"Patsy!" — Douglas Brode

NOVEMBER 22, 1963: A DAY THAT CHANGED AMERICA

Since the assassination of Pres. John F. Kennedy, three theories have been forwarded as the involvement of Lee Harvey Oswald: that he was a lone assassin, as the Warren Commission claimed; that Oswald was a part of a vast, complex conspiracy to kill the sitting president, as those who reject the Warren report insist; and, finally, that Oswald was not involved, either singly or collectively, in what went down that day in Dallas. The greatest stumbling block to the latter has to do with hard, cold evidence: Not only was Oswald located on the sixth floor of the book depository that day; he absolutely carried a rifle with telescopic sight and fired it out the window. How could it be remotely possible, then, that Oswald was completely innocent as to JFK's murder?

In his latest iconoclastic work, prolific writer DOUGLAS BRODE presents a detailed argument as to the theory of innocence, taking into account one of Oswald's final statements--"I'm a Patsy!"--proceeding from there to trace this unique man's entire life. Such materials are juxtaposed throughout the book with larger, greater world events that, when viewed from a contrarian perspective, may shed light on who actually wanted Kennedy dead and why. This non-fiction novel is written in the style of an imaginative work, yet events detailed here remain true to fact. As Brode reveals, we can precisely know what Oswald did and said that day, but what actually went on in his, or any person's, mind can never be fully reclaimed from history, therefore reconstructed here in a freely creative manner to offer "a truth," if not "the truth," as to what may have actually happened fifty years ago, and why.