# "If I did it" - OJ Simpson **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 14, 2007, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188 "2007-09-14T16:15:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Dob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dob)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/1 "2007-09-14T16:15:55Z")
So the book has been out a day or so now, has anyone had a chance to pick it up and read it? I’m torn on getting it, the morbid side of me wants to hear what he has to say, but the moral side of me is disgusted by the whole idea. So, anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/2 "2007-09-14T16:27:42Z")
Waitasecond – did I miss something? Last I heard, this wasn’t being released…or what that just a publisher ploy to generate press? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/3 "2007-09-14T16:30:57Z")
[Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_I_Did_It) It was pulled following a raft of bad publicity, then the Goldman family sued to get the rights to the book and they had it published with additional comments. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/4 "2007-09-14T16:31:06Z")
[QUOTE=Hal Briston] Waitasecond – did I miss something? Last I heard, this wasn’t being released…or what that just a publisher ploy to generate press? [/QUOTE] The book was cancelled by the publisher after the Goldman family sued and got the publishing rights to pay the settlement they have against OJ in civil court. They have since found another publisher and retitled it: IfI DID IT ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/5 "2007-09-14T16:31:25Z")
Hmm. Back when the original release was supposed to have happened, a local radio station claimed to have gotten some kind of advance copy for review. They did “dramatic readings” from certain chapters (actually, they had their female intern read excerpts). With the exception of the cursing, it sounded like it was written on a junior high level at the most. I might flip through it if I see it in the bookstore, just to see if they were reading from the real thing. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/6 "2007-09-14T16:31:53Z")
. . .it would be a pirated copy. Fuck you, Orenthal. Disclaimer: I do not generally condone lawlessness. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/7 "2007-09-14T16:38:00Z")
Wasn’t it on the internets several months ago? ---
**Author:** ![Aholibah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Aholibah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aholibah)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/8 "2007-09-14T16:38:46Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] . . .it would be a pirated copy. Fuck you, Orenthal. [/QUOTE] Yeah, except apparently the profits go to the Goldmans, not to Simpson. Which leaves me in a really icky place. I don’t want to buy, read, touch, own, or see this disgusting excuse for a book, but I feel as if I ought to buy it as a way of giving Simpson the finger. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/9 "2007-09-14T16:39:26Z")
Timothy Noah in Slate has a pretty good rundown of what’s in the book. Save yourself some time and [check it out](http://www.slate.com/id/2173030/). A note on the proceeds issue: > [@Timothy Noah](#): > > Sales proceeds will go not to O.J.—whose plan to publish with HarperCollins went south last year when Rupert Murdoch got cold feet and pulped the book—but rather to the family of Ron Goldman, which seized the manuscript as a down payment on a $33.5 million civil judgment against O.J. for killing Goldman along with Nicole. The one-time star running back was acquitted of this crime (erroneously, according to If I Did It and the dictates of common sense) in a criminal trial 12 years ago. Some of the proceeds from If I Did It will go to the Ron Goldman Foundation for Justice, a nonprofit set up to help victims of violent crime. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/10 "2007-09-14T16:43:30Z")
[QUOTE=Aholibah] Yeah, except apparently the profits go to the Goldmans, not to Simpson. [/QUOTE] I shoulda previewed. ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/11 "2007-09-14T18:12:14Z")
Hunh. Apparently the Brown family still doesn’t want the book to be published, which the Goldman family ignored. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/12 "2007-09-14T18:21:42Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] The book was cancelled by the publisher after the Goldman family sued and got the publishing rights to pay the settlement they have against OJ in civil court. They have since found another publisher and retitled it: IfI DID IT [/QUOTE] ::snort:: I thought you were joking until I saw the [cover](http://www.amazon.com/If-I-Did-Confessions-Killer/dp/0825305888/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-7847286-5289505?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1189793585&sr=8-1) on Amazon. I might get it - Jr. High School is the level that most mainstream books are written, and this isn’t even attempting to be deep literature, so that’s not much of a criticism. And as someone sane enough to have a sensible emotional distance from these strangers, I find the concept itself it extremely interesting. Plus it’s just a great contemporary iconic pop-cultural artifact to have as a part of my bookshelf. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/13 "2007-09-14T18:29:45Z")
This isn’t the Pit, so I’ll keep it non-vitriolic. Too bad the police can’t treat this as a real confession. Saved by anti-double jeopardy laws. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/14 "2007-09-14T18:40:17Z")
I heard on the radio this morning that the Goldman’s get 17 cents of each sale. The female lawyer that bungled the case (I forget her name) said that she would be buying multiple copies, and burning them. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/15 "2007-09-14T18:51:38Z")
[QUOTE=pizzabrat] ::snort:: I thought you were joking until I saw the [cover](http://www.amazon.com/If-I-Did-Confessions-Killer/dp/0825305888/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-7847286-5289505?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1189793585&sr=8-1) on Amazon. [/QUOTE] At least I got a laugh out of this. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/16 "2007-09-14T18:51:44Z")
[QUOTE=UncleRojelio] The female lawyer that bungled the case (I forget her name) [/quote] Marcia Clark > [@](#): > > said that she would be buying multiple copies, and burning them. As did Chris Darden (though I don’t think he added the burning part, just that he’d be buying at least 20 copies as a way to benefit the Goldman’s efforts to pursue their judgment against the guy who murdered their son). ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/17 "2007-09-14T19:35:29Z")
[QUOTE=UncleRojelio] I heard on the radio this morning that the Goldman’s get 17 cents of each sale. [/QUOTE] What idiot negotiated that book contract? That’s less than 0.7% of the retail price of the book. Most of my book royalties are 10-15 times that number. ---
**Author:** ![Greywolf73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@Greywolf73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greywolf73)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/18 "2007-09-14T20:22:31Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] They have since found another publisher and retitled it: IfI DID IT [/QUOTE] Bwaaaah!! That’s the funniest thing I’ve seen all day. Where IS the “IF”? ---
**Author:** ![Greywolf73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@Greywolf73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greywolf73)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/19 "2007-09-14T20:23:45Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] They have since found another publisher and retitled it: IfI DID IT [/QUOTE] Bwaaaah!! That’s the funniest thing I’ve seen all day. They really did that. Where IS the “IF” on the actual cover? So funny I had to post it twice. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188/20 "2007-09-14T20:29:17Z")
[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat] What idiot negotiated that book contract? That’s less than 0.7% of the retail price of the book. Most of my book royalties are 10-15 times that number. [/QUOTE] Well, they didn’t actually write it, after all. And I’d hope that the donations to the foundation aren’t included in that figure. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-did-it-oj-simpson/419188.md?page=2)