Alternate, Fictional History of a Conspiracy

 Libra by Don DeLillo

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Photographer not credited, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Marina Oswald, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This was the first book by Don DeLillo I have read. I was a little intimidated, remembering serving as an AP Literature reviewer when Don DeLillo’s White Noise excerpt served as a passage for analysis. This book, focused on Lee Harvey Oswald and the Kennedy assassination, was different from what I expected, but ultimately intense and compelling. I’m not sure how much DeLillo trafficked in conspiracies, but the book supposes that Oswald was a kind of patsy who worked with others, but unknowingly, to kill Kennedy. DeLillo seems to really know a lot about the assassination and the conspiracies about it. He also seems to have done considerable research in the life of Oswald. While there is a great deal of uncertainty around Oswald's motivations, DeLillo’s character was more assured and certain, a staunch communist committed to the cause. I found this book to be incredibly interesting, even if it is speculative fiction.