to get off, that is the cost of a free society. And if someone is out there commiting crimes, we can get them on the next one, but we should not imprison someone unless the evidence is really strong and clear.
    Unfortunately, that is not the case any longer. Sure, it was an "outrage" that the OJ Simpson case was bungled. But it's not like OJ Simpson completely got away with it. He's in prison right now, and he had a civil judgment against him.
    Vincent Bugliosi knows that the prosecutors office has become sloppy, but the outrage is not that 30 years ago someone got off in a high profile case. People get off in low profile cases all the time, and when there is not almost airtight evidence, they should get off, so that we can live in a free society an no one goes to jail who is innocent. But Bugliosi helped create this "outrage" and it has not helped our criminal justice system. Why isn't he writing about the current outrage: innocent people getting accused of crimes. The police is overstaffed. They are not prosecuting real crimes, but focusing on citizens who did not show enough respect for the cops. And the prosecutors office is also overstaffed. So they need things to do, and are criminalizing petty things.
    5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • no name
    5.0 out of 5 stars the only book to read re the OJ Simpson trial
    Reviewed in Canada on April 23, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    I read this book when it was originally published then decided to read it again after Simpson’s death and subsequent rehashing in the media of the murder trial. Bugliosi is absolutely brilliant in his analysis and grip on the facts. If you have ever formed an opinion on this case, read this. It will either change your mind or furnish you with crisp facts to support your position.
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  • Zaubermike
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great
    Reviewed in Germany on September 1, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    The best book for That case
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  • Samantha
    1.0 out of 5 stars Estaba abierto el paquete del libro y sucio
    Reviewed in Mexico on August 28, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Llego maltratado el libro y abierto, yo lo compré nuevo no usado
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  • fabiopao
    2.0 out of 5 stars Tutta boria
    Reviewed in Italy on June 12, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Abbandonata la lettura dopo 50 pagine. L'autore è una boriosa mongolfiera che ogni due per tre insulta qualcuno, facendo capire che il mondo è diviso in due: lui e tutti gli altri, che avendo un quoziente di intelligenza a due cifre non meritano il suo tempo. Oh, e la sua mitica intervista sul caso Simpson a playboy? Deve essere davvero materiale da scuola legale se la cita ogni quattro righe. In sintesi, si apprezza alle prime due battute salaci sui protagonisti del caso, si comincia a dubitare dopo la decima, ci si stanca dopo la quarantesima. Due stelle perchè sono migliore di lui.
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  • antiolka
    5.0 out of 5 stars Simply a terrific book!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 27, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    I really liked this book. Bugliosi is just brilliant in his ability to explain what exactly was done wrong and what could have contributed to the outrages outcome of the infamous case. He goes into a lot of details and elaborates on a lot of issues. Besides, he is a terrific writer - he managers to make this rather dry material as interesting as your best criminal page-turner.

    I see that a lot of readers are put off by his angry style and his criticism of a lot of people involved in the case on both sides. This comes across as arrogance and know-it-all attitude. I on the contrary, find this fascinating and refreshing. I do want my book on OJ trial to be passionate and opinionated. I don't want it to be bland watery substance that doesn't have a personality or a strong view because of the lack of opinion or fear of offending anyone. Bugliosi expresses strong views but at the same time he supports them all with very clear and compelling arguments. This is exactly the style this book should be written in. He just nailed it.
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