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The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth Library Binding – Large Print, December 11, 2019

4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 401 ratings

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On the South Side of Chicago in 1974, Linda Taylor reported a phony burglary, concocting a lie about stolen furs and jewelry. The detective who checked it out soon discovered she was a welfare cheat who drove a Cadillac to collect ill-gotten government checks. And that was just the beginning: Taylor, it turned out, was also a kidnapper, and possibly a murderer. A desperately ill teacher, a combat-traumatized Marine, an elderly woman hungry for companionship- after Taylor came into their lives, all three ended up dead under suspicious circumstances. But nobody- not the journalists who touted her story, not the police, and not presidential candidate Ronald Reagan- seemed to care about anything but her welfare thievery. Growing up in the Jim Crow South, Taylor was made an outcast because of the color of her skin. As she rose to infamy, the press and politicians manipulated her image to demonize poor black women. Part social history, part true-crime investigation, Josh Levin's mesmerizing book, the product of six years of reporting and research, is a fascinating account of American racism, and an exposâe of the "welfare queen" myth, one that fueled political debates that reverberate to this day. The Queen tells, for the first time, the fascinating story of what was done to Linda Taylor, what she did to others, and what was done in her name"--

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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thorndike Press Large Print; Large type / Large print edition (December 11, 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Library Binding ‏ : ‎ 648 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1432871498
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1432871499
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.8 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 1.5 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 401 ratings

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Josh Levin
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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
401 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the story fascinating and interesting, with amazing real-life reveals. They describe the book as an easy and great summer read. The research is well-researched and impressive. Readers find the pacing gripping and thought-provoking. However, opinions differ on the writing style - some find it well-written and entertaining, while others consider it difficult to present an organized story.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

32 customers mention "Story quality"29 positive3 negative

Customers find the story fascinating and heartbreaking. They appreciate the author's weaving of the story into historical and political contexts. The book is described as well-researched and well-written, with a timeline that wraps up the information.

"...A really fascinating tale, rather heartbreaking when you think about this woman’s life, utterly impoverished in terms of human contact, love and..." Read more

"...It is a remarkably complex personal story. Levin also captures the political and social context of this myth...." Read more

"...I must say, that story was absolutely fantastic in writing, flow & true crime. This book, unfortunately does not have nearly the flow...." Read more

"...to yourself on the subway thanks to its twists and turns, amazing real life reveals, and expert excavation of our own shameful treatment of the most..." Read more

29 customers mention "Readability"24 positive5 negative

Customers find the book engaging and easy to read. They describe it as a great summer read with gripping tales from a complicated life. The book meets or exceeds their expectations.

"...It's a sad book; it's an exciting book, and an 'easy' read in a good sense in that it zips along...." Read more

"...Not only did "The Queen" meet my lofty expectations , it exceeded the high bar that I had set for Josh...." Read more

"...A riveting read as well as an important one." Read more

"...Levin goes back in time to find the real Linda Taylor. A compelling read." Read more

21 customers mention "Research quality"21 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-researched and informative. They describe it as an impressive investigative report that seamlessly combines sociology, psychology, and historical perspectives. The book is described as an engrossing tale that tells two parallel stories.

"...What I so enjoyed was how deftly the book tells, essentially, two parallel stories: the political one, which is about the cynical use of a racist..." Read more

"...However, this book deserves it. Sparkling research and documentation are woven into a riveting tale about modern America's obsession with one its..." Read more

"...The resulting full-length book is as an impressive investigative report and page turner from start to finish...." Read more

"...What I found was a well written and cited book abut the tragic life of a women who used anyone in her wake, becoming a trope for the “welfare..." Read more

5 customers mention "Pacing"5 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's pacing. They find it riveting and informative, with gripping tales from Taylor's complicated life. The book delicately threads a tough needle, presenting Taylor's ways in a way that is engaging.

"...The book also delicately threads a tough needle: it presents the ways in which Taylor herself was victimized--most specifically by racial and gender..." Read more

"...The Queen is just one example of how we got there. This book is riveting, both because of the craziness of Taylor's story, and because of the..." Read more

"A riveting and informational book on the origins of the term and the racial and economic politics of the time" Read more

"...A great summer read with plenty of gripping tales from a complicated life." Read more

5 customers mention "Thought provoking"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book thought-provoking and engaging. They appreciate the clear writing style and humor.

"This was a fascinating, well written and engaging story of both the life of Linda Taylor and who she was, but also about the larger myth surrounding..." Read more

"...toward race and privilege; her story is moving, disturbing, and thought-provoking. Highly recommended." Read more

"...The author deals with the complexities of the issues with clarity, style and often humor...." Read more

"Fascinating but painful read..." Read more

17 customers mention "Writing style"10 positive7 negative

Customers have different views on the writing style. Some find it engaging and easy to read, while others feel it's dull, drawn-out, and disorganized. The conversational style is also mentioned as a negative aspect by some readers.

"...With crisp prose that's even occasionally funny, Levin unearths Taylor's lifelong string of lies and of victims -- people she took advantage of with..." Read more

"...Well, it actually became drudgery for me for me to read...." Read more

"...I must say, that story was absolutely fantastic in writing, flow & true crime. This book, unfortunately does not have nearly the flow...." Read more

"...What I found was a well written and cited book abut the tragic life of a women who used anyone in her wake, becoming a trope for the “welfare..." Read more

Fascinating blend of criminal, sociological, and political.
5 out of 5 stars
Fascinating blend of criminal, sociological, and political.
This is a fascinating sociological read, replete with not just the Welfare Queen pictured on the cover, but blast from the past names like Chicagoans Studs Terkel (which is seriously in the running for the best name ever) and Mike Royko, and a certain entertainer-turned-president, Ronald Reagan.It's a mix of the Queen's lifestyle, family drama, abuse, murder, journalism, police work, detective work, and politics that's an unexpectedly engrossing - though often dark - blend, stepping from subject to subject in a unique dance complete with photos,many of which are mug shots. It's wrapped in fur coats, driving in a Cadillac with Reagan's voice in the background, a steady, sometimes racist cautionary tale of those taking advantage of the government. It's police trying to get their woman while journalists chase front page stories and Pulitzers, and it's far, far more and better than I expected.An example of the writing:"He explained that he'd met Taylor in Chicago, and she pretended to be a spiritual doctor from Africa. He said he knew her as Dr. Shfolia, Dr. Whoyon, Dr. Constance Jarvis, Dr. C. B. Levan, Connie Green, Connie Harbaugh, and Sandra Lewis. He also told the police that she'd hidden the car so she could report it stolen."
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2019
    I received a galley copy of this book because I know the author. It's as good as you've (hopefully) heard. You've perhaps also heard the basics: the story Levin tells is about Linda Taylor, the woman on whom the political trope of the "welfare queen" was based.

    What I so enjoyed was how deftly the book tells, essentially, two parallel stories: the political one, which is about the cynical use of a racist trope to further the electoral chances and domestic political agenda of Ronald Reagan and the Reagan-era GOP -- this story has all the carelessness about factuality and dog-whistling and dubious claims one might expect of a mainstream American politician at this point (or that point. whatever. you get it).

    And the second story, which is the true crime story of what Linda Taylor actually was and did which is both sad and totally bonkers. It's hard to talk about this book without a phrase like "welfare fraud turned out to be the least of her crimes": not only is that definitely true, but the nature, extent, and...existential depth of her criminal nature is breathtaking (in a bad way). With crisp prose that's even occasionally funny, Levin unearths Taylor's lifelong string of lies and of victims -- people she took advantage of with theft, identity fraud, and perhaps much much worse...by all accounts apparently throughout her whole life.

    The book also delicately threads a tough needle: it presents the ways in which Taylor herself was victimized--most specifically by racial and gender bias, including with her own family--without ever letting its acknowledgment of these facts mitigate the toll her crimes took on her victims or the portrait of her as a dangerous sociopath that ultimately emerges.

    This makes the book a bit bigger than either of its two--already big--stories. It's a sad book; it's an exciting book, and an 'easy' read in a good sense in that it zips along. But it's sad because it's about lying and the low place of truth in our lives; it's about the awful costs that bias and entrenched inequalities have exacted on people in this country since forever; it's about victimization in our society. It's an exciting, strange read of a story that feels like an 'outlier' narrative (and indeed, is a pretty wild narrative) but that--for me--was anchored in a melancholy reflection on all the ways we can be bad.

    I can't recommend the thing highly enough.
    72 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2021
    If you grew up in the US in the 1970s, you may remember Ronald Reagan’s first run for the presidency in 1976, during which he frequently referred to a “welfare queen” living in Chicago, who gamed the system such that she had numerous houses, cars, fur coats, etc., etc., all the proceeds of fraud on the federal welfare system. Well, “The Queen” is that woman’s story - going by the name Linda Taylor, she actually had some 10 or 12 aliases, not to mention numerous birth dates, parents, children, husbands, living situations and races. In reality, she was born in 1926 in the US South, the product of a white woman and black man (whose sexual union was literally illegal at the time). Because of her mixed race, her family largely rejected her, and she grew up all over the southern part of the country, with various family and non-family members and very little (if any) education. Her life of crime began long before the 1970s, when she was identified and prosecuted as a welfare cheat, charges that eventually led to her incarceration for a little over two years; but she may also have been a kidnapper, a bigamist, an “ordinary” thief (of other peoples’ property) and, not least, a murderer. Journalist Josh Levin has waded through thousands of documents, all meticulously laid out in the notes and bibliography sections of this book - indeed, in my Kindle edition I discovered that I still had some 20% of the book left to read when the story was done, that last 20% of the volume being devoted to sources and thank-yous. A really fascinating tale, rather heartbreaking when you think about this woman’s life, utterly impoverished in terms of human contact, love and acceptance - no wonder she felt entitled to take what she wanted, as she’d been deprived of so much. Recommended.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2024
    I am working on a painting called Welfare Queen. The painting is meant to be an statement about the pernicious myth. I thought that if I am making the painting I ought to read the story.

    Wow. I am blown away. What a powerful story about Linda Taylor as an individual and also about America's obsession with wanting to place the blame and burden for poverty on the poor.

    It's remarkable just how abused and discarded Linda Taylor was. It's hard not to see how her descent into deceit, fraud, kidnapping and murder was not caused by the unimaginable abuse and neglect she suffered at the hands of her family and her community.

    While it's important to understand the context and background, Levin makes it very clear that Taylor was as abject and pitiable as she was irredeemable and vile. It is a remarkably complex personal story.

    Levin also captures the political and social context of this myth. He exposes how it elides the problems faced by the working poor, why welfare as it operates is ineffective and how the myth has been used to implement policies that have exacerbated the problem of poverty in America.

    I was stunned by the ending. I almost never write book reviews for books that I purchase on Amazon. However, this book deserves it. Sparkling research and documentation are woven into a riveting tale about modern America's obsession with one its most interesting and perplexing figures.