What was on the mind of Jumpin’ Jim, who called the Apology Line for the first time on June 30th, and then several times over the summer, Mr. Apology has no idea. He confessed to a murder, which Mr. Apology first doubted, then believed, then came to learn the truth of, but more than once during the summer Mr. Apology felt as if a character from Dostoyevski were living in an outer borough of New York.
“This is Jim,” the caller said. “Jumpin’ Jim. O.K. This is the story. It happened last night.”
In The Confession, Alec Wilkinson reveals the bizarre, often startling case of the Apology Line, a phone service created by a conceptual artist known as Mr. Apology, to allow criminals and everyday wrongdoers to apologize for their sins. But when an anonymous caller makes a grisly confession, the Apology Line takes on a life of its own.
The Confession was originally published in The New Yorker, October 4, 1993.
Cover design by Adil Dara.
“This is Jim,” the caller said. “Jumpin’ Jim. O.K. This is the story. It happened last night.”
In The Confession, Alec Wilkinson reveals the bizarre, often startling case of the Apology Line, a phone service created by a conceptual artist known as Mr. Apology, to allow criminals and everyday wrongdoers to apologize for their sins. But when an anonymous caller makes a grisly confession, the Apology Line takes on a life of its own.
The Confession was originally published in The New Yorker, October 4, 1993.
Cover design by Adil Dara.
