08/12/2013
Unlike previous accounts of the man who assassinated Kennedy, which focus on whether he acted alone, journalist Savodnik here delivers a genuine biography that emphasizes the nearly three years Oswald spent in the Soviet Union and attempts to address the oft-neglected question of why he wanted to kill the President. A mildly rebellious youth whose mother never provided a stable home, Oswald joined the Marines at age 17—his service was undistinguished and men in his squadron considered him odd because he was already expressing pro-communist views. Soon after discharge, he traveled to Moscow where he requested Soviet citizenship; suspicious authorities dithered for months before assigning him a factory job in Minsk. Oswald made friends and enjoyed success with women who considered him exotic, but he became bored and dissatisfied. His marriage to Marina Prosakoba briefly improved matters, though he soon resumed efforts to return home, passing the last year and a half of his life growing increasingly irascible. Savodnik’s impressive research—which includes many Russian sources—does not turn up any revelations, but it paints an intriguing portrait of a restless, tormented soul who accomplished little in a short life until he turned himself into an infamous historical figure. Agent: Ted Weinstein, Ted Weinstein Literary Management. (Oct.)
The Interloper: Lee Harvey Oswald inside the Soviet Union
Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki
Peter SavodnikUnabridged — 8 hours, 10 minutes
The Interloper: Lee Harvey Oswald inside the Soviet Union
Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki
Peter SavodnikUnabridged — 8 hours, 10 minutes
Overview
Lee Harvey Oswald's assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 remains one of the most horrifying and hotly debated crimes in American history. Just as perplexing as the assassination is the assassin himself; the twenty-four-year-old Oswald's hazy background and motivations-and his subsequent murder at the hands of Jack Ruby-make him an intriguing yet frustratingly enigmatic figure. Because Oswald briefly defected to the Soviet Union, some historians allege he was a Soviet agent. But as Peter Savodnik shows in The Interloper, Oswald's time in the USSR reveals a stranger, more chilling story.
Oswald ventured to Russia at the age of nineteen, after a failed stint in the US Marine Corps and a childhood spent shuffling from address to address with his unstable, needy mother. Like many of his generation, Oswald struggled for a sense of belonging in postwar American society, which could be materialistic, atomized, and alienating. The Soviet Union, with its promise of collectivism and camaraderie, seemed to offer an alternative. While traveling in Europe, Oswald slipped across the Soviet border, soon settling in Minsk, where he worked at a radio and television factory. But Oswald quickly became just as disillusioned with his adopted country as he had been with the United States. He spoke very little Russian, had difficulty adapting to the culture of his new home, and found few trustworthy friends-indeed most, it became clear, were informing on him to the KGB. After nearly three years, Oswald returned to America feeling utterly defeated and more alone than ever, and as Savodnik shows, he began to look for an outlet for his frustration and rage.
Drawing on groundbreaking research, including interviews with Oswald's friends and acquaintances in Russia and the United States, The Interloper brilliantly evokes the shattered psyche not just of Oswald himself but also of the era he so tragically defined.
Editorial Reviews
Harvey Klehr, co-author of Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America
“A riveting account of a troubled loner’s embrace of communism as an answer to his psychological problems. Savodnik further discredits the conspiracy theorists who have long posited an elaborate plot behind the Kennedy assassination, and reminds us yet again how often history is changed by one deranged man.”
Richard Pipes, Professor of History, Emeritus, Harvard University
“The Interloper is a meticulously researched account of the three years spent in the Soviet Union by Lee Oswald, a semi-literate failure who could find a home neither in his native America nor in the USSR. It explains a great deal about the psyche of the man who robbed us of John F. Kennedy.”
Jack F. Matlock, Jr., author of Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended
“If you have any doubt that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in shooting President Kennedy, you should read Peter Savodnik’s The Interloper to set you straight. If you are convinced—as you should be—that Oswald was the sole assassin but don’t understand why he did it, you will find a convincing answer in this insightful book.”
Robert Service, Professor of Russian History, Oxford University
“What an astonishing addition to the literature on the Kennedy killing. Oswald’s childhood is well known; his activities in the days leading up to the shooting are, as well. But Savodnik has filled in a hole in the narrative by tracing what Oswald got up to in the USSR—and what effect his time there had on him. The Interloper adds an indispensable chapter to this awful story.”
Miriam Elder, foreign editor at BuzzFeed
“With The Interloper, Peter Savodnik has written a fascinating study that will forever change the way we view Lee Harvey Oswald as well as the all-encompassing ideological struggle that blanketed the Cold War. Savodnik’s unrivaled research into Oswald’s time in the Soviet Union, his keen analytical eye, and his beautiful prose make The Interloper a book not to be missed.
With the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy’s assassination, some may wonder about the man who assassinated the president. Savodnik’s work answers questions about Lee Harvey Oswald and gives an interesting look at life in the former Soviet Union at the time Oswald tried to emigrate there. Stefan Rudnicki’s performance, while adequate, comes across as somewhat slow and plodding. When he reads from Oswald’s correspondence, he attempts to affect the voice of someone who is a bit slow on the uptake, and he doesn’t quite succeed. Overall, the performance results in a mixed bag—an interesting account that is not always served well by the reading. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940169903287 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Blackstone Audio, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 10/08/2013 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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