Mrs. Paine's Garage: And the Murder of John F. Kennedy

This excellent inquiry into good and evil in an historical context could not be more timely in the wake of the events of September 11, 2001. I just finished reading this absorbing book in a single sitting--it is both well-written and captivating enough that I hardly noticed the time passing.As an idealist, a humanitarian, and a Quaker, Ruth Paine was in a truly unique position to relate to Marina and Lee Harvey Oswald and... Read Full Review

As I carried this book home from the store (while on a visit to Dallas, mind you), two people I didn't know stopped me on separate occasions to say what a great book it was. I'll agree with them. Although I don't accept Mallon's take on what happened at Dealey Plaza, that issue really isn't important to this particular study. I am thoroughly entranced by his ability to see Ruth and Michael Paine (certainly not your ordinary... Read Full Review

Thomas Mallon's "Mrs. Paine's Garage" is a short book (or a long essay) with a big reach. It tells the story of how Ruth Paine, a kindly, conscientious Dallas Quaker, took into her house a struggling young couple. They turned out to be Mr. and Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald. Mallon uses Mrs. Paine's tale as a cross-section of history, a case study in the transformation of America over the last 40 years. We see how dramatically things... Read Full Review

A brilliant book; this has stayed with me in the weeks since I read it. I'm not an assassination buff, and if you'd asked me, I would have said I wasn't that interested in the subject. But the New Yorker piece was so good I HAD to read the book--and the book was even more remarkable. In the life of Mrs. Paine, Mallon has found the perfect vessel to explore the coincidences that haunt every life, the huge resonances one seemingly... Read Full Review

After I read the excerpt in The New Yorker, I was completely hooked on this story, and the book fulfills the promise of the excerpt. One of the most perplexing things about being human is the way in which a life can be terribly derailed through a series of small errors or accidents. This beautfully written book not only illuminates a bewildering corner of history, but shows some of the costs of being human. Thomas Mallon is... Read Full Review