Jackie After Jack: Portrait of the Lady
Author: Christopher Andersen
List Price: $7.50
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ISBN: 0446607436
Publisher: Warner Books (01 March, 1999)
Sales Rank: 97,702
Average Customer Rating: 3.75 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 2 out of 5
Disappointing :poorly written and shabbily researched.
Being very interested in the Kennedy family I am usually a sucker for new titles. This was no exception.As soon as I saw it in the bookshop yesterday I bought it and sat down to read. I found it a very disappointing experience. There really wasn't very much in the book that is new - some of the more sensational bits were little short of irritating. I am getting sick of writers who put in such information as the so-called affair with Onassis before marriage, and with Brando etc. later, with either no back-up evidence at all OR ON THE UNSUBSTANTIATED EVIDENCE OF A SINGLE PERSON. These things are presented as fact simply because IT HAS BEEN SAID! (One on the evidence of Mrs. Lincoln who seems to have had a bone to pick anyway as aluded to in this book). Easy to make these statements about people who are dead isn't it! Some of the information was fairly interesting but I had to wade through so much old hat stuff to get there. And this writer is trotted out as an expert on Jackie! He had enough here to write a pamphlet and he's stretched it as far as he could. He obviously belongs to the Andrew Morton school of writers - milk a topic for every possible cent. Also writes in the gosh, golly, wow style that I find so irritating in the magazines. His first book wasn't so bad but this is a real pot-boiler.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Jackie After Jack: Book Review
This is a very good book, the author seems to bring Jackie O to life right before you. You see all sides of the most famous First Lady in America's history. You see the person behind the famous smile and sunglasses, her grief and depression after JFK's murder, her restless traveling and fascinating and ultimately unsatisfactory marriage to Ari Onassis, her rediscovering herself after Ari's death and her final years with the true love of her life, Maurice Templesman. The author makes you realize that this was a real life person, not some Goddess from Mt. Olympus. She was a flawed human being, but then again, aren't we all? I highly recommend to anyone who wants to learn about this fascinating lady.
Rating: 4 out of 5
A More Human Approach to an Icon
My favorite part about this book is the fact that it gave such a refreshing look at someone who could, so easily, be idealized. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was human & possessed all the failings of a human being. I don't think she saw herself as anything else, & reportedly, could be very self-deprecating among her friends. The Kennedys & all of their family will forever fascinate our imaginations, but this book was a look at a very real woman, who withstood many challenges. She was able to present herself to the world as almost superhuman, which may have been her greatest failing. As they say, everyone is fascinated by power & strength, but too often rejoice in seeing those who possess those qualities topple from grace.
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