This is an enquiry into the morality of journalism. The author takes as the axis of her argument the case of Joe McGinniss, author of Fatal Vision, the story of a doctor convicted of murdering his wife and two daughters. Malcolm explores the inherent imbalance that lies between journalist and subject. In her interviews with the leading characters in the case - the principals, their lawyers, the members of the jury and the various people who testified as expert witnesses at the trial - Malcolm is always conscious of herself as a player in a game that, as she points out, she cannot lose. This book reflects some of the dominant intellectual concerns of our time.