Inside the Mind of Casey Anthony

A Psychological Portrait

By: Keith Ablow

Narrated by: Henry Leyva

The trial of 25-year-old Casey Anthony for the death of her daughter, Caylee, was the most sensational case in America since O.J. Simpson’s—with a verdict every bit as stunning. After being acquitted in July 2011, Ms. Anthony instantly became one of the most infamous women in the world.

Dr. Keith Ablow distills tens of thousands of pages of documents he has obtained, his behind-the-camera, one-on one interviews, and his decades of experience in the world of forensic psychiatry to make sense of a woman whose defense attorney described her as an innocent victim of childhood sexual abuse, but the state insisted was a cold-blooded murderer.

Inside the Mind of Casey Anthony delivers an incisive, riveting way of understanding this troubled young woman.

©2011 Keith Ablow (P)2011 Macmillan Audio

In-depth psychiatric analysis - complex

As a member of the mental health profession, I was interested in what Dr. Ablow has to say about what is going on in Casey Anthony's head. At first I was bothered by the fact that he does not make ONE conclusion about what precisely happened in the case (personally, I believe 99.9% she is guilty of Murder #1). However, looking at this piece from a therapist's perspective, not a legal viewpoint, I can see that it was prudent of Dr. Ablow to NOT go with any one explanation for the crime. He is not assessing the crime itself; he is assessing the person who was on trial for such a heinous act.

Given all of this, I think that Dr. Ablow is right on the money regarding what is wrong with Casey Anthony, and the genesis of it. I have thought for some time that her mother's lies and inability to let Casey be a separate person, was ultimately, though very indirectly, the 'cause' of this murder. I enjoyed seeing how Dr. Ablow went back in her family history, to generations 100 years ago on both sides, and explained how this type of tragedy can occur when NO ONE faces their inner demons along the way, generation after generation.....

I can understand why people who are not deeply versed in psychiatry might look askance at the viewpoint or the stance that this book takes. However, if you back off a bit, put the TRIAL aside in your mind for a little while, and just listen to this story of how a woman, influenced by numerous unsafe & dishonest people & events, wound up with a dead child ~ whom I can see, Dr. Ablow agrees, she killed ~ then I think you could enjoy this book and even learn quite a bit about the fragile workings of the human mind.

Pretty good.

I found it very interesting and had trouble putting it down. Ablow puts a LOT of his personal opinion into the analysis. He allows the reader to see Casey at a different angle. It was also too long. He repeats himself constantly. I got sick of several of his catchphrases. Overall I liked it, and I feel like I understand Casey better than before.

Repetitive

Interesting perspective of an obviously troubled young lady. He was too repetitive for my tastes

My review

I couldn’t finish this book. I couldn’t decide if the author was more entranced by how Casey’s father was entranced by his daughter in the delivery room or is in love with Casey herself. The book started ok but he kept repeating the same concepts over and over again. I finally had enough and quit listening.

Interesting

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Possibly to some friends

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character was Casey Anothony's mother

Any additional comments?

I am a psychotherapist, so this was very interesting to me. It was somewhat repetitive, but very insightful. It was a good look into the potential of the human mind.

Very slow and boring

Very slow moving, not recommended. The narrator puts you to sleep with the material. Definitely one to skip

Author is Obsessed with Casey Anthony's Vagina

This book is a lot of conjecture, and speculation with hypothetical conversations about explanations. The author is seemingly OBSESSED with Casey Anthony's vagina more than he tries to assert George Anthony might. Seriously, he brings up her crotch several dozen times in this book and it's eyebrow raising at first, then just plain annoying. Skip the read. Can't believe I used a credit on this.
Narrator was good though, that's it.

Thought provoking

Ablow takes the reader into the home of the Anthony'a and gives a very in depth look at the psychopathology of Casey and her family. The book takes the reader successfully beyond the headlines and he provides a detailed reading and analysis of the tapes and records and transcripts, interviewing a few people that are interesting to hear. However, he totally overdetermines the cause of Casey's criminal behavior and sociopathology by blaming her parents. Casey, by his own account, is a master liar yet he totally takes as as fact her claim, totally unsubstantiated, that her father molested her and forced her to perform oral sex on him as a child. This should be one theory, not a determining factor, taken as fact. And, yes, his portrait of Cindy, the mother, as the over controlling mother is fascinating and convincing, but this reader couldn't help but wonder if a lot of this controlling behavior and denial was not the cause of Casey's sickness, but the result of trying to live with a daughter who was, from an early age, a manipulative liar --a sociopath.

Way too bias...

A majority of the investigations over the Casey Anthony case tend to paint the picture with Casey as a complete monster. This account of the Casey Anthony case was interesting in that it humanized Casey and evokes sympathy for her. With that said, it completely dehumanized her parents and personified them to be the monsters. While there is no doubt that their parenting may have been extreme in some ways, this author voids all accountability from Casey. As mentioned in other reviews, it harps on certain actions taken by the parents, and in my opinion, distorts them to such a degree that makes the author seem not very credible.

However, despite the cringy repetition of how good Casey was in bed, Casey’s father’s supposed fixation on her vagina, and the parents frugalness, I can appreciate the analysis of the psychology of Casey as it brings a different perspective and insight into the case.

Assumptions Galore

This book makes wild assumptions in Casey Anthony's favour, without really knowing what went on in that family. He was going on what was available on the public record.
He is very harsh on the family, it has never been proven in a court of law that George or his son ever abused Casey, and if that was the case why on earth would she allow her daughter to be placed in this home.
Not all individuals have perfect childhoods and they don't go on to kill their children.