Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders,
the Crime that Changed America
by Kevin Cook
W. W. Norton. 288 pages, $25.95
CATHERINE “Kitty” Genovese was a petite, 28-year-old bartender who lived in Kew Gardens, a genteel section of Queens in New York City. At around 3 a.m. on March 13, 1964, Kitty was stabbed by Winston Moseley, a 29-year-old business machine operator, as she arrived home from work. The first attack happened on the neighborhood’s main street in view of hundreds of apartment windows. Someone yelled, “Let that girl alone!” and scared Moseley away. Kitty staggered behind her building, critically wounded and barely breathing. She collapsed outside her door. Moseley returned a half-hour later and finished her off.