Oswald's Tale

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating and exhaustive study.
Review: If you are,like me,intrigued with every aspect of the Kennedy assassination,this book will add a mass of information on one of the lesser known aspects.The facts of Oswald's life raise more questions than answers,and little is straight forward.Mr.Mailer,however,has produced a plausible,scholarly though entertaining biography of a man who will forever stand at the centre of the 20th century's greatest mystery.Exhaustive but essential stuff,infused with Norman Mailer's unique voice.

Rating:
Summary: Lee Harvey, We Hardly Knew Thee
Review: Mailer exorcises Lee Harvey Oswald's ghost in this in-depth journey through the adult life of a man whose very name haunts our memories with confusion and dismay. Oswald, heretofore a seemingly uninteresting fool, is shown to be familiar in many respects and even forgivable in his distorted perception of the world. Along the way, Mailer fills us in on rationally consistent explanations of many interesting facts which have been construed variously by numerous conspiracy theorists. Curiously, Oswald seems more of a tragic character than an evil conspirator. Ironically, what he destroyed seems to be the starry-eyed American dream that was no more real to begin with than his prey's burnished public image.

Blending background from his preceding novel about the CIA, Harlot's Ghost, Mailer spins out a chronology of facts, quotes, and opinions in a gripping, sultry tale which pulls the reader easily through hundreds of pages. The author's comprehension of this vast topic is incredible. To share in such wealth of knowledge is truly a privilege, clarifying this monstrous mystery in uncountable ways.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly written but well-documented account of Lee and Marina
Review: We have to give old Mailer credit for changing his mind about JFK conspiracies as he learned more about Lee Oswald through Russian documents and acquaintances. It is clear that Mailer began this book thinking that Oswald was not a lone assassin. In fact, one could swear that others helped Mailer write this because of the obvious change in styles and conclusions. But after all his unfolding of Oswald's history, he came to the conclusion that Oswald did it, in a similar mood as when he tried to assassinate General Walker six months early. Only Mailer could help the public recognize how sexual and career frustration and jealousy of the President accounted for his murder. This review is submitted by a psychologist who helped assess General Edwin Walker in Dallas some months before the assassination.