The blurb claims this to be "a work of meticulous research and breathtaking insight". It is certainly the product of a lot of professional industry, something which Mailer's worst critics have never denied him, but the result is a verbal pyramid built without a proper base. Oswald, a confused, selfdoubting nonentity with an obvious inferiority complex, in no ways justifies the expenditure of 800-odd pages on his sad, frustrated little life. Apart from the fact that he shot Jack Kennedy, he did or said nothing of inherent interest and his private life was monochome. The recurring court transcripts are tedious at this remove and the role of the CIA et al has been discussed many times before. B.F.Reviewers: Brian Fallon, Arminta Wallace, Eileen Battersby, Liam Mac Coil