Jo Freeman Reviews: The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald, A Novel by William Alsup
The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald
A Novel
by William Alsup
Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2022, 320 pages
Hardcover, $27.95
by Jo Freeman
This book takes the creation of an historical novel to new heights, so much so that “A Novel” is in the subtitle so you won’t mistake it for actual history when looking for books from that period.
History tells us that Lee Harvey Oswald murdered President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas on November 22,1963. Younger generations may not remember that Oswald was himself shot and killed by Jack Ruby two days later while he was being moved from one jail to another. He never went on trial. Ruby did.
The fictional assumption in this novel is that Ruby failed, leaving Oswald to be tried in a Texas state court and ...
There are a few other fictional assumptions, and a few fictional characters, which the author explains in the back of the book. For the most part, the facts and the people are real. They are based on extensive testimony before the Warren Commission, which was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson a week later to investigate Kennedy’s assassination. It’s 26 volumes of testimony and documents were augmented by press coverage, FBI reports and other archives.
Have fun figuring out who is real and who is not. For example, Oswald’s defense lawyer is Percy Foreman, a Texas trial lawyer who became famous for eloquently defending some very disreputable people. He had expressed interest in representing Oswald before Ruby killed him. In Trial he gets the job.
Then there is the Zapruder film, probably the most famous home movie in American history. Taken by a bystander filming the presidential procession for his personal use, it captured the moments the bullets hit their victims. It’s analyzed frame by frame.
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