{"product_id":"they-both-reached-for-the-gun-beulah-annan-maurine-watkins-and-the-trial-that-became-chicago-9780809339389","title":"They Both Reached for the Gun: Beulah Annan, Maurine Watkins, and the Trial That Became Chicago","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eExamining the case that inspired a pop culture phenomenon\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In 1924 Beulah Annan was arrested and incarcerated for kill­ing her lover, Harry Kalsted. Six weeks later, a jury acquitted her of murder. Inspired by the sordid event, trial, and acquittal, Maurine Watkins, a reporter at the time, wrote the play \u003ci\u003eChicago\u003c\/i\u003e, a Broadway hit that was adapted several times. Through a fresh retelling of the story of Annan and of Watkins's play, Charles H. Cosgrove provides a critical examination of the crim­inal case and an exploration of the era's social assump­tions that made the message of the play so plausible in its own time. His careful historical research challenges the received portrait of Annan as a killer who got away with murder and of Watkins as a savvy cub reporter and precocious playwright. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In \u003ci\u003eThey Both Reached for the Gun\u003c\/i\u003e, Charles H. Cosgrove expertly combines meticulous research into inquest transcripts, police records, and interviews with Annan's relatives with detailed analysis to shed new light on the participants, the trial, and the subsequent play and musical. Although no one will ever know what really happened in the south side apartment one hundred years ago, Cosgrove's interrogation shows how sensationalized Watkins's writing was. Her reporting on the Annan case perpetuated falsehoods about Annan's so-called \"confession,\" and her play gave an inaccurate portrayal of Chicago's criminal justice system. Despite Watkins's insistence that her drama revealed the truth about its subjects without any exaggeration, her play depicted police, prosecutors, and judges as the only \"good guys\" in the story, ignoring those who lied, misled, and used brutal methods to obtain forced confessions. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Charles H. Cosgrove\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Southern Illinois University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/07\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 240\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.85lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.80d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780809339389","brand":"Southern Illinois University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42707419824265,"sku":"9780809339389","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_535c9b26-2566-468b-89e3-02d65943a86b.jpg?v=1719485582","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/they-both-reached-for-the-gun-beulah-annan-maurine-watkins-and-the-trial-that-became-chicago-9780809339389","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}