458 - Kennedy Assassination: Clay Shaw Signed Book - American Grotesque

Kennedy Assassination: Clay Shaw Signed Book - American Grotesque Signed book: American Grotesque: An Account of the Clay Shaw-Jim Garrison Affair in the City of New Orleans, by James Kirkwood. First edition, first printing. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1970. Hardcover with dust jacket, 5.75 x 8.75, 669 pages. Signed and inscribed on the front pastedown in ballpoint, "For Martin — Beloved physician and dear friend with affection and admiration, Clay." The adjacent flyleaf is also signed and inscribed by the book's author, "To Dr. Martin Palmer, Peace, happiness and all good things! James Kirkwood, Nov. 24, 1970." Both pages bear ownership notations. Autographic condition: fine. Book condition: VG/G+, with small stains to textblock edges and wear to the dust jacket, including creases, edge tears, and small losses. Clay Shaw, director of the International Trade Mart in New Orleans, was arrested on March 1, 1967, on a charge of conspiring to assassinate President John F. Kennedy, brought by District Attorney Jim Garrison. His trial remains the only criminal trial ever brought for the assassination. On March 1, 1969, the jury deliberated 54 minutes before acquitting him. Kirkwood, a personal friend of Shaw’s, challenged Garrison’s case in American Grotesque. Both inscriptions are addressed to Dr. Martin Palmer, Shaw’s friend and personal physician, connecting this copy to a member of Shaw’s circle during the events recounted in the book.