Paul's Case

Ronald Charles Epstein is a Toronto-based freelance writer and published poet.

Canadian poets and outlaws have had their moments. In 1970, Michael
Ondaatje published The Collected Works of Billy the Kid. That American
gunslinger was killed in the previous century—a dead foreigner is
safely picaresque. The same cannot be said of Paul Bernardo, the
“Scarborough Rapist,” and Karla Homolka, his wife/accomplice/victim.
Both are now imprisoned for their roles in the brutal murders of
teenagers Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy. Most Canadians would prefer
to forget about Bernardo and Homolka, but Toronto poet Lynn Crosbie has
chosen to conduct a literary investigation, publishing the results in
Paul’s Case.

Bernardo gets the full postmodernist treatment, as the author uses
poetry, prose, puzzles, and pornography to seek an inner truth. This
approach produces predictable results: a fragmentary impressionist
collage or a literary “multimedia” exhibit. The book is aimed at
readers who are equally familiar with literature and television. They
would understand such references as the chapter title “En Attendant
Linc,” which substitutes the nickame of Mod Squad character Lincoln
Hayes for Godot in the French title of Waiting for Godot.

Although Crosbie does not need to confirm Bernardo’s villainy, the
chapter titled “The Scarborough Rapist” is illustrated with photos
of number-tagged Barbie dolls, recalling his dehumanized victims. Jerks
who idolize him as the “Midnight Rambler” are confronted with
“Paul’s Current Affair” with a fellow prisoner—a shocking turn
of events for those who accept sexual homicide, but reject
homosexuality.

In this effective alternative version of Bernardo’s story, Crosbie
proves that there are more than 50 ways of looking at a psychopath.