| Those not already deeply immersed in recondite Kennedy assassination lore will find this offering by Kroth-an associate professor of counseling psychology at Santa Clara University, and a contributor to CounterPunch, a biweekly "muckraking newsletter"-well over the top. Advertised as an "objective" look at the myriad conspiracy theories that surround the assassination, this instead offers overwrought writing, an author fixated on Kennedy's sexual conduct, and very subjective opinions. Among the many graphs, tables and time lines Kroth finds relevant to his evaluation of the various assassination theories are Kennedy's mistresses during his presidency (for the record, there are allegedly 33), Marilyn Monroe's alleged lovers (35) and a list of the possible assassins in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963 (27). For good measure there is a bar graph of the distribution of cover-up sources (including Mafia murders). On the other hand, for those readers who are predisposed to accept Kroth's judgment that the Warren Commission invented "magic bullets, neuromuscular spasms... sheared-off copper jacketing... to keep the hint of conspiracy at bay and myth intact: Oswald and only Oswald shot Kennedy; Ruby and only Ruby killed Oswald," this offers a cornucopia of material. As they read, however, many will hear the voice of Woody Allen's Annie Hall alter ego Alvy Singer chirping in their ear, "It, but it it... he drove past the book depository and the police said conclusively that it was an exit wound. So-how is it possible for Oswald to have fired from two angles at once? It doesn't make sense."
On the 40th anniversary of one of the most important events in American history comes Conspiracy in Camelot: the complete history of the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, a dazzling, information-packed volume from New York’s Algora Publishers. Conspiracy in Camelot is a thoroughgoing analysis of the most relevant evidence uncovered and released by the government over the last 40 years, and a presentation of the most plausible conspiracy theories. From the cover up to Mafia murders, fingerprints to dictabelt recordings, a mountain of evidence is integrated into a comprehensive perspective on the assassination. Out of a field of 9 confessed assassins in the literature, Professor Kroth conducts five interviews with the leading grassy knoll suspect, James Files. Marilyn Monroe’s sexual liaisons with the Kennedy brothers, JFK’s 33 mistresses in the White House, and J. Edgar Hoover’s homosexuality and paranoia underscore the shadowy psychological underbelly of one of history’s greatest detective stories. Reaching beyond the criminal dimension, the text also looks at the deep and mysterious symbolism of this mythic tale, from the incredible array of synchronicities between Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln to the uncanny symbolic linkage the story has to King Arthur and Camelot. |