American Confidential: Uncovering the Bizarre Story of Lee Harvey Oswald and His Mother -- Deanne Stillman - Hardcover

"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."

Author: Deanne Stillman
Publisher: Melville House Publishing
Published: 11/14/2023
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.15lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.00w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9781685890681

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 09/01/2023

About the Author
Deanne Stillman is a widely published, critically acclaimed writer of literary nonfiction. Her latest book, Blood Brothers, won the 2018 Ohioana Award for nonfiction, and appeared on several "best of the year" lists, including two at The Millions. She's also the author of Desert Reckoning, based on a Rolling Stone piece, winner of the Spur and LA Press Club awards, a Southwest Book of the Year, an amazon editors pick, recipient of rave reviews in Newsweek and elsewhere; Twentynine Palms, an LA Times bestseller and "best book of the year" that Hunter S. Thompson called "A strange and brilliant story by an important American writer," and Mustang, an LA Times "best book of the year," California Book Award silver medalist for nonfiction, recipient of rave reviews from the Atlantic to the Economist, now available in audio with Anjelica Huston, Frances Fisher, James Morrison and John Densmore.

Her essays have appeared in the LA Review of Books (contributing editor), lithub, the Independent, the NY Times, LA Times, public seminar, Tin House, High Country News, been listed as "Notable" in two Best American Essays anthologies, and her plays have won prizes around the country.