The death of O.J. Simpson this week is a reminder of his involvement in one of the stranger books of recent years.
If I Did It, his "hypothetical" description of the murder of his wife Nicole and Ron Goldman, recounts how he “might have” done it.
Quite how this bizarre idea ever took enough shape for one person to share it with another is not clear, other than that it “originated with a guy [who] was friendly with O.J.'s eldest daughter, Arnelle.” The lunacy of the concept perhaps explains why this unnamed blue sky thinker was only “on the fringes on the entertainment industry.”
In the prologue, the book's ghostwriter Pablo Fenjves describes how publisher Judith Regan called him in 2006 to pitch it as Simpson's “confession”.
The appalling Simpson then sits down with Fenjves and proceeds to blurt several details of the crime that had not been mentioned at the trial.
“He provided details about the drive home, for example, and actually corrected me when I said I thought he had driven through the red light at Bundy and Montana. ‘I didn't go to the light at Montana. Why would I have gone there? I took a left at the end of the alley and went up Gretna Green to San Vicente, and from there to Sunset.’
“He must have seen the look on my face. ‘Or that's the way I
woulda gone. ’”
When news of the book leaked, the press went berserk and HarperCollins’ owner Rupert Murdoch pulled it prior to publication.
Simpson claimed it was only ever “fiction” and full of details inserted by the author even though they had revised the text together repeatedly and Simpson had approved it.
Eventually, the Goldman family sued for ownership as part of the civil settlement against Simpson, and were granted the copyright of the book.
That's why it was published with the “If” of the title barely visible (see above), so at first glance it reads as “I Did It”.
But by then Simpson had also boasted to the author that while he hoped the book “would enlighten people who didn't understand my relationship with Nicole”, the advance, which Fenjves had been told would go to helping support Simpson's children, had actually been diverted to paying off Simpson's mortgage and helping settle a tax bill.
Any revenues from sales now go to domestic violence charities.
Buy this book (no part of any sale will go to
Strong Words)
Buy this much better book about the case.