American confidential : uncovering the bizarre story of Lee Harvey Oswald and his mother
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references.

"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 in the harsh glare of 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"--,Provided by publisher.