The aura that surrounds John F. Kennedy is, by itself, worthy of enough attention to warrant a book all by itself. From his familial history to his infamous relationship with women to his storied political career and untimely, traumatizing assassination, few Americans are both so well known and mysterious. I’ve stated before my intention to read a biography on every president. This goal grew out of a plan to rank every president (plus Jefferson Davis) by various criteria. I generally have that done already, but […]
Sometimes the things presented to us as choices aren’t choices at all.
Few writers can gut punch readers with an ending the way Stephen King can. Written in the first person, 11/22/63 is ominous from the start. But why it is so ominous takes over 850 pages to understand. For all his flaws with endings, the final lines are usually cutting. Take another story told in first person, The Green Mile. It’s only at the end, the very end, that the true cost of the story is revealed with that haunting final line “We each owe a […]
Four Days in November
San Antonio has the Alamo. Austin has the capital. Dallas has the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I grew up in a suburb of Dallas; besides the eponymous TV show, the assassination of our 35th president is our biggest claim to “fame.” I’ve visited the 6th Floor museum on a couple field trips and seen my city’s stamp on history with my own eyes. While the museum has lost its sense of wonder for me, the assassination itself still interests me. I was a bit […]