The Gunman and His Mother

Lee Harvey Oswald, Marguerite Oswald, and the Making of an Assassin

By: Steven Beschloss

Narrated by: Stephen McLaughlin

Length: 2 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

For most of us, the story of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy depicts Lee Harvey Oswald as a convenient cliche or a conspiracy puppet, Lone Gunman or Framed Patsy. Lost among the competing theories of villainy and cover-up is the real Lee Harvey Oswald, a troubled young man from a fractured family, a lonely child born without a future. In this original and dramatic work, Steven Beschloss draws on a rich but relatively unmined public record, key interviews with Marguerite and other family members, and Lee's own writing and statements to trace the origin of an American tragedy. He was a quiet boy who loved to stare at the stars. She was a bossy woman who always felt broke. He loved to ride the subways, skip school, go to the zoo. She was desperate and itinerant, forced to put her three kids into a New Orleans orphanage. He was a heavy reader, a homebody; she an oppressive and volatile figure. Both felt the world owed them better, and both carried a grudge that never softened. He was Lee Harvey Oswald and she his mother, Marguerite.

The Gunman and His Mother depicts the troubled bond between a mother and her son, revealing in detail a relationship that has deserved focused treatment for a half century but has yet to receive it: How an innocent young boy evolved into a killer despite the watching eyes of his mother, his family, and his friends.

©2013 Steven Beschloss (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Good Information for a Novice on this Subject

I knew little about Lee Harvey Oswald. Just the bare bones of his actions in Dallas. Therefore, this Kindle Single, was very enlightening to me as it talks about Lee’s beginnings and his middle mostly while touching just a bit about his ending.

Mesmerizing!

Most impressive psychological, historical and factual range and depth, skillfully packaged and beautifully performed. Kudos! I listened to it twice straight through.

Eye opening

This was a short book but what a journey!

The book is well written and gives the reader a different perspective on Lee Harvey Oswald. Most books I’ve stumbled upon have been about the assassination of John F Kennedy, and not much about Oswald. Therefore it was refreshing to be able to get to know more about Oswald, his upbringing and life.

Even though this is a short book I found it filled with information about Oswald I’ve never read elsewhere.

This book gave me food for thought and was really an eye opener.

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IT was OK

I was doing ok with this book until going from chapter 9 to chapter 10. While the information was new and informative. It got bogged down with details about Lee Harvey's mother.

Pretty Weak

There are far-better books on the entire subject, with chapters devoted to what this author excerpted into a story. I didn't learn anything new here; Norman Mailer's Oswald's Tale is way-more complete.

Dreadful drivel

Anyone trying to support the Warren Commission is just being dishonest now. The evidence of multiple shooters grows as of 2023. Don’t @ me.

No new info, robotic delivery, lone-nut theorist.

All this info has been presented elsewhere, the reader sounds like male Siri voice. How can people still write lone-nut books in light of all we know?