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Four Days in November: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
Four Days in November is an extraordinarily exciting, precise, and definitive narrative of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, by Lee Harvey Oswald. It is drawn from Reclaiming The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, a monumental and historic account of the event and all the conspiracy theories it spawned, by Vincent Bugliosi, legendary prosecutor of Charles Manson and author of Helter Skelter. For general readers, the carefully documented account presented in Four Days is utterly Oswald did it and he acted alone.
688 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2007
280 people are currently reading
3587 people want to read
About the author
Vincent Bugliosi
50 books1,132 followersAmerican attorney and author, best known for prosecuting Charles Manson and his followers for the murder of Sharon Tate and others.
In his books he claimed that O.J Simpson and Lee Harvey Oswald were guilty of the crimes they were accused of.
In his latest book he states that George W. Bush should be prosecuted for murder.
Bugliosi lived in Pasadena, CA.
In his books he claimed that O.J Simpson and Lee Harvey Oswald were guilty of the crimes they were accused of.
In his latest book he states that George W. Bush should be prosecuted for murder.
Bugliosi lived in Pasadena, CA.
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April 8, 2018
John 20:25
The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
You know, Thomas had a point. But what do you do if the motorcade has long since roared away to the hospital, if all the blood has been scrubbed away, all the spent bullets bagged and in some official charnelhouse, all the witnesses dead or demented? There’s no more thrusting of hands into anyone’s side, nowhere to check where nails or bullets made their terminal sunderings of mortal flesh.
All we can do is read our books and decide which reality suits us best. Myself, I am for the Chaos Party. Many people I know are for the Conspiracy Party.
But chaos, I think, is the safe bet. No one is in charge, you know. They don’t have the brains.
The onrushing sequence of horrible events is still breathtaking. Everything about the JFK assassination is complicated but this particular book is as straightforward as it could possibly get, an hour by hour account of what happened between 6.30am on Friday, 22 November 1963 and 4.00pm on Monday, 25 November 1963. Like everyone else, I find what happened to be almost incredible – this weasel Oswald was able to shoot half of Kennedy’s head off from the 6th floor of the warehouse where he so conveniently worked using a not especially sophisticated rifle bought for $18.50? And then this other weirdo Jack Ruby, local strip club owner and major Kennedy fan, crushed with grief but with no major plan in mind, finds himself with the perfect opportunity to exact revenge – just waltzes into the crowded-with-newsmen space at the exact time the cops are taking Oswald off to the Big House, the exact precise time, and lo and behold he has his gun on him (because he was always walking round with large amounts of cash on him) and on the spur of the moment whips out his gun and fires one single bullet which kills Oswald – I mean, come on.
So the official version is – TWO lone gunmen, Oswald and Ruby, and no conspiracy at all.
These days we all choose which reality we wish to believe in and don’t pay too much attention to facts because what’s a fact anyway, is there any such thing as a fact? Aren’t all these so-called facts all really statements made by somebody’s prosecution or somebody’s defense?
Well, I thought I knew pretty much kind of more or less what happened on that terrible weekend and I really didn’t, so this was a great read.
Highly recommended.
THE SMALL PRINT – HOW THIS BOOK CAME ABOUT AND WHY IS IT CALLED PARKLAND AND HAS A STICKER ON IT – KIND OF BORING, CAN BE IGNORED
Vincent Bugliosi became instantly famous in 1971 for prosecuting Charles Manson and his gang. Then he published Helter Skelter, the account of the Manson case, in 1974, which according to Wikipedia is the best selling true crime book of all time. (That surprised me – what about In Cold Blood?).
Then in 1986 a British TV company hired him to prosecute Lee Harvey Oswald in a historical drama of the trial that never happened. He then got obsessed not so much with the JFK assassination itself but with the mass of conspiracy theories about it. So he spent 20 years piling up all the available info and writing the all time account of what he ended up calling “the most complex murder case in history by far”.
So in 2007 he published the enormous Reclaiming History (1600 pages plus CD rom of another two thousand pages of notes). The first part of that beast is called “Matters of Fact : What Happened” (as opposed to part 2 which is called “Delusions of Conspiracy : What did Not Happen”). And the first part of the first part is called Four Days in November.
They decided to publish this first part of the first part as a separate paperback to assist those who might incur spinal injuries attempting to lift the hardback.
Now enter Tom Hanks! He at some point thought Four Days in November would make a great miniseries. But that fell apart, and he ended up making a movie called Parkland (named after the hospital). So naturally they republished the paperback under the new title and vulgarised the whole thing with the standard sticker : Now a Major Motion Picture. In fact the motion picture was a minor one at the box office even if a lot of viewers thought it was worthy and pretty decent.
The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
You know, Thomas had a point. But what do you do if the motorcade has long since roared away to the hospital, if all the blood has been scrubbed away, all the spent bullets bagged and in some official charnelhouse, all the witnesses dead or demented? There’s no more thrusting of hands into anyone’s side, nowhere to check where nails or bullets made their terminal sunderings of mortal flesh.
All we can do is read our books and decide which reality suits us best. Myself, I am for the Chaos Party. Many people I know are for the Conspiracy Party.
But chaos, I think, is the safe bet. No one is in charge, you know. They don’t have the brains.
The onrushing sequence of horrible events is still breathtaking. Everything about the JFK assassination is complicated but this particular book is as straightforward as it could possibly get, an hour by hour account of what happened between 6.30am on Friday, 22 November 1963 and 4.00pm on Monday, 25 November 1963. Like everyone else, I find what happened to be almost incredible – this weasel Oswald was able to shoot half of Kennedy’s head off from the 6th floor of the warehouse where he so conveniently worked using a not especially sophisticated rifle bought for $18.50? And then this other weirdo Jack Ruby, local strip club owner and major Kennedy fan, crushed with grief but with no major plan in mind, finds himself with the perfect opportunity to exact revenge – just waltzes into the crowded-with-newsmen space at the exact time the cops are taking Oswald off to the Big House, the exact precise time, and lo and behold he has his gun on him (because he was always walking round with large amounts of cash on him) and on the spur of the moment whips out his gun and fires one single bullet which kills Oswald – I mean, come on.
So the official version is – TWO lone gunmen, Oswald and Ruby, and no conspiracy at all.
These days we all choose which reality we wish to believe in and don’t pay too much attention to facts because what’s a fact anyway, is there any such thing as a fact? Aren’t all these so-called facts all really statements made by somebody’s prosecution or somebody’s defense?
Well, I thought I knew pretty much kind of more or less what happened on that terrible weekend and I really didn’t, so this was a great read.
Highly recommended.
THE SMALL PRINT – HOW THIS BOOK CAME ABOUT AND WHY IS IT CALLED PARKLAND AND HAS A STICKER ON IT – KIND OF BORING, CAN BE IGNORED
Vincent Bugliosi became instantly famous in 1971 for prosecuting Charles Manson and his gang. Then he published Helter Skelter, the account of the Manson case, in 1974, which according to Wikipedia is the best selling true crime book of all time. (That surprised me – what about In Cold Blood?).
Then in 1986 a British TV company hired him to prosecute Lee Harvey Oswald in a historical drama of the trial that never happened. He then got obsessed not so much with the JFK assassination itself but with the mass of conspiracy theories about it. So he spent 20 years piling up all the available info and writing the all time account of what he ended up calling “the most complex murder case in history by far”.
So in 2007 he published the enormous Reclaiming History (1600 pages plus CD rom of another two thousand pages of notes). The first part of that beast is called “Matters of Fact : What Happened” (as opposed to part 2 which is called “Delusions of Conspiracy : What did Not Happen”). And the first part of the first part is called Four Days in November.
They decided to publish this first part of the first part as a separate paperback to assist those who might incur spinal injuries attempting to lift the hardback.
Now enter Tom Hanks! He at some point thought Four Days in November would make a great miniseries. But that fell apart, and he ended up making a movie called Parkland (named after the hospital). So naturally they republished the paperback under the new title and vulgarised the whole thing with the standard sticker : Now a Major Motion Picture. In fact the motion picture was a minor one at the box office even if a lot of viewers thought it was worthy and pretty decent.
March 10, 2013
Just finished reading this book. As the former Prosecutor who tried the murder cases against Charles Manson, author Vincent Bugliosi tackles the assassination of John F. Kennedy as only a Prosecutor would. The book is deeply detail oriented, offering a minute by minute account beginning with the morning of Fri. November 22, up through the moments when both JFK and assassin Lee Harvey Oswald are both buried in their respective graves on Mon. November 25. In between, Bugliosi offers a narrative on the President's assassination itself, the murder of Dallas PD Patrolman JD Tippet, the manhunt for the killer, the law enforcement investigation which occurs at break neck speed, the interrogations of Oswald, and the murder of Oswald by Jack Ruby. Bugliosi leaves no stone unturned. I considered myself fairly knowledgeable about this event, but I learned many new aspects in this book. Just a fascinating read all around.
February 11, 2013
I want to thank Mr. Bugliosi for clearing my head, once and for all, of any notion of these ridiculous conspiracy theories that have been circling around this awful event. To think that many Americans would even allow that there was some vast government/criminal conspiracy speaks volumes about how these theories have clouded our collective knowledge about what happened on 11/22/63.
I recently visited Dallas for a conference and took an early morning walk to Dealey Plaza, having never been there. I realized that there was a lot that I did not know about the events of the weekend of 22 Novermber 1963, and most of what I did know, was informed by stories my parents told me about that terrible event, and movies, films, and largely the Kennedy assassination's place in our nations cultural memory.
Mr. Bugloisi's book recounts the events of that entire weekend, including information drawn from thousands of hours of research, interviews, as well as the testimony of hundreds of witnesses to the Dallas police, the FBI, the Secret Service, as well as the Warren Commission.
I am naturally a believer that often the right conclusion to a query is the simplest one. I am not naturally inclined to believe in vast conspiracies. After reading the book, I am staunchly in the category of believing that Mr. Oswald acted alone, and although he never got his day in court and therefore many aspects of his life and motivations may forever remain in his grave, that does not open the door significantly enough for me to buy into the garbage that many have been peddling for far too long.
As an informed citizen - read the book, visit Dealey Plaza and the excellent 6th Floor Museum in the Book Depository building, and think for yourselves. These nutty conspiracy theories don't hold water vs. the facts, and they certainly do not honor the memories of Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Tippit.
I recently visited Dallas for a conference and took an early morning walk to Dealey Plaza, having never been there. I realized that there was a lot that I did not know about the events of the weekend of 22 Novermber 1963, and most of what I did know, was informed by stories my parents told me about that terrible event, and movies, films, and largely the Kennedy assassination's place in our nations cultural memory.
Mr. Bugloisi's book recounts the events of that entire weekend, including information drawn from thousands of hours of research, interviews, as well as the testimony of hundreds of witnesses to the Dallas police, the FBI, the Secret Service, as well as the Warren Commission.
I am naturally a believer that often the right conclusion to a query is the simplest one. I am not naturally inclined to believe in vast conspiracies. After reading the book, I am staunchly in the category of believing that Mr. Oswald acted alone, and although he never got his day in court and therefore many aspects of his life and motivations may forever remain in his grave, that does not open the door significantly enough for me to buy into the garbage that many have been peddling for far too long.
As an informed citizen - read the book, visit Dealey Plaza and the excellent 6th Floor Museum in the Book Depository building, and think for yourselves. These nutty conspiracy theories don't hold water vs. the facts, and they certainly do not honor the memories of Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Tippit.
March 9, 2025
Compelling and very persuasive account of JFK’s assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald and the days following. Like many, I have seen the Oliver Stone movie that put forth a lot of conspiracy theories involving the CIA and the mafia but I’d say Bugliosi, by recounting the facts in a minute by minute account puts those theories to bed as far as I’m concerned. Most damning is officer Tibbet’s murder, eye witness accounts of that and the bullets from both murders. I found this riveting and despite also starting an intriguing fantasy novel when I started Parkland, that I had been highly anticipating, this was all I wanted to read. I will say that reading about the political atmosphere of the times and how people responded, both good and bad, seemed pretty similar to what things are like today. Solidifies the paradox, the more things change the more they stay the same, in my mind.
November 12, 2013
I'm a fan of Bugliosi. There is a place for rich detail and factual presentation in literature and he provides that in spades. I was actually somewhat dismayed to learn that, at over 400 pages in the version I read, this book is but part of the more in depth look at the conspiracy theories that swirl around the assassination of JFK - "Reclaiming History". I now have that book since I wanted to continue the train started by this volume and at over 1300 pages, I might be a while finishing that one!
Who doesn't have a view about this assassination, especially as we are at the 50th anniversary? I have been fascinated about these events for years, even though they occurred before my time. I have always had an open mind about it but in general, I tend to think that elaborate conspiracy theories are entertaining hogwash and annoyingly persistent.
Conspiracy theories will never go away since, by their nature, you can't prove a negative. No evidence? Well of course not, it was all covered up. Facts don't seem to fit? Conclusive evidence that there is something shady going on and so on and so on.
This (and even more so, Reclaiming History) is perhaps the nearest you can get to proving a negative and that is there simply wasn't a conspiracy to murder JFK and the truth, however unpalatable, was that Oswald acted alone. This happens to also be the simplest explanation which is why people want to look for more in my opinion. We just don't want to accept that a potentially great president could be felled by the proverbial "lone nut with a gun". However I think we need to accept that is what happened here. It is what fits the facts.
This book actually covers (in immense detail) the 4 days from the assassination to the burial of JFK and Oswald. I am looking forward to reading the specific rebuttals to the conspiracy theorists in the next tome, but in it's own right this book makes it clear what happened.
I'm aware this will convince few of the die hard conspiracy theorists who will doubtless point to Bugliosi as some sort of apologist for the government or, equally likely, some sort of agent for those who put the conspiracy together. However one can only look at the facts, and the devil is in the detail. That detail, when looked at rationally, only points one way.
Most people probably won't read such a long book. It takes effort to get through it and most people would probably rather have their views on this tragic event shaped by the movie "JFK" and accept that as a true account of what happened. However, at the risk of sounding pompous and arrogant (maybe too late), anyone who is serious about this issue needs to read this book.
Who doesn't have a view about this assassination, especially as we are at the 50th anniversary? I have been fascinated about these events for years, even though they occurred before my time. I have always had an open mind about it but in general, I tend to think that elaborate conspiracy theories are entertaining hogwash and annoyingly persistent.
Conspiracy theories will never go away since, by their nature, you can't prove a negative. No evidence? Well of course not, it was all covered up. Facts don't seem to fit? Conclusive evidence that there is something shady going on and so on and so on.
This (and even more so, Reclaiming History) is perhaps the nearest you can get to proving a negative and that is there simply wasn't a conspiracy to murder JFK and the truth, however unpalatable, was that Oswald acted alone. This happens to also be the simplest explanation which is why people want to look for more in my opinion. We just don't want to accept that a potentially great president could be felled by the proverbial "lone nut with a gun". However I think we need to accept that is what happened here. It is what fits the facts.
This book actually covers (in immense detail) the 4 days from the assassination to the burial of JFK and Oswald. I am looking forward to reading the specific rebuttals to the conspiracy theorists in the next tome, but in it's own right this book makes it clear what happened.
I'm aware this will convince few of the die hard conspiracy theorists who will doubtless point to Bugliosi as some sort of apologist for the government or, equally likely, some sort of agent for those who put the conspiracy together. However one can only look at the facts, and the devil is in the detail. That detail, when looked at rationally, only points one way.
Most people probably won't read such a long book. It takes effort to get through it and most people would probably rather have their views on this tragic event shaped by the movie "JFK" and accept that as a true account of what happened. However, at the risk of sounding pompous and arrogant (maybe too late), anyone who is serious about this issue needs to read this book.
October 15, 2012
This is a must read book. It is the first part of the tome written by Bugliosi (Manson prosecutor, Helter Skelter author). It sets out the chronology of the Kennedy Assassination in a compelling way. As a child I always felt that all of us living in and around Dallas were held responsible for the Kennedy Assassination. I never really studied it and I found this both readable and thourough. I am currently reading the eniter book "Reclaiming History: The Assissination of John F. Kennedy." Love this book!
March 24, 2011
More Kennedy stuff. I'm in the mood. This book is actually drawn from a larger book, Bugliosi's 2,000 page Reclaiming History, which is a comprehensive study of the assassination and debunking of the various conspiracy theories. This book is a very in-depth narrative of the four days from the morning to the assassination to the funerals of JFK and Lee Harvey Oswald four days later. It's very readable, very dramatic and very precise, and I have to confess, it is persuasive. But I just don't believe Oswald acted alone. The only problem with these books dismissing the conspiracy theories is they do tend, just as the conspiracy theorists do, to be honest, to be selective with the evidence. Or perhaps I just don't want to believe? Who knows?
February 21, 2018
I feel like Bugliosi’s main motivation for writing this book was to disprove the conspiracy theorists. He fails to address things about the story of the assassination that don’t make any sense and breezes over them like they don’t matter. Otherwise, a masterful portrait of a turbulent era.
December 15, 2018
This is an impressive &, quite literally, minute by minute examination of what happened between JFK rising on Friday Nov 22nd, 1963, & LHO being buried on Monday Nov 25th. 512 pages covering only 4 days. Bugliosi, who also wrote the Manson masterpiece, Helter Skelter, has gone into forensic detail to put every conspiracy theory relating to this assassination to rest. The only quibble I have is that many conversations, that were clearly not recorded at the time, are related in lengthy detail. Informed conjecture, perhaps, but still conjecture. Nonetheless, the author's skills as an investigator & a writer are beautifully combined in a compelling work of non-fiction.
January 25, 2016
Even halfway through the book, I was already making mental notes in favour of both 4 and 5-star ratings. The book was truly captivating. Although most readers would already know the general flow of events; the details and different perspectives still made the narrative a refreshing read. In the end, I gave it a 5-star as it would be hard to come by another one that can make me read with such eagerness for more than a week.
June 25, 2008
Adequate, but stripped of the conspiracy debunking material from the hardcover it has no real raison d'etre.
February 20, 2011
Update:
Having completed the book, I'd describe it as a worthy companion to Manchester's book. While Manchester's detailed account largely stays with the Kennedy side of the story, Bugliosi's presents extensive detail of the Oswald/Texas portion, including very detailed information of the movements of Oswald around Dallas City Hall, various interrogation and lineup sessions, and much more detail than I've ever read about Ruby's initial questioning.
There are some fascinating elements to this story. For example, it was likely due to the persistence of a bystander who saw an agitated Oswald enter the Texas Theater that Dallas Police were able to apprehend Oswald so quickly after officer Tippit was killed. This bystander and theater employees went so far as to case the theater in the dark to determine if the many they saw had left, and pointed Oswald out to police after they were summoned.
All in all this was a very very enjoyable read and continues to affirm my belief that Oswald was a deranged loner in his murder of the President. Most importantly, it shows how easily the totality of this horrible event might have been prevented, from the assassination itself to Oswald's murder.
++++
William Manchester's "Death of a President" is the model for this book, and in some respects Bugliosi's somewhat smaller take doesn't quite measure up. In fact, in a few places I felt like I was reading a condensed version of the Manchester book, which I have read several times.
However, in other places Bugliosi provides more details around certain portions of this story that have been very welcome, including a very detailed description of the murder of Dallas police officer J.D. Tippet, whose chance encounter with Oswald in the hour after the assassination led to his own tragic death on the streets of Oak Lawn in Dallas and the subsequent apprehension of Oswald. In killing Tippett, Oswald probably hastened his own capture considerably.
The book is also an excerpt of a much larger Bugliosi investigation of the assassination and associated conspiracy theories and I am now anxious to buy that much more massive tome in order to get to the heart of the matter, which is a "case closed" shut down of the many fanciful and flat out wrong claims that some conspiracy buffs have about the assassination.
Having completed the book, I'd describe it as a worthy companion to Manchester's book. While Manchester's detailed account largely stays with the Kennedy side of the story, Bugliosi's presents extensive detail of the Oswald/Texas portion, including very detailed information of the movements of Oswald around Dallas City Hall, various interrogation and lineup sessions, and much more detail than I've ever read about Ruby's initial questioning.
There are some fascinating elements to this story. For example, it was likely due to the persistence of a bystander who saw an agitated Oswald enter the Texas Theater that Dallas Police were able to apprehend Oswald so quickly after officer Tippit was killed. This bystander and theater employees went so far as to case the theater in the dark to determine if the many they saw had left, and pointed Oswald out to police after they were summoned.
All in all this was a very very enjoyable read and continues to affirm my belief that Oswald was a deranged loner in his murder of the President. Most importantly, it shows how easily the totality of this horrible event might have been prevented, from the assassination itself to Oswald's murder.
++++
William Manchester's "Death of a President" is the model for this book, and in some respects Bugliosi's somewhat smaller take doesn't quite measure up. In fact, in a few places I felt like I was reading a condensed version of the Manchester book, which I have read several times.
However, in other places Bugliosi provides more details around certain portions of this story that have been very welcome, including a very detailed description of the murder of Dallas police officer J.D. Tippet, whose chance encounter with Oswald in the hour after the assassination led to his own tragic death on the streets of Oak Lawn in Dallas and the subsequent apprehension of Oswald. In killing Tippett, Oswald probably hastened his own capture considerably.
The book is also an excerpt of a much larger Bugliosi investigation of the assassination and associated conspiracy theories and I am now anxious to buy that much more massive tome in order to get to the heart of the matter, which is a "case closed" shut down of the many fanciful and flat out wrong claims that some conspiracy buffs have about the assassination.
August 10, 2014
Parkland is the perfect book for somebody who wants to know more about the assassination of President John Kennedy on November 22, 1963, but who has no patience for conspiracy theories. If you want to read one good book that tells the main story as best we can know it, this is it.
In the Acknowledgments section at the end of Parkland, Vincent Bugliosi writes that the story of the Kennedy assassination is "endless", and I believe him. Parkland is in fact a massive 500-page excerpt from Bugliosi's compendious work Reclaiming History, in which he digs deep into every aspect of the story and tries to discredit the many conspiracy theories. If you don't believe the conspiracy theories anyway, Parkland is probably all you want to read from Reclaiming History (unless, perhaps, you're interested in Oswald's complicated biography).
Parkland was originally titled Four Days in November, which is the name of the section in Reclaiming History it is lifted from. When it was made into a film (a pretty good film, by the way) it got a snappier, but somewhat obscure, title - Parkland. Four Days in November was a much better title, accurately reflecting the book's goal of retelling the events of the Kennedy assassination as a detailed, continuous narrative. Decades of obsessive investigation has created an amazingly detailed historical record to work from, so the story Bugliosi recounts is rich and compelling, not stilted and perfunctory and arid like many history books.
In the Acknowledgments section at the end of Parkland, Vincent Bugliosi writes that the story of the Kennedy assassination is "endless", and I believe him. Parkland is in fact a massive 500-page excerpt from Bugliosi's compendious work Reclaiming History, in which he digs deep into every aspect of the story and tries to discredit the many conspiracy theories. If you don't believe the conspiracy theories anyway, Parkland is probably all you want to read from Reclaiming History (unless, perhaps, you're interested in Oswald's complicated biography).
Parkland was originally titled Four Days in November, which is the name of the section in Reclaiming History it is lifted from. When it was made into a film (a pretty good film, by the way) it got a snappier, but somewhat obscure, title - Parkland. Four Days in November was a much better title, accurately reflecting the book's goal of retelling the events of the Kennedy assassination as a detailed, continuous narrative. Decades of obsessive investigation has created an amazingly detailed historical record to work from, so the story Bugliosi recounts is rich and compelling, not stilted and perfunctory and arid like many history books.
April 11, 2018
This is an abridgment of "Reclaiming History".(which I have owned for some time but is a bit daunting at ten million pages.) I defy anyone to easily put this down. Knowing what is going to happen does not lessen the suspense. I've been reading about the assassination for years, heck, I remember it firsthand,(3rd grade, Mrs. Norcross told us) but as usual, I thought I knew more than I did.(the movie "Parkland" is based on this book, it is better, I think, then it's given credit for, after reading negative reviews I don't think some critics realized what the source material was and expected something different) For a long time, I rode the conspiracy train, based mainly on the fact that I didn't believe in the "magic bullet" , how on earth could one bullet have traveled the path they said between Kennedy and Connally? Then of course, came the information that the car they were in was the custom presidential limousine with a RAISED BACK SEAT. Sigh. That bullet went exactly where it should have gone. Also, the conspiracies began to get more and more unhinged, I think I finally gave up on those completely when I read the one..a best seller, too, I believe, that has secret agents hiding on Air Force One to "operate" on the body in flight back to Washington to alter the wounds to look like they came from the rear. I mean...really. Then I read "Case Closed" by Gerald Posner and put all the theories to bed. I will now look forward to reading about them in the full version, knowing Bugliosi's sarcastic style I'm sure he shreds them with glee.
July 30, 2020
A minute by minute chronology of the 4 days from Kennedy’s assassination on November 22nd, until Kennedy and Oswald’s burials. This is the second book of Bugliosi’s that I have read (the first being Helter Skelter). Again I am impressed at just how detail oriented and thoroughly researched this book was, leaving no stone unturned in detailing one of the darkest day’s in American history. Thorough and compelling, this is a must read for anyone interested in the Kennedy assassination.
September 17, 2020
It's an incredibly detailed, exhaustive (some might say exhausting) account of the events of Nov. 22-25, 1963, beginning a few hours before JFK's assassination and concluding with the funerals of Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald (which happened on the same day). I'm super impressed with how much information and details Bugliosi managed to track down, although I have to wince each time he interjects a personal aside. Thankfully it doesn't happen often -- but it's a bit jarring when he does.
January 17, 2023
An excellent view into the day and the 3 following the assassination of JFK and the mourning of a nation.
Surprisingly and beautifully done we see these events as well through the eyes of the Oswald family and realize that it was a time of mourning for everyone.
Moves smoothly from start to finish, making for a fast read.
Surprisingly and beautifully done we see these events as well through the eyes of the Oswald family and realize that it was a time of mourning for everyone.
Moves smoothly from start to finish, making for a fast read.
May 31, 2022
Four+ stars.
So, this took me two (!!!) months for read. I was ahead of my book goal for 2022 before I started this book….guess where I am now…For some reason, even though I enjoyed the book, I’d fall asleep 10 pages in almost every night…
I love a good nonfiction book about JFK, and this is kind of a classic. This is an exhaustive (in a good way) rehash of what happened on 11/22/63 and the days that follow. I would recommend to those who want to get *very* into the details.
So, this took me two (!!!) months for read. I was ahead of my book goal for 2022 before I started this book….guess where I am now…For some reason, even though I enjoyed the book, I’d fall asleep 10 pages in almost every night…
I love a good nonfiction book about JFK, and this is kind of a classic. This is an exhaustive (in a good way) rehash of what happened on 11/22/63 and the days that follow. I would recommend to those who want to get *very* into the details.
May 8, 2023
Extremely well researched and written. This behind the scenes look at all the major characters and timelines involving JFK's death is fascinating-- and rich with previously unmined nuggets of information.
to-read-own
November 22, 201711/22/17 $1.99 for Kindle.
July 25, 2022
Well written, easy to follow, super informative! Can’t believe someone took the time to write this. I mean SO many interviews had to be conducted, it’s crazy!
September 9, 2019
This is a thorough and well-researched book about an event that changed the world. I found it so interesting that Bugliosi simply presents us with the hard facts of who did what and when. He avoids speculation about mistakes and inconsistencies and has written an excellent book about an event that's been over-analysed for 56 years.
The way that the story is told means it has a bit of a fiction feel to it. there are a lot of names and job titles but the story flows well and brings the reader to Dallas on the infamous day. The tension builds in the early section that leads up to the shooting. It's heartbreaking to hear of the First Family's plans for the evening and to hear how happy the Texas crowds were to see them.
Bugliosi clearly has no time for conspiracy theories - the man is all about the facts. It's incredible to read about how hard the Dallas PD worked to find Oswald after the shooting, and it's tragic that their hard work was forgotten. Bugliosi gives us photos, maps, and diagrams that are very useful while reading the book and some of them put various conspiracy theories to rest (such as the "magic bullet"). It's easy to see where the theories came from - the chaos and confusion afterwards were such that misinformation was flying around, even from the police and FBI. And the fact that Oswald died without having confessed or been found guilty didn't help calm things down.
Jack Ruby's sections were probably the most boring, although I obviously understand why his movements were important. His personality and oddball characteristics come through in his actions though and his hyper-emotional state over the president's death is intriguing. The police's relationship with the media comes through in some of the sections, and maintaining a good relationship was the potential cause of some of the slightly foolish decisions.
The book ends in a simple way; we are told about the 3 funerals - one for JFK, one for Officer Tipet, and one for Oswald. This book is great for anyone who wants a conspiracy-free, factual look at the assassination of JFK.
The way that the story is told means it has a bit of a fiction feel to it. there are a lot of names and job titles but the story flows well and brings the reader to Dallas on the infamous day. The tension builds in the early section that leads up to the shooting. It's heartbreaking to hear of the First Family's plans for the evening and to hear how happy the Texas crowds were to see them.
Bugliosi clearly has no time for conspiracy theories - the man is all about the facts. It's incredible to read about how hard the Dallas PD worked to find Oswald after the shooting, and it's tragic that their hard work was forgotten. Bugliosi gives us photos, maps, and diagrams that are very useful while reading the book and some of them put various conspiracy theories to rest (such as the "magic bullet"). It's easy to see where the theories came from - the chaos and confusion afterwards were such that misinformation was flying around, even from the police and FBI. And the fact that Oswald died without having confessed or been found guilty didn't help calm things down.
Jack Ruby's sections were probably the most boring, although I obviously understand why his movements were important. His personality and oddball characteristics come through in his actions though and his hyper-emotional state over the president's death is intriguing. The police's relationship with the media comes through in some of the sections, and maintaining a good relationship was the potential cause of some of the slightly foolish decisions.
The book ends in a simple way; we are told about the 3 funerals - one for JFK, one for Officer Tipet, and one for Oswald. This book is great for anyone who wants a conspiracy-free, factual look at the assassination of JFK.
September 27, 2023
A fascinating hour by hour account of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the killing of his assassin and the killing of Dallas police officer Tippett. No conspiracy theories here as the facts are meticulously documented and yet we are subject to the grief of the times as things in America seemed to be falling apart. Bugliosi provides Details that give living history real meaning. And through it all Jackie is stoic as ever in her blood soaked dress. Even though we know how the story will end there are always new things to tell. I just couldn’t put the book down. As the mourners grieve and an entire nation shakes their heads it takes us to the sad outcome wondering what was with what might have been. And when it was Ruby’s turn to bring out the fire power he wanted to make sure there were no misses going nose to nose with Oswald while blasting away. What I did find odd was that Oswald got off three shots: the first one missed the limousine completely and the next two hit Kennedy dead on. Talk about corrective action. Maybe in the end the hopes of the day were doomed from the beginning as a gun society that worships personal freedom just can’t seem to keep the firepower in the case and holster. From frantic heroic attempts at saving lives in operating rooms to the graveside funerals where families weep, the story remains a sad one in which we reluctantly repeat the Stones line in Sympathy for the Devil: “I shouted out “who killed the Kennedys, after all it was you and me”. Five years later the horror would play out again as Bobby lay mortally wounded on a kitchen floor at the Ambassador Hotel.
September 23, 2025
Parkland, based on the book by Vincent Bugliosi
Nine out of 10
Unfortunately, this film has been under the radar and the critics that have looked at it are divided, with Variety dismissing it and rating it with a paltry 30 out of 100, while The Hollywood Reporter may be closer to the mark, in the sense that this viewer shares the views of the latter, rather than the former and considers this motion picture as remarkable, with excellent performances, delivered by a stellar cast and revealing aspects of the aftermath of the assassination of the American president that were unknown…surely, many, if not most of those watching this movie would be surprised to find some intriguing aspects.
Evidently, much of what happened is well known – although there are major productions that, instead of underlining the truth, engage in conspiracy theories that, engaging though they are, distort the reality and promote other culprits instead of the man who has acted alone, Lee Harvey Oswald…the CIA, working in cahoots with Cuban exiles, the Mafia and other outfits – but this feature is special in that it looks at the experience of individuals that are hidden in the background, trying to save John Fitzgerald Kennedy, once he is shot, have filmed the assassination, have been involved in the investigation of the weird, surely deranged Oswald…
It seems extraordinary that there was so much confusion in the Parkland hospital where the shot president is taken – admittedly, we have the benefit of hindsight and then things have improved so much in ER and generally in hospitals in the meantime – and they do not even know the blood type of the victim, whereas surely today, every unit on the way has advanced knowledge and furthermore, they must have the means to help a potentially wounded or sick commander in chief in the limousines or Air force One in this age.
However, in 1963, the doctors were not ready to receive the patient – not in the sense they would be today – and the operators received a code in communication, but they were not aware it was the wounded Kennedy on the way to their Parkland hospital, where they tried all that they could, in fact doctor Charles Carrico aka Zac Efron tries and pushes the chest of the man without a pulse or any signs of life, well after the others are insisting that there is no use and he should stop – indeed, although his efforts seems and were in vain, his insistence looked like the proper thing to do, for after all, there have been so many cases of patients that have been ‘resurrected’ after many minutes of resuscitation, that is surely makes sense to keep applying all there is to the commander in chief…
Unless of course we would be talking of Donald trump…in which case, seeing as he is ‘the best, smartest, and most wonderful’ he should be able to defeat any disease, enemy…superman that he is (in his sick, disgusting mind)
The wondrous Paul Giamatti plays Abraham Zapruder, the man who happened to be waiting for the motorcade, just as it approached the fatidic portion of the itinerary and used his camera to record what would be the only document of the assassination of one of the greatest presidents America has had – for all his flaws, revealed later, the multitude of affairs, the fact that he was a philanderer and had to use drugs to counterbalance the afflictions he suffered from, this heroic man was the real thing, not a conflated buffoon who whines and boasts on twitter about invented achievements…if we put Kennedy in contrast with the orange puppet in charge today, it makes the difference even more ludicrous.
Ron Livingston has the role of James Hosty, the FBI agent who would have to bear on his conscience the fact that he had been looking at the case of Lee Oswald , before he took the gun and pointed it at the leader of the free world, had tried to talk to him a few times, for the character was on the radar, he had been to Russia, married a Russian woman, but on the other hand, he seems to be useless, his threats pointless, although the head of the unit would accuse Hosty and say that they could have and should have arrested Oswald, who had threatened to blow up the bureau, because an agent had tried to talk with his wife and he disagreed…these threats were common, they had too few agents to deal with every idiot who makes a claim.
Billy Bob Thornton is as usual impressive in the role of Forrest Sorrels, the Secret Service man who was in charge of protecting ‘his man’ and then he is the one who takes some charge of the investigation – there would be some disputes though, the local police wants to look at it as a murder, the coroner arrives at one stage and says he cannot allow the corpse to leave the premises without an autopsy – Texas laws, but this viewer would say that it votes with Trump alas – and there is a confrontation over the subject and in the end, the body of the late president is allowed to travel to the plane, where they have to use tools to take out chairs, because the personnel rightly felt they must not allow this once glorious man to go out with the luggage…but there was no place for a coffin inside, without throwing away chairs…
There were other moments of confusion and absurdity…Jackie was considered an outsider by some personnel for indeed, she was no longer the first lady and she was related to nobody in an official capacity anymore…although they changed that and the former vice president, now the Commander in chief stated that she has to travel with him.
The absurdity is provided by what happened, evidently, but also by some characters that are taken to the center of the stage by this film, such as the mother of the assassin, Marguerite Oswald aka the stupendous Jackie Weaver, who maintained that her son was working for the American government, he has always been an agent and then she wanted all sorts of outré things, money, protection and kept acting in a provocative, crazy way…asking for her son, once he is shot dead in his turn, to be buried with…JFK, at Arlington!
Nine out of 10
Unfortunately, this film has been under the radar and the critics that have looked at it are divided, with Variety dismissing it and rating it with a paltry 30 out of 100, while The Hollywood Reporter may be closer to the mark, in the sense that this viewer shares the views of the latter, rather than the former and considers this motion picture as remarkable, with excellent performances, delivered by a stellar cast and revealing aspects of the aftermath of the assassination of the American president that were unknown…surely, many, if not most of those watching this movie would be surprised to find some intriguing aspects.
Evidently, much of what happened is well known – although there are major productions that, instead of underlining the truth, engage in conspiracy theories that, engaging though they are, distort the reality and promote other culprits instead of the man who has acted alone, Lee Harvey Oswald…the CIA, working in cahoots with Cuban exiles, the Mafia and other outfits – but this feature is special in that it looks at the experience of individuals that are hidden in the background, trying to save John Fitzgerald Kennedy, once he is shot, have filmed the assassination, have been involved in the investigation of the weird, surely deranged Oswald…
It seems extraordinary that there was so much confusion in the Parkland hospital where the shot president is taken – admittedly, we have the benefit of hindsight and then things have improved so much in ER and generally in hospitals in the meantime – and they do not even know the blood type of the victim, whereas surely today, every unit on the way has advanced knowledge and furthermore, they must have the means to help a potentially wounded or sick commander in chief in the limousines or Air force One in this age.
However, in 1963, the doctors were not ready to receive the patient – not in the sense they would be today – and the operators received a code in communication, but they were not aware it was the wounded Kennedy on the way to their Parkland hospital, where they tried all that they could, in fact doctor Charles Carrico aka Zac Efron tries and pushes the chest of the man without a pulse or any signs of life, well after the others are insisting that there is no use and he should stop – indeed, although his efforts seems and were in vain, his insistence looked like the proper thing to do, for after all, there have been so many cases of patients that have been ‘resurrected’ after many minutes of resuscitation, that is surely makes sense to keep applying all there is to the commander in chief…
Unless of course we would be talking of Donald trump…in which case, seeing as he is ‘the best, smartest, and most wonderful’ he should be able to defeat any disease, enemy…superman that he is (in his sick, disgusting mind)
The wondrous Paul Giamatti plays Abraham Zapruder, the man who happened to be waiting for the motorcade, just as it approached the fatidic portion of the itinerary and used his camera to record what would be the only document of the assassination of one of the greatest presidents America has had – for all his flaws, revealed later, the multitude of affairs, the fact that he was a philanderer and had to use drugs to counterbalance the afflictions he suffered from, this heroic man was the real thing, not a conflated buffoon who whines and boasts on twitter about invented achievements…if we put Kennedy in contrast with the orange puppet in charge today, it makes the difference even more ludicrous.
Ron Livingston has the role of James Hosty, the FBI agent who would have to bear on his conscience the fact that he had been looking at the case of Lee Oswald , before he took the gun and pointed it at the leader of the free world, had tried to talk to him a few times, for the character was on the radar, he had been to Russia, married a Russian woman, but on the other hand, he seems to be useless, his threats pointless, although the head of the unit would accuse Hosty and say that they could have and should have arrested Oswald, who had threatened to blow up the bureau, because an agent had tried to talk with his wife and he disagreed…these threats were common, they had too few agents to deal with every idiot who makes a claim.
Billy Bob Thornton is as usual impressive in the role of Forrest Sorrels, the Secret Service man who was in charge of protecting ‘his man’ and then he is the one who takes some charge of the investigation – there would be some disputes though, the local police wants to look at it as a murder, the coroner arrives at one stage and says he cannot allow the corpse to leave the premises without an autopsy – Texas laws, but this viewer would say that it votes with Trump alas – and there is a confrontation over the subject and in the end, the body of the late president is allowed to travel to the plane, where they have to use tools to take out chairs, because the personnel rightly felt they must not allow this once glorious man to go out with the luggage…but there was no place for a coffin inside, without throwing away chairs…
There were other moments of confusion and absurdity…Jackie was considered an outsider by some personnel for indeed, she was no longer the first lady and she was related to nobody in an official capacity anymore…although they changed that and the former vice president, now the Commander in chief stated that she has to travel with him.
The absurdity is provided by what happened, evidently, but also by some characters that are taken to the center of the stage by this film, such as the mother of the assassin, Marguerite Oswald aka the stupendous Jackie Weaver, who maintained that her son was working for the American government, he has always been an agent and then she wanted all sorts of outré things, money, protection and kept acting in a provocative, crazy way…asking for her son, once he is shot dead in his turn, to be buried with…JFK, at Arlington!
December 28, 2013
At the time of Kennedys death I was not even a thought yet. Kennedy was gone 4 years before I ever had a breath in my lungs, yet isn’t it amazing how I as well as others of my age and younger still can feel such compassion and pain for the loss of this man.
Parkland, originally titled Four Days In November is about the events that surrounded Kennedy’s untimely death as well as the timeline of Oswald during that same day and the next few days afterwards.
I listened to Parkland on audio and this was one of those audios that kept me in the car in the garage long after I arrived home so I could find out what would happen next. Well done, Vincent is an amazing writer and George Newbern also narrated well for a difficult historic recap of the Kennedy Assassination.
Definitely take the time to listen to this one.
Parkland, originally titled Four Days In November is about the events that surrounded Kennedy’s untimely death as well as the timeline of Oswald during that same day and the next few days afterwards.
I listened to Parkland on audio and this was one of those audios that kept me in the car in the garage long after I arrived home so I could find out what would happen next. Well done, Vincent is an amazing writer and George Newbern also narrated well for a difficult historic recap of the Kennedy Assassination.
Definitely take the time to listen to this one.
August 19, 2013
I still remember when we were told at school that kennedy had been killed. We were taken out to pray, but as I was a girl I did not give it a second thought. So now that I read this book I was very interested to learn what happened in those 4 hectic days. When we read about murderers in the news, we seldom connect that person with his background and close family. Impressive research of Bugliosi, who presents both cold facts and treats the assassins as human beings, with their own life, passions, fears and relationship with their surrounding environment. Certainly Lee's mother could have never raised a normal kid. She is pathetic. Unfortunately, to this date Kennedy's mysterious murder has not been definitely solved.
May 10, 2014
Extraordinary book based on massive, thorough research. Guess what? LHO assasinated JFK. Its an open and shut case, beyond a reasonable doubt. The evidence is overwhelming. A few conspiracy buffs have twisted things abound or just made stuff up. People have a hard time believing one left wing nut job killed the President, but that's what happened. It wasn't the CIA, or LBJ, or the Maffia. No conspiracy. Why do we Americans fall for the conspiracy theory every time. Having read the book, I now feel more than a little silly for having believed a lot of that non sense for so long. I guess books based on just the facts without the hype or sensationalism are just not as exciting.
June 26, 2017
Outstanding. The original title is 4 days in November, and that's what it covers. The day of and the short aftermath of JFK's assassination. It's a detailed, and logical flow...chronologically and at times minute by minute account of what happened. The explanations for the why's is not really covered (Ruby is, but Oswald not), but the how's are perfectly accounted for.
This should have laid to rest any of the conspiracy theories that were still out there - but sadly I'm sure it did not.
Highly recommended.
This should have laid to rest any of the conspiracy theories that were still out there - but sadly I'm sure it did not.
Highly recommended.
December 3, 2013
I am so glad I read this book. So much I don't remember or never new about the details of this horrific event even though I lived through it as a teenager growing up. The author has me convinced that the facts point to one lone gunman (Oswald) changing our history. Of course, that is such a disturbing thought, that many alternative plots and conspiracies have taken hold of our imaginations and are easier to accept.
Riveting and well written. Highly recommend this book.
Riveting and well written. Highly recommend this book.
December 28, 2012
The best book I've read on the JFK assassination. Bugliosi spares no detail as he literally goes minute-by-minute on the events of those tragic days. I haven't read the book this one was derived from, "Reclaiming History," but this edition is the most detailed account of the events without going into the speculation on what probably happened and who else could've been involved.
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