Zodiac (book)

Zodiac
Book Cover
Author	Robert Graysmith
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Non-Fiction Crime Novel
Publisher	St. Martin's Press
Publication date	1986
ISBN	0-312-89895-9

Zodiac is a non-fiction book written by Robert Graysmith about the unsolved serial murders committed by the "Zodiac Killer" in San Francisco in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Since its initial release in 1986, Zodiac has sold 4 million copies worldwide.^[1] Graysmith was a cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle and later also wrote Zodiac Unmasked.

Plot Synopsis

This book depicts the killings and actions of the Zodiac killer who was active in the 1960's and 70's in California. It details Graysmith's collections of Zodiac evidence and material and eventually names who Graysmith thinks the Zodiac killer is, which he believes it to be Arthur Leigh Allen. He pinpoints evidence that shows many different reasons why he believes Allen is the Zodiac. There was some evidence that pointed away from Allen as the killer, but there was a lot more evidence according to Graysmith, that points toward Allen as the killer. Graysmith got help from police departments that where in the jurisdictions of the murders, especially from Inspector Dave Toschi from the San Francisco Police Department who was assigned to the Zodiac case. Toschi was willing to help Graysmith because he wanted the case solved and they both believed it to be Allen. Toschi considered Graysmith to not be interferring with an investigation because there had been no Zodiac action for years when Graysmith started to collect his own evidence. He based his conclusions on actual police files and witnesses that were made available to him. After years of researching the Zodiac and the loss of his marriage from it, Graysmith finally finished the book.^[2]

Origin of the Book

Robert Graysmith was a cartoonist working for the San Francisco Chronicle in the 1960's when the Zodiac murders started happening. The Zodiac sent letters to the Chronicle that he wanted them to publish in the paper. These letters included evidence that made it clear that he actually was the Zodiac. Graysmith saw these letters from the Zodiac coming into the Chronicle and it intrigued him. For years he kept his own scrap book of evidence and with crime reporter Paul Avery then tried to figure out who the Zodiac was on their own. When asked why he began working on this book he said, "I saw it going into obscurity. Nobody is sharing all the different jurisdictions, and all this information. What if I as a private citizen went around and got all this information?" This led to a 10 year stretch to get all the information and eventually the book published. The book was originally to be title "This Is the Zodiac Speaking". It was originally supposed to be published in 1981, then in 1983, but eventually got published in 1986.^[3] When Graysmith got into the public eye for starting to create this book, he suddenly started getting anonymous phone calls with heavy breathing. The Zodiac was believed to had called members of one of his victims families on the night she was murdered. All they heard was heavy breathing. Because of this, Graysmith believed it to be the Zodiac calling him, as he was now making a book about him.

Zodiac's Identity

Graymsith's drawing of the Zodiac from witness descriptions.

Graysmith had many ideas who the Zodiac was but narrowed it down to being Arthur Leigh Allen. He collected what he thought was enough significant evidence to prove this. Allen had the same size shoe, and the same size gloves as the Zodiac. He had the military background which police believed Zodiac had, as well as the military issued boots which they found track marks from at one of the crime scenes. Allen was also ambidextrous which would of made it easier for him to write the letters without them being able to analyze his regular handwriting. When Allen was questioned by police he had a watch on with the brand name being “zodiac” and it had the symbol Zodiac signed the letters with on it. After Graysmith’s book was released with all this newfound collected evidence, and one of Zodiac's surviving victims identifying Allen, he was to be questioned again. Allen died though on August 26, 1992 without ever being able to be charged with anything. The true identity of Zodiac is still never been 100% proven, but Graysmith claimed he never received anymore anonymous phones call with heavy breathing after Allen died.

Movies Based on the Book

Several films have been based on Graysmith's Zodiac books, see The Zodiac Killer in popular culture. The one most closely following Graysmith's book however, is the 2007 adaptation Zodiac. The film follows the work of Graysmith from being a cartoonist, to getting involved with the making of the Zodiac book. Other movies have been based around Zodiac but none with the same amount factual information such as names and locations.

Comparisons Between the Zodiac (2007) Film and the Book

There was a lot of truth in the movie, but there were a few dissimilarities between the book, and the film. For one, in the movie the woman in the car with her baby who had claimed to be picked up by Zodiac, was shown as trying to be immediatley abducted by the man right after getting in his car. They are shown passing a service station almost immediately and the woman starts to get fearful as the man does not stop. The real occurence is different in the fact that the man actually took her to a service station but it was closed. He then drove her around for hours passing station after station until she jumped from the car because he would not stop. Graysmith's meeting with Arthur Leigh Allen in the end of the movie is also slightly different. Graysmith was following Allen around until he parked outside of the hardware store where Allen worked. As Graysmith was parked Allen pulled up next to his car "so close I couldn't open the door" Graysmith claimed, and "Allen gave me a look like you wouldn't believe." In the movie it shows Graysmith going into the hardware store and seeing Allen working behind the counter.^{[4] [5]}

References

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