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The Mind of Oswald |
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 The Mind of Oswald byDiane Holloway, PhD Trafford Publishing 324 pages, February 2000 ISBN 1552123324 Reviewed by Morgan Ann Adams Lee Harvey Oswald will forever be known as the man accused of assassinating US President John F. Kennedy in 1963. Further contaminating Oswald's reputation has been the murky speculation of a wide conspiracy to assassinate one of America's most popular presidents. Perhaps because of this cloud of mystery, Oswald's own writings have never before been compiled in a single source. Psychologist Holloway has bridged this gap with The Mind of Oswald. Unlike the paranoia filled volumes of recent years that have focused on this particular incident, Holloway has compiled a complete reference representing solely Lee Harvey Oswald. The book concentrates on the factual evidence of Oswald's life. Oswald's own journals and letters are enlightened by Holloway's unbiased description of the world events that made up young Oswald's existence. Spanning from adolescent letters to his brother to the transcript of an interview with journalists after Kennedy's assassination, Oswald becomes a person, not merely a name in history. Commendably, Holloway has related Oswald's words faithfully; his spelling and grammar errors are kept intact. Reading the words of this infamous man is more illuminating than a dozen volumes of analysis of his character. Holloway offers only one short chapter in which she puts forward a variety of explanations regarding Oswald's state of mind. She is sometimes too careful in her analysis, leaving more questions than answers about Oswald himself. At the same time, it is understood that this book is meant as reference material, not as a means to understand Lee Harvey Oswald. That leap must be made by those researching this man. Holloway's interest stems from her psychological examination of Major General Edwin Walker, a man Oswald tried unsuccessfully to assassinate. Holloway never spoke with or examined Oswald herself; thus the book lacks a valuable first person analysis. Despite this, Oswald the man shines through his own writing. This book fills a definite niche in American history and is long overdue. Those with curiosity about President Kennedy's death, or the suggested conspiracy surrounding it, will find THE MIND OF OSWALD quite intriguing. What floats to the surface of this ocean of mystery is that Lee Harvey Oswald was a neglected and confused young man. His actions throughout his life were unpredictable and often unexplainable. Despite my own questions regarding Oswald's character, after reading Holloway's book I have great doubt there was any conspiracy involved in Kennedy's death. Holloway uses professionalism and competent knowledge of history to create an engaging biography of an enigmatic man. About the author: Diane Holloway, PhD is a retired Dallas psychologist who has painstakingly gathered the works of Lee H. Oswald over a period of ten years. She was involved with the psychological assessment of one of Oswald's targets, Major General Edwin Walker, when Attorney General Robert Kennedy ordered an evaluation because of Walker's bizarre anti-government activities. |
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