A Mother in History [Paperback]

Jean Stafford (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 121 pages
• Publisher: Pharos Books (May 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 088687677X
• ISBN-13: 978-0886876777
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 6 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,879,284 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Let me make up my own mind!, November 21, 2003

By 

Julia Young (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Mother in History (Paperback)

I was very disappointed with this book. It could have been a very interesting story - Lee Harvey Oswald's mother's point of view. However, it was written not too long after President Kennedy was assassinated (1965), and Ms. Stafford obviously still had those events fresh in her mind when she interviewed Mrs. Oswald. Ms. Stafford's opinions of Mrs. Oswald were biased and she failed to allow Mrs. Oswald's point of view to come through. She refused to let the reader have his or her opinion of Mrs. Oswald. This was a total failure, since we may have been able to possibly understand (even a fraction) another side of Lee Harvey Oswald. As far as history is concerned, everyone has a right to his or her side of the story.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No Point of View necessary, February 24, 2006

By 

G. S. Walsh "American and Proud of It" (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Mother in History (Paperback)

Tragic, chilling and funny, Jean Stafford's book about her 3 day visit with Lee Harvey Oswald is a must read. The appalling and scary Mrs. Oswald is proof of her son's insanity. While some moral relativists have accused Mrs. Stafford of having a point of view in her approach to Mrs. Oswald, I might suggest that there is no point of view necessary. Mrs. Oswald was demented, and so was her son. What contrary point of view is needed? That Mrs. Oswald was a good mother? Please. Her son killed a president. End of story.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Some Background Information, November 21, 2007

By 

Acute Observer (By the Shore NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Mother in History (Paperback)

This 1965 book has no table of contents or an index. It is like a magazine article. Jean Stafford visited Mrs. Marguerite Oswald to talk about the arrest and murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. Can anyone figure out the influences on a person from one parent (p.5)? Mrs. Oswald spends her time investigating the crime. She wants the truth about her son but doubts he was the assassin (p.6). Stafford has some strange quotes from her conversations (p.12). Mrs. Oswald must mean "Addison's Disease" (p.13). She seems to have an optimistic outlook (p.15). [Is this the result of much pressure?] Stafford seems to mock Mrs. Oswald, who seems like an ordinary person whose speech is often inadequate to what they want to say (p.22). They mean well. She did the best she could as a mother even when money was tight (as it often was).

Stafford seems puzzled by the frequent changes of address. For those who did not own a car a change in a job usually meant moving to a new address (p.27). Or for new neighbors. [More research needed here?] Was Lee being trained as an agent since age 16 (pp.32-33)? Stafford did not see the tree that was there on 11/22/63 (p.42). Marguerite appears to be very lonely (p.73). She also comments on the Warren Report (pp.87-89). Was Mrs. Oswald suffering from traumatic stress?

Appendix I discusses the altered picture of Lee Oswald with his guns. Stafford seems naive in asking why any person could contradict the Warren Report! Peoples' knowledge and common sense causes this. Did Stafford truly believe the NY subway was then "the least agreeable means of transportation in the world" (p.119)? Stafford's question is absurd (Appendix III). Appendix IV tells how the rarity of an object creates value and wealth for its owner. There were plenty of other examples if Stafford cared to search for them. This book is only useful for its interview. I wonder what was left out from the three days of interviews?

After four decades the question of Oswald as the lone assassin has been answered in the court of public opinion. Oswald was never convicted or even indicted. He was arrested as a suspect and then released for burial. We all know this.