Synopsis
A respected journalist delves into mysteries that have obsessed Americans, such as the death of JFK's mistress, the Watergate burglary, and Hitler's ancestry
Reviews
What was the true nature of the relationship between British king of moles Kim Philby and chief U.S. mole-hunter James Angleton? Who ordered the Watergate break-in and who was Deep Throat? Was Hitler's paternal grandfather Jewish? What really goes on in the sepulcher of Yale's secret society Skull and Bones: Did a young Henry Luce lie naked in a coffin and blurt the secrets of his sex life to 14 peers? Did George Bush wrestle naked in the mud as part of his inititation? Was JFK's assassination a mob-hit conspiracy or a KGB plot, and what was Angleton's role in searching for the diary of JFK mistress Mary Meyer in the wake of her murder? Eyeballing nuclear annihilation, a forensic psychiatrist who is a courtroom witness for hire and twin gynecologists who loved and hated each other, Rosenbaum ( Manhattan Passions ) lures the reader as he plunges with brio into the murky waters of popular American obsession. In pieces that first appeared in the New Republic , the New York Times Magazine , Esquire and Vanity Fair , Rosenbaum's inquisitive spirit sometimes is stifled by the confines of journalistic space and glossiness; his talents might better be displayed in a full-length book on any one of these topics.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Journalist Rosenbaum offers an unusual collection of investigative articles ranging from "Oswald's Ghost" to "Tales of the Cancer Cure Underground." Originally published in Harper's , The New York Times Magazine , Esquire , and other periodicals, the 16 pieces are grouped into sections on public scandals, private investigations, and clandestine subcultures. The author writes, " . . . the mysteries I was attracted to rarely got solved in the old-fashioned sense, in part because the question at issue was often not 'Who killed John?' but 'Who was John?' or 'Why did John kill himself?' " He explores the bizarre, sometimes Twin Peaks ian subworlds in which we live, shaping clues and innuendo into entertaining, well-crafted examples of literary journalism.
- Jo Cates, Poynter Inst. for Media Studies, St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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