Epstein, Edward Jay 1935-

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Epstein, Edward Jay 1935-

PERSONAL: Born December 6, 1935, in New York, NY; son of Louis J. (an executive) and Betty (Opolinsky) Epstein. Education: Cornell University, A.B., 1957, M.A., 1966; Harvard University, Ph.D., 1973. Religion: Jewish.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Random House, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

CAREER: Writer. Reporter-at-large, New Yorker magazine. Former assistant professor of government, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, and University of California, Los Angeles. Military service: U.S. Army Reserve.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

Inquest: The Warren Commission and the Establishment of Truth (serialized in True Magazine), Viking (New York, NY), 1966.

Counterplot, Viking (New York, NY), 1969.

News from Nowhere: Television and the News, Random House (New York, NY), 1973, reprinted with a new introduction by author, I.R. Dee (Chicago IL), 2000.

Between Fact and Fiction: The Problem of Journalism, Vintage Books (St. Paul, MN), 1975.

Agency of Fear: Opiates and Political Power in America, Putnam (New York, NY), 1977, Verso (New York, NY), 1990.

Legend: The Secret World of Lee Harvey Oswald, Reader's Digest Press (New York, NY), 1978.

The Rise and Fall of Diamonds: The Shattering of a Brilliant Illusion, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1982.

Who Owns the Corporation?: Management vs. Shareholders, Priority Press (New York, NY), 1986.

Deception: The Invisible War between the KGB and the CIA, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1989.

The Assassination Chronicles: Inquest, Counterplot, and Legend, Carroll & Graf (New York, NY), 1992.

Dossier: The Secret History of Armand Hammer, Random House (New York, NY), 1996.

The Big Picture: The New Logic of Money and Power in Hollywood, Random House (New York, NY), 2005.

OTHER

Cartel (novel), Putnam (New York, NY), 1978.

Contributor of articles and reviews to Commentary, Esquire, New Yorker, and the New York Times. A collection of Epstein's papers is housed in the department of special collections, Boston University.

SIDELIGHTS: Edward Jay Epstein "has made a career out of moving through vast documentation and tricky, ambiguous material," wrote Kevin Buckley in the New York Times Book Review, describing the author's penchant for detailed investigative writing on difficult, controversial subjects. While Epstein has chosen to confront a wide variety of topics, even making a brief foray into suspense fiction, the bulk of his output is concerned with uncovering scandal and eliminating illusions. "His forte is tracking the widely publicized half-truth or myth down to its essential, usually unsensational root facts," remarked Michael Janeway in the Atlantic. In the process of dispelling various myths, Epstein has turned a critical eye to issues as diverse as drug abuse and the inflated value of fine diamonds, at the same time exploring the role played by the mass media in shaping public opinion and rumor.

Epstein's first book, Inquest: The Warren Commission and the Establishment of Truth, was published in 1966 and deals with the complex questions surrounding the body appointed to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Writing in the New York Times, Eliot Fremont-Smith called Inquest "the first book to throw open to serious question in the minds of thinking people, the findings of the Warren Commission. It does so not as an outraged polemic, convincing only to the already convinced, but as a sober, scholarly case study of how an extraordinary government commission goes about its work—the conception of its job, the nature of internal and external pressures on such a commission and the effect these may have." At the center of Epstein's analysis is his contention that an unavoidable conflict existed between the Commission's duty to uncover and explore any facts relevant to the assassination, and its task of quelling rumors and restoring the nation's lost trust and confidence. Discussing Inquest in the Saturday Review, Arnold L. Fein summarized the author's argument: "Its essence is that the Commission was engaged not in the pursuit of facts but of 'political truth,' that its 'dominant purpose' was 'to protect the national interest by dispelling rumors' about 'conspiracy' and to 'lift the cloud of doubts … over American institutions,' because 'the nation's prestige was at stake.'" One of the difficulties associated with investigative writing on ambiguous subjects is the danger of substituting one rumor for another. A Choice reviewer, however, commented that, set alongside the number of exploitative, fantastical books about the Kennedy assassination, Inquest "stands out for its crystal clear, unemotional prose and its cautious judgments."

Following the publication of Inquest, Epstein returned to the subject of the Kennedy assassination in Counterplot, a study of the outrageous claims made by New Orleans District Attorney General Jim Garrison concerning Lee Harvey Oswald, the CIA, an anti-Castro group with which Oswald had been involved, and an alleged assassination conspiracy. Published in 1969, the book also addresses the part played by what Epstein views as an overcredulous press in publicizing and giving legitimacy to conspiracy theories and rumors concerning the assassination. Critical of the press's gullibility and of the resulting potential for the misleading of the public, Epstein delved into the problems associated with the media in his next two books, News from Nowhere: Television and the News and Between Fact and Fiction: The Problem of Journalism.

In News from Nowhere, Epstein examines the characteristic limitations of television news and the nightly half-hour news programs of the major networks. Though John J. O'Connor found the book "not without flaws," in the New York Times, he added that "Epstein's analysis of the relationship between the networks, their affiliates and the Federal Communications Commission is excellent." A collection of essays on the press's treatment of and influence on such events as Watergate and the publication of the Pentagon Papers, Between Fact and Fiction "deals with the grand structural problems of journalism—the constraints of deadline and space that twist the contents of a story, the gap between the 'truth' about an event and its rendition in the press," according to James Fallows in the New York Times Book Review. Focusing on Epstein's ability to reduce sensationalistic conceptions to ordinary facts, Janeway commented: "Edward Jay Epstein is a press critic who works against the grain. [He is] shrewd and thorough."

With the publication of Agency of Fear: Opiates and Political Power in America in 1977, Epstein turned his hand once again to a volatile subject: Richard Nixon's war on drugs and the former president's creation of the Office of Drug Abuse and Law Enforcement. In Agency of Fear Epstein theorizes that having failed to gain complete control over government law enforcement agencies such as the CIA and the FBI, Nixon set up the Office of Drug Abuse and Law Enforcement, what Thomas Powers described in the New York Times Book Review as "a White House police force unique in history." Epstein believed and set out to demonstrate that statistics regarding drug use and crime had been drummed up in order to justify the formation of the agency. The author claims that the agency was of particular importance to Nixon because he had run for office on a law and order platform without taking into account the fact that the Federal Government has little control over the kinds of crimes the president had promised to reduce in his election campaign.

Powers speaks of the "richness of [Epstein's] research, meticulously described in more than 60 pages of notes in keeping with Epstein's theory that you can't know what to make of a journalist's account until you know something of the motives of his informants. Epstein is scrupulous in this regard, naming more than 70 sources. If he does not substantiate every claim with equal authority … nevertheless he is about as careful, and therefore as credible, as it is possible for a reporter to be."

In 1978 Epstein renewed his exploration of the events leading to the Kennedy assassination in Legend: The Secret World of Lee Harvey Oswald. Having accepted the premise that Oswald was indeed the assassin, explained Hugh Thomas in the Times Literary Supplement, the author "deals with a different question: who was Oswald? Epstein [works] hard, from interviews with Oswald's acquaintances and by examining papers of the FBI, CIA and other agencies of the United States Government under the Freedom of Information Act, to give a picture of a man more intelligent than the one-dimensional 'loner' whom … the informed public … has come to accept." A number of reviewers expressed frustration with Epstein's failure to commit his opinion on some of the issues raised in Legend. "Epstein deserves credit for some arduous and valuable research, but he damages his work by his odd reluctance to say what he thinks his evidence shows," wrote Kenneth Auchincloss in Newsweek. Buckley commented: "His narrative is always pregnant with possibilities and implications. His arrangements of certain facts often seem to suggest frightening conclusions. But Epstein refuses to state them. Is he a tease? Or has he simply provided a stout defense to any charges that he has gone off half-cocked? The answer must be as ambiguous as much of the material." Nevertheless, Buckley noted that "at the very least, this book demands very serious attention."

Epstein turned to fiction with the suspense novel Cartel. Martin Levin, writing in the New York Times Book Review, noted, "Mr. Epstein has everything he needs for a high-octane thriller, including exceptional skill at maintaining top speed." Next, Epstein explored the workings of a nonfictional cartel in his 1982 book The Rise and Fall of Diamonds: The Shattering of A Brilliant Illusion. In the pages of this work Epstein scrutinizes the world-wide diamond monopoly of South Africa's De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited, and its manipulation of international diamond demand and prices through exaggerated advertising, hoarding, and acquisition of other diamond firms. Epstein's thesis is that the price of diamonds has been kept artificially high by De Beers despite a world-wide overabundance of diamonds that increases daily. Christopher Lehmann-Haupt outlines Epstein's foreboding conclusions in the New York Times: "One of these days very soon, he thinks, something is going to happen to destroy the diamond illusion. It might stem from the glut of gems now accumulating in Israel. Or it might arise out of Australia's recent refusal to let De Beers gain control of its diamond production. But one of these days the market is going to be flooded and the public is going to recognize that diamonds have little intrinsic value."

In Dossier: The Secret History of Armand Hammer, Epstein looks at Dr. Armand Hammer, a powerful industrialist, chair of Occidental Petroleum, famed philanthropist and humanitarian, and recipient of twenty-five honorary university degrees. A Publishers Weekly reviewer noted that the groundwork for Dossier began "after spending six months in 1981 traveling with Hammer while researching what he thought would be a friendly magazine article, Epstein … began to suspect that just about everything the self-promoting billionaire said or wrote or paid to have written about himself was untrue." This initial research developed into Epstein's 1981 New York Times Magazine article, "The Riddle of Armand Hammer," which raised serious questions about Hammer, but lacked the confirming evidence provided in Dossier. Bill Borarsky stated in the Los Angeles Times Book Review: "Epstein's sources are rock solid: the Soviet Commissariat of Foreign Trade; a top official's report to Lenin; the archives of the Comintern, the Kremlin organization in charge of the international communist conspiracy; various American intelligence and law enforcement agencies, which kept Hammer and his family under surveillance from the early part of the century until almost up to his death in 1990." The Freedom of Information Act made accessible numerous FBI files, the fall of the Soviet Union opened a wealth of documentation from their now-opened archives, and, since Hammer's death in 1990, many previously close-mouthed family members and associates have now provided damning evidence, as well.

Hammer made his fortune by conducting business with the Soviet Union from its earliest days. He traded Western materials and products with the Soviets for decades, and signed "sweetheart" deals with them that enabled him to monopolize entire industries to his advantage. Along the way, he also indulged in espionage for the Soviet Union. John Train, writing in the Wall Street Journal, pointed out that "in 1952 the FBI gave Sen. Styles Bridges a confidential briefing: Among other things it emerged that Hammer had helped to recruit spies for the Soviets and to place them in U.S. government positions." Borarsky noted: "Hammer's life was built on layers of deceit, and Epstein uncovers them, one by one. When finished, he has provided a painful look at the corruptibility of government and the gullibility of the business, economic and social elite." His attempts at corruption, as everything in his life, were played out on a grand scale. "Hammer was ever on the alert for politicians in hock," noted Joseph Finder in his New Republic review. Finder mentioned that Hammer even attempted to purchase the First National City Bank of Washington, DC—according to Finder, "to get his hands on the financial data of politicians who banked there, particularly those who had loans outstanding." Just one example of his involvement in attempting to influence political figures was when, during the infamous Watergate investigation, it was discovered that Hammer had made an illegal campaign contribution of 54,000 dollars to Richard Nixon's re-election fund. He soon faced felony obstruction of justice charges after attempting to cover up his involvement; however, Hammer pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and avoided prosecution on the far more serious charge.

Among allegations made by Epstein are that Hammer served as a money courier and money launderer for the Soviets, beginning in 1921, when, under the direct supervision of Feliks Dzerzhinski, head of the Cheka, the Soviet Secret Police, he was given 75,000 dollars (in today's monetary equivalent, some 600,000 dollars) to carry back to New York, funds intended for distribution to communist underground agents in the United States. This developed into a level of involvement that Finder describes as "definitive proof that the Hammers secretly channeled money to agents of the OGPC (a forerunner of the KGB) in the United States and to clandestine Soviet organizations in London and Berlin as well. Their money-laundering operation was so mammoth that it was directly supervised by Genrick Yagoda, the deputy chairman of the OGPC."

Epstein turned his attention to the film industry for his book The Big Picture: The New Logic of Money and Power in Hollywood. David Siegfried, writing in Booklist, noted that the author reveals the "Hollywood facade and gives a nuts-and-bolts view of how the six entertainment empires … distribute intellectual property." Business Week contributor Tom Lowry wrote: "The evolution of the modern marketing-and brand-driven global media giants is meticulously documented." Lowry went on to comment: "Epstein captures the sweep of an industry over the past half-century by using a variety of devices, from historical profiles to anecdotes to financial tables on the players." In a review in the Library Journal, Roy Liebman commented that the author "renders a most insightful, readable account of all aspects of filmmaking."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Spectator, November, 1996, Joseph Shattan, review of Dossier: The Secret History of Armand Hammer, p. 82.

Atlantic, May, 1973, review of News from Nowhere: Television and the News, p. 109; November, 1975, Michael Janeway, review of Between Fact and Fiction: The Problem of Journalism, p. 122.

Booklist, October 1, 1996, David Rouse, review of Dossier, p. 311; January 1, 2005, David Siegfried, review of The Big Picture: The New Logic of Money and Power in Hollywood, p. 792.

Business Week, March 28, 2005, Tom Lowry, review of The Big Picture, p. 20.

Choice, October, 1966, review of Inquest: The Warren Commission and the Establishment of Truth.

Commentary, October, 1989, p. 10; November, 1996, Daniel J. Silver, review of Dossier, p. 64.

Economist, December 7, 1996, review of Dossier, p. S10; February 26, 2005, review of The Big Picture, p. 84.

Forbes, November 18, 1996, James Cook, review of Dossier, p. 67.

Fortune, November 11, 1996, Alan Farnham, review of Dossier, p. 207.

Insight on the News, November 18, 1996, Joseph C. Goulden, review of Dossier, p. 31.

Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2004, review of The Big Picture, p. 1179.

Library Journal, January 1, 2005, Roy Liebman, review of The Big Picture, p. 114.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, October 27, 1996, Bill Borarsky, review of Dossier, pp. 1, 8.

Nation, July 30, 1990, Alexander Cockburn, "The Epstein Interrogatory," p. 118.

National Review, June 2, 1989, Angelo M. Codevilla, review of Deception: The Invisible War between the KGB and the CIA, p. 46.

New Leader, May 15, 1989, Yehudah Mirsky, review of Deception, p. 9; November 4, 1996, Roger Draper, review of Dossier, p. 14.

Newsweek, April 10, 1978, Kenneth Auchincloss, review of Legend: The Secret World of Lee Harvey Oswald; July 5, 1982, Jean Strouse, review of The Rise and Fall of Diamonds: The Shattering of a Brilliant Illusion, p. 70.

New Republic, December 30, 1996, Joseph Finder, review of Dossier, pp. 35-41.

New York Review of Books, August 17, 1989, Thomas Powers, review of Deception, pp. 40-42; November 14, 1996, Murray Kempton, review of Dossier, p. 29.

New York Times, July 6, 1966, Eliot Fremont-Smith, review of Inquest, p. 3; April 5, 1973, John J. O'Connor, review of News from Nowhere, p. 43; September 20, 1977, review of Agency of Fear: Opiates and Political Power in America, p. 45; May 17, 1982, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, review of The Rise and Fall of Diamonds, p. C16; June 13, 1989, Edwin McDowell, "Author Quits Whittle's Book Project," p. D20; March 5, 1992, p. C15.

New York Times Book Review, June 3, 1973, review of News from Nowhere, p. 16; November 2, 1975, James Fallows, review of Between Fact and Fiction, p. 5; September 4, 1977, Thomas Powers, review of Agency of Fear, p. 4; March 5, 1978, Kevin Buckley, review of Legend, p. 7; February 4, 1979, Martin Levin, review of Cartel, p. 15; June 20, 1982, Paul Erdman, review of the The Rise and Fall of Diamonds, p. 87; May 7, 1989, James Bamford, review of Deception, p. 30; October 13, 1996, Joseph E. Persico, review of Dossier, p. 14; December 8, 1996, review of Dossier, p. 87.

Publishers Weekly, May 13, 1988, p. 275; March 24, 1989, Genevieve Stuttaford, review of Deception, p. 54; June 30, 1989, p. 18; August 26, 1996, review of Dossier, p. 86; December 13, 2004, review of The Big Picture, p. 56.

Saturday Review, October 22, 1966, Arnold L. Fein, review of Inquest.

Times Literary Supplement, April 28, 1978, Hugh Thomas, review of Legend, p. 473; January 7, 1983, "The Diamond Invention," p. 10.

Variety April 4, 2005, Joel Hirschhorn, review of The Big Picture, p. 70.

Wall Street Journal, May 5, 1989, p. A12; October 3, 1996, John Train, review of Dossier, p. A12.

Washington Monthly, March, 1997, Michael Ybarra, review of Dossier, p. 46.

Weekly Standard, April 25, 2005, Martha Bayles, review of The Big Picture, p. 31.