The New York Times recently estimated that the number of books on John F. Kennedy published since the assassination total more than 40,000 volumes. Now if you were to lay those books end to end they’d probably reach to the moon and back. That’s an exaggeration, but you get the picture. Read the article in the Times here.
Kennedy himself wrote two books “Why England Slept” (1940) and the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Profiles in Courage” (1955) which is often pointed to when an elected official takes the easy way out.
The first book about Kennedy that I remember is “PT 109″ (1961) a yarn by Robert J. Donovan about Kennedy’s World War II days that helped define his courage under fire. Post assassination there has been books about every imaginable aspect of the Kennedy mystique including his relationship with Marilyn Monroe (“These Few Precious Days” (2013) by Christopher Andersen and even his relationship with a madame spy while he was in Britain.
Kennedy assassination conspiracy books seem to be the most popular over time and range from the 26 volume Warren Commission Report (1964) and its condensed paperback versions to the Jim Garrison’s classic conspiracy driven book “On the Trail of Assassins” (1988) which Oliver Stone based his movie “JFK” (1991) on.
More reasonable looks at the assassination include “The Death of a President” (1967) by William Manchester; “The Day Kennedy Was Shot” (1968) by Jim Bishop; “A Thousand Days” (1965) by Arthur Schlesinger and the humungous “Reclaiming History” (2007) by Vincent Bugliosi although a friend recently told me he would have liked to read Manchester’s book before Jackie and Bobby got their hands on it and selectively edited portions of the book. And although not technically about Kennedy, there is Norman Mailer’s genius of a book, “Oswald’s Tale” (1995). For a straight biography a good read is “An Unfinished Life” by Robert Dallek.
There is also the plethora of fictional accounts of the assassination including the first which remember “Parallax View” (1970) by Loren Singer; “The Tears of Autumn” (1974) by Charles McCarry and “Libra”(1988) by Don Delillo. Two books that are on the New York Times Best Sellers dance card “Killing Kennedy” and “Kennedy’s Last Days” both by Bill O’Reilly are testament that the Kennedy feast isn’t over yet.
Locally, MSU Professor Eric Freedman coauthored “John F Kennedy: In His Own Words” (2005), a collection of Kennedy’s most memorable utterances. And former East Lansing author Mark Shaw entered the conspiracy frey with his own findings in his new book “Poison Patriarch: How the Betrayals of Joseph P. Kennedy Caused the Assassination of JFK.” I won’t give away here who Shaw thinks pulled the strings, but just let’s say he takes an organized approach to solving the “mystery”. You can watch Mark’s book trailer here.
As you can see this list could go on forever, but if you’re looking for more fact, fiction and just plain fanciful books on John F. Kennedy check this list by The Guardian. Remember no book is too obscure for the true Kennedy worshiper and conspiracy proponents. One of my favorites is a little 62 page pamphlet “The Sixth Floor” (1989) issued by the Dallas County Historical Foundation.
The day Kennedy was assassinated is one of those moments in time for those of us who remember, a marker of sorts. People wept openly and mourned this president who seemed so young and full of potential. I remember that years later when I visited Belgium the family I stayed with had a picture of JFK on the wall in their living room. He was beloved around the world.