Closing Time

The True Story of the "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" Murder

By: Lacey Fosburgh

Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell

The real story behind the murder of a Manhattan schoolteacher that became a symbol of the dangers of casual sex: "A first-rate achievement" (Truman Capote).

In 1973, Roseann Quinn, an Irish-Catholic teacher at a school for deaf children, was killed in New York City after bringing a man home to her apartment from an Upper West Side pub. The crime made headlines and the ensuing case quickly evolved into a cultural phenomenon, spawning both a #1 New York Times - bestselling novel and a film adaptation starring Diane Keaton and Richard Gere, and sparking debates about the sexual revolution and the perils of the "pickup scene" at what were popularly known as singles bars.

In this groundbreaking true crime tale, Lacey Fosburgh, the New York Times reporter first assigned to the story, utilizes an inventive dramatization technique, in which she gives the victim a different name, to veer between the chilling, suspenseful personal interactions leading up to the brutal stabbing and the gritty details of its aftermath, including the NYPD investigation and the arrest of John Wayne Wilson.

An Edgar Award finalist for Best Fact Crime, this classic of the genre is "more riveting, and more tragic, than the Judith Rossner novel - and 1977 movie Looking for Mr. Goodbar" (Men's Journal).

©1975, 1977 Lacey Fosburgh (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Much different than the movie.

The book was good, it was narrated well, and written with the right continuity. No flat spaces, or uninteresting narrative. 

A sad, interesting story

I'm glad I listened to this book. It is a sad story.....you'd wish better for the characters. But it gives a whole lot of background on the story behind the "Mr. Goodbar" movie. I don't think it's a book I'd listen to, a second time, but I'm glad I took the time to learn more about the murder and the people involved. Narrator did a good job.

Five stars all the way!

This is the real, unvarnished story behind the murder of a young, smart, pretty woman who lived in Manhattan in the early ‘70s. It was heart wrenching at times, and I got very emotional about this book, especially at the end. It details the lives, struggles and challenges, of two people, which was very interesting. Two people who “should never have met,” as the narrator says. Great narration, btw!

Good book!

Glad to read the “real” story. Looking for Mr Goodbar was definitely the Hollywood version.

long overdue

I've been tracking this story since pre Internet. I have a lot in common with Roseann Quinn. I would have been happy just to have more details but the excellent writing and great narration were a bonus. It's hard to give a star rating to a horrible occurrence but the story was very well told.

Best true crime writing since Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood ....

And that’s saying a lot. Since discovering the genius of Capote’s IN COLD BLOOD, coined thereafter “the true crime novel”, I’ve had trouble enjoying true crime that is at best mediocre by authors unable to emulate the brilliance of factual storytelling... storytelling that remains loyal to the truth yet through creative sequencing and character development manages to engross engage entertain rather than ask the reader to digest a dry reporting of dates and events.
Until CLOSING TIME that is. This author has grasped the idea of the true crime novel! Combined talent of a great writer with a narrator whose voice gives us character variation without showing off or overshadowing the content creates an excellent result Don’t hesitate — this is a great audiobook. Still an awful and senseless loss, yet in giving us background and a textured look into the lives of the 2 main characters, both of whom (including the victim) were demonized in previous accounts, perhaps we have a chance to understand how a chance meeting between strangers was less random than it created the ‘perfect storm’ that destroyed their lives and 2 families and loved ones and that is the true tragedy.

A masterwork of true crime fiction

I feel a bit skeevy in giving this book a five-star rating, but if I am being honest, I was hooked from start to finish. Fosburgh does a good job, as much as she could, of giving the reader insight into who Roseann Quinn "Katherine Cleary" and John Wayne Wilson "Joe Willy Simpson" were and what happened the night of January 2, 1973, as well as anyone other than John Wayne Wilson could know.
This book is going to receive criticism from people who believe that the author is more sympathetic towards the killer than the victim. But I would say that the killer's friends and family cooperated more with the author than the family of the victim. In terms of friends, Roseann Quinn did not really have someone she strongly confided in. She was, in a way, more mysterious than the drifter who killed her.
What you come away with after finishing this book is that two lost souls who should have found comfort and understanding in each other, instead found their doom. This is a tragic but relatable story about two people who never felt like they fit in to society.

Returned before finishing

"Interpretive Biography" is not a thing. Its absolutely sickening that the author tried to pass this off as a "true story". Its isn't referenced, fact-checked and Roseanne's family would not speak to her or give a comment. All names have been changed, so who are these "friends" that talked about the victim? The sympathetic view of the murderer (since his parents were the only ones who talked) must have been incredibly insulting to the victim's family. No legitimate journalist would have written this and tried to pass it off as biography. Horrible.