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A review by deecreatenola
Dr. Mary's Monkey: How the Unsolved Murder of a Doctor, a Secret Laboratory in New Orleans and Cancer-Causing Monkey Viruses are Linked to Lee Harvey Oswald, the JFK Assassination and Emerging Global Epidemics by Edward T. Haslam
1.0
There’s been a lot of hubbub about this book locally. When the author gave a reading at my local library, there were lines out the front door to attend. I was definitely intrigued and also pleased because I generally think that anything that gets people into a library is a good thing.
In this instance, however, I think the excitement is misplaced. It is extremely rare for me to not finish a book, but I could only get through half of this book before giving up. Based on the public enthusiasm and the title, I expected a well-woven story – a ripped-from-the-headlines (from yesteryear) true-crime story that told the tale of a medical researcher and the mystery surrounding her death. The fact that there was a JFK connection would only add to the intrigue.
What I got was a first-person account of the author’s odd experiences and seemingly near connections to the murder of Mary Sherman. It’s not told like a story at all. The number of “near connections” is bizarre, even in a city where there are way fewer than six degrees of separation. For instance, in college, he dates a girl who he believes lives in David Ferrie’s former lab. He bases this on the fact that David Ferrie lived just down the street and the apartment had an odd smell and had been left empty for a while. There’s also some connection with a Hispanic neighbor that I never quite got. He also bases a lot of his ideas on something a classmate shared in high school at the close of Jim Garrison’s case.
Later, the author just happens to work for an ad agency that sends him on a mysterious job having to do with a “radio station,” a bunch of videos related to the anti-Cuban movement. It was soon after this that I gave up. The author is trying so hard to make all these things fit. I’m not saying they aren’t related, but his main proof that he puts forth that they are related is that “it’s obvious.” It’s obvious if you want it to be, but it’s not built on a solid foundation of facts. Most of his footnotes go on to explore his own thoughts and experiences, rather than actually footnoting primary sources.
The author supposedly has a journalism background, but the writing is fair at best. Lots of grammar errors and no real flow to the writing at all. Maybe there’s an interesting, thought-provoking story that adds to the JFK assassination body of knowledge, but you can’t find it in this particular book.
In this instance, however, I think the excitement is misplaced. It is extremely rare for me to not finish a book, but I could only get through half of this book before giving up. Based on the public enthusiasm and the title, I expected a well-woven story – a ripped-from-the-headlines (from yesteryear) true-crime story that told the tale of a medical researcher and the mystery surrounding her death. The fact that there was a JFK connection would only add to the intrigue.
What I got was a first-person account of the author’s odd experiences and seemingly near connections to the murder of Mary Sherman. It’s not told like a story at all. The number of “near connections” is bizarre, even in a city where there are way fewer than six degrees of separation. For instance, in college, he dates a girl who he believes lives in David Ferrie’s former lab. He bases this on the fact that David Ferrie lived just down the street and the apartment had an odd smell and had been left empty for a while. There’s also some connection with a Hispanic neighbor that I never quite got. He also bases a lot of his ideas on something a classmate shared in high school at the close of Jim Garrison’s case.
Later, the author just happens to work for an ad agency that sends him on a mysterious job having to do with a “radio station,” a bunch of videos related to the anti-Cuban movement. It was soon after this that I gave up. The author is trying so hard to make all these things fit. I’m not saying they aren’t related, but his main proof that he puts forth that they are related is that “it’s obvious.” It’s obvious if you want it to be, but it’s not built on a solid foundation of facts. Most of his footnotes go on to explore his own thoughts and experiences, rather than actually footnoting primary sources.
The author supposedly has a journalism background, but the writing is fair at best. Lots of grammar errors and no real flow to the writing at all. Maybe there’s an interesting, thought-provoking story that adds to the JFK assassination body of knowledge, but you can’t find it in this particular book.