UPDATED PAPERBACK EDITION OUT NOW (JUNE 2022), WITH A NEW 10,000-WORD CODA ABOUT THE FIRST FEDERAL TRIAL AND CONVICTION
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“A must-read.”—Variety
“An absorbing, horrifying, and damning book. … Soulless is an important testament of DeRogatis’ slog towards justice, and of the forces that have seemingly cosseted R. Kelly and his career … It’s also a journalistic indictment: of Kelly himself; of the political machinery of Chicago; and of the music industry. … An essential book.”—NPR.org
“Kelly’s dirty secrets are revealed in this book, and so is the wide gap between true justice and the law.”—AV Club
“Essential … the culmination of DeRogatis’ career reporting on Kelly’s alleged behavior.”—USA Today
“A comprehensive document of the many allegations of statutory rape, sexual assault, and physical and psychological abuse levied against R. Kelly dating back to 1991. … packed start to finish.”—Vulture
“DeRogatis blends investigative journalism, pop cultural criticism, and social commentary … [Soulless] is unflinching in its indictment of a culture and legal system unable to render any semblance of justice for black girls. … Soulless is the kind of intervention we need, especially when the stakes are this high.”—LitHub
“A devastating, thorough accounting of Kelly’s alleged abuses as systematized predation. In explicitly outlining the multiple junctures at which Kelly, his supporters, law enforcement, and journalists have failed the dozens of young black women whom Kelly is accused of abusing, DeRogatis definitively—if also wearily—conveys the sheer magnitude of Kelly’s relative impunity.”—The Atlantic
“More than a straight-forward account of Kelly’s wrongdoing … Soulless offers a dogged combination of biography, investigative reporting, and cultural criticism. … As much as Soulless is an account of Kelly’s misbehavior, it’s a finger firmly pointed in the direction of the people and institutions that enabled, and even encouraged, him.”—Pitchfork
The online home of Jim DeRogatis
Associate Professor of Instruction, Columbia College Chicago