"Killing Kennedy" Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard-A Bunch of Notes Compiled Into a Book

Let us begin with the caveat that I do not especially like Bill O'Reilly. He likes to warn us not to "bloviate" though O'Reilly is the King of Bloviaters. I also think it's obvious how Fox News takes advantage of the popularity of their hosts. It must be in their contract somewhere that they all HAVE to write a book. I'm not making this up, Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday resorted to writing a book of his wife's favorite recipes!

I consider it a bit of a scam and I know that Steve Doocy ever wrote a paragraph much less a book.

Note also that the Fox News Personalities' books all emphasize a co-writer. Which means that individual probably did all the writing and sold his prose to the Fox personality.

I did quite enjoy "Killing Kennedy" but I think I enjoyed it more because a)I was a curious adolescent when John F. Kennedy was killed and b)I chanced to read the book the week of the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination.

By the authors' own admissions, the book is a compilation of already published biographies and news articles of the Kennedys and during the Kennedy years. My interest was piqued for while the Kennedy presidency was the beginning of my life as a news junkee, there was much I did not know.

I do remember quite well that the only available news outlets of the era was the black and white NBC, ABC, and CBS. I, of course, will never forget where I was when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. It wasn't just the incomprehensible realization that the least vulnerable amongst us would be so easily taken down. It was the shock of the horrible murder, the happiness and joy that was going on when the awful deed happen. The United States of America suffered a social earthquake the day John F. Kennedy was murdered.

We loved Jack Kennedy, his beautiful wife, Jackie, his two adorable children. His presidency was often referred to as Camelot, said name given for the happiness supposedly in great supply in the time of King Arthur.

This books was enjoyable to me as much for its subject matter as for any greatness of prose. Dugard did a perfectly adequate job of synopsizing the news clippings and biographies . This book is not the place to go for literary excellence or beautiful words.

The biggest surprise to me was how abruptly the book ended! I'd read avidly the narrative up until that fateful day in Dallas. After the description of the murder, I curled up, ready to read of the many conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy killing. Let me state now unequivocally that I believe that Lee Harvey Oswald killed Kennedy and nobody else. But I was looking forward to some discussion on the matter, perhaps even a stab at the truth by the authors themselves.

That is not a criticism, by the way. The book is called "Killing Kennedy" and as I understand it O'Reilly has another book called "Killing Jesus". His "genre", as I gather, is books about famous killings.

I'd recommend this book to another reader in much the same way as its ultimate use to me. My curiosity is whetted. I'm betting that there were lots of books written about Kennedy's life, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination, Camelot, that whole era handled aptly by the authors but making me want more.

And this is never a bad thing, right?