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Title details for American Confidential by Deanne Stillman - Available

American Confidential

Uncovering the Bizarre Story of Lee Harvey Oswald and his Mother

by Deanne Stillman
ebook
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2 of 2 copies available
"In dazzling, evocative prose, Stillman effectively employs the tools of cultural criticism to shed light on the forces that might have left Marguerite dangerously disillusioned with the American dream." - Jonathan Darman, Air Mail
"Deanne Stillman's American Confidential takes the familiar and makes it new - makes it thrilling. You won't believe this story; it resonates with deep American echoes." - Darin Strauss, author of Chang & Eng
On the 60th anniversary of the JFK assassination, a critically acclaimed writer presents an astonishing new account of one of the 20th century's most notorious assassins, Lee Harvey Oswald—and the mother who raised him . . .
Was Lee Harvey Oswald—as he himself claimed—a patsy? A hired gunman? In this startling account, Deanne Stillman suggests that there was indeed a conspiracy behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy—that of Oswald and his mother, Marguerite, who were locked in a desperate pursuit of fame and recognition. It was a struggle that would erupt on November 22, 1963, with Kennedy’s murder—after which the assassin joined the roster of infamous immortals, while his mother spent the rest of her life seeking the media limelight. 
 
American Confidential is a mother-son noir tale that plays out across the Wild West of mid-twentieth century America, delving into Oswald’s nomadic boyhood, and the world of his restless and disillusioned mother, who passed along a legacy of class resentment and a clamorous need to matter. 
 
In this new and surprising investigation into the short, troubled life of the ordinary man who would take down an American king, Deanne Stillman also presents a fascinating portrait of Oswald as a predecessor of the many violent young men and boys of America today, who take selfies with their rifles, and have come to define a new era of brutality.
Following in the tradition of Joan Didion and Charles Bowden, and continuing her celebrated exploration of America’s shadowlands, Stillman recounts a haunting tale of the promise and failure of the American dream. It held Oswald in its grip until the very end. “Some day,” he once told his wife, “I’d like to have a son. Maybe he’ll grow up to be president.”

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    November 14, 2023

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781685890698

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781685890698
      • File size: 7394 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      September 1, 2023
      How a pathological maternal influence shaped a famous killer. On the brink of the 60th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Stillman, author of Blood Brothers, Mustang, and other books, explores Lee Harvey Oswald's relationship with his mother as a means of understanding the killer's deepest motivations. This work joins an enormous body of scholarship that investigates the perpetrator and his relationships with key figures. While avoiding the wildest conspiracy theories, the author posits that Oswald was, in effect, aided in his crime by his mother, Marguerite, who passed on to him an obsessive interest in achieving personal notoriety. Drawing on some of the most prominent treatments of the subject as well as original archival research, Stillman focuses on Oswald's chaotic childhood and Marguerite's alternation between neglect and indulgence. In particular, the author examines his disruptive transitions between schools as the family changed residences, as well as an ominous potential for violence that grew steadily through his adolescence. Stillman offers a plausible explanation for the development of a dangerous loner bent on making his mark in the world. Like other commentators, the author sees both Marguerite and Oswald as emblematic of the dark side of national ideals. In her, we find "the promise and failure of the American dream." Regarding Oswald, "while he certainly linked himself with various causes, and he may have convinced himself that one or the other of these was an identity for him at one time or another, the only cause he really had was himself--a distinctly American condition that in his case, and in the case of many who have followed the killing path, could have revealed itself in only one way." Stillman synthesizes the conclusions of other scholars, but she offers little fresh insight. Moreover, a somewhat turgid style, marked by frequent and distracting allusions to cinematic and literary parallels, weakens the overall narrative. A suggestive overview of the making of an infamous murderer's warped character.

      COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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