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7th out of 43 books
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Bobby and Jackie: A Love Story
From the "New York Times" bestselling author of "American Legacy," "RFK," and "A Woman Named Jackie," an in-depth look at the much talked-about -- but never fully revealed -- relationship between Jackie Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy
Few writers have immersed themselves in the world of the Kennedys as completely or successfully as C. D
...moreHardcover, 226 pages
Published
July 14th 2009
by Atria
(first published 2009)
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The author has drawn from a vast archive of material pertaining to Jackie, yet it is the sketchier portrait of Bobby Kennedy that seems the more vibrant. Despite a wealth of documentation and first-person anecdote, a convincing sense of Mrs. Onassis' essence emerges only intermittently from the mists of legend, only to vanish a paragraph or a page later.
Occasional stretching out and redundancy sometimes led me to wonder if perhaps there might be a little less than meets the eye. St...more
Occasional stretching out and redundancy sometimes led me to wonder if perhaps there might be a little less than meets the eye. St...more
Doesn't everyone need to read a pure guilty pleasure once in a while? From the resounding silence, I would guess that the answer is no, and it's just me who sees books like this on the library shelf, looks around, plucks it off, hides it under a pile of more "worthy" books and scurries to the check-out desk praying that the librarian doesn't give me a look of "have you lost your mind" while stamping the due date in the back. What can I say? I'm shallow. On the negative si...more
This book was fun to read and I’ll tell you why. I’ll give you two big reasons:
1. It’s one of the few Kennedy bios that isn’t the size of a door stop. It’s a quick read and informative and you don’t often get such a thing with a Kennedy book.
2. It’s dishy.
My God, the dish. Look, there are many of pages where he quotes Truman Capote, okay? This is some juicy gossip here, folks. And? Heymann presents it in such a way that it’s not shameful or trashy. In fact, y...more
1. It’s one of the few Kennedy bios that isn’t the size of a door stop. It’s a quick read and informative and you don’t often get such a thing with a Kennedy book.
2. It’s dishy.
My God, the dish. Look, there are many of pages where he quotes Truman Capote, okay? This is some juicy gossip here, folks. And? Heymann presents it in such a way that it’s not shameful or trashy. In fact, y...more
2.5 stars. Like most Americans, I am fascinated by the highly dysfunctional Kennedy family, in particular Jackie who basically created the idea of Camelot. She took a mediocre President and a crap husband and turned him into a legend. Talk about a spin job! Anyway, there was some new information in this book. Granted, there are probably thousands of books written about the Kennedys, of which I have read maybe 2 or 3, but I did learn a few new facts. I did not know the older Kennedys were pro-Hit...more
I read a review of this book in a major magazine and felt compelled to read it. The writer did a good job gathering reporting, but ultimately I felt the book didn't come together because it wasn't really about the love story. There wasn't a narrative that followed the relationship, from its burgeoning moment until its end. It was basically a biography of Jackie and Bobby, run parallel in one book, with occasional highlights of their love affair. But other than telling us that Jackie adored h...more
My mother sent this book home with me, and I thought I would read it for her. I pushed it aside for while and finally got to looking at it this week. Once I started reading it, I could not put it down but not because it was a pretty story! I was fascintated with the way the people lived, shocked at the depth of evil behavior. I know the parties were never perfect; I am not into idolatry of the Kennedys. But still the depth of it all, and what was going on in history at that time.
I w...more
I w...more
F.Scott Fitzgerald, in one of his novels, made the comment "Let me tell you about the rich. They are different from you and me". This quote can be very appropriately applied to C. David Heymann's shocking and mesmerizing account of the relationship(s) of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Bobby Kennedy. Contrary to what the country was led to believe, these larger than life figures led two very different lives-- one that was public, and another that was private. The private lives of these ...more
I read this book in a day which is unusual for me but I was home sick so that meant I had time on my hands. I found it interesting as I have lived through the time that is covered by this book. It's amazing to me how many affairs these people had and no one knew. By no one I mean me and most of the people in the world. It makes me wonder if these things are still being covered up. I mean how did these people even have time to get anything else done like running for office and running a count...more
A real 'behind the scenes' biography, I genuinely found this book absolutely fascinating. Now looking back, it seems obvious that Jackie and Bobby would come together in the event of JFK's untimely death, but I'd never have imagined they'd be so romantically close. More than anything, the thing that struck me with this book was the genuine wonder as to how JFK managed to achieve anything as president given that he seemed constantly busy with a whole string of other women! None of the Kennedys' ...more
This book totally changed my opinion of the Kennedy family and not for the better. I was amazed at the life of drugs and sex. JFK, RFK and Jackie make current day Tiger Woods look like a monk. I am amazed that John F. Kennedy had time to run the country in between his daily sexcapades with women. I always thought Jackie was a genuine lady but she was really a manipulative trouble maker. Why any American President would want to be compared to "Camelot" amazes me. These people would have...more
I always enjoy reading gossip about the Kennedy family, and this book was quintessential gossip. The author makes a good case for the issue that Jackie Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy, her husband's brother, had an affair in the wake of JFK's assassination. However, from my understanding, a lot of the people he quotes in the book have passed away, so there's no way to truly confirm if there's any truth to the Jackie/Bobby love affair.
Still, this book is a very quick, easy, enjoyable read ...more
Still, this book is a very quick, easy, enjoyable read ...more
This book was very disappointing. Reviewed as the great love story of both of their lives, I expected a romantic tale. Instead, it was a laundry list of who slept with who.
The author seems to have done a tremendous amount of research and compiling of information from various vaults of info. Sometimes as I read this it seemed to jump around because he took interviews from different people from different events and times. It was one of those books you read to discover more about people you have known through history. It has altered my feelings about the Kenedys because they were shown in a different light when I was growing up. Especially the Kennedy men! This ...more
I was amazed at the notes and bibliography section of this book and it made me think that it would be full of cold hard facts; however, when reading the book it was full of inuendo about what happened between Bobby and Jackie their many other "lovers". The names of famous people mentioned in the book were amazing. It seemed like the Kennedys spent most of their time partying, having casual sex,and spending money. Their lives and the lives of their loved ones were truly tragic. The ...more
Well, this isn't exactly National Book Award material, but it does make for some interesting afternoon reading for someone who doesn't read romance novels! I have an obsession with the Kennedy Clan (most specifically JFK and Jackie) and I have always been a little fascinated by the rumors of an affair between Jackie and Bobby after JFK was assassinated. I don't think this book necessarily proves it--and he was still a total cad like his brother Jack, but there is part of me that is happy that, i...more
Page turner from beginning to end but I almost wish I didn't know about the love affair between Bobby Kennedy and his sister-in-law Jackie. Sure it's sordid, dirty and passionate, but it's also a love story, maybe a deeper one than between Jackie and JFK. The romantic bubble that surrounded "Camelot" and the fairy tale love story of Jackie and JFK burst years ago with the details of JFK's too many too count affairs but it's now tarnished even further with the details in this book. Enjo...more
my gosh, but what this book reveals, page after smut soaked page, is disgusting and unbelievable, but i guess it all did happen. did i need to read it? did i need to know it? well truly i knew lots of it already as i have read most of the books about the kennedys, but it was more compact and more smut in less pages than ever before. this book was more on the lines of 85 people magazines condensed into a book. a friend asked if i believed what i read after i described several of the trysts ...more
If you want to believe in the image of JFK and RFK as upstanding citizens and great family men, you won't like this one. Jackie is painted in a fairly unflattering way also, but she still remains forgivable in this book. It is an interesting story and uses a lot of historic references. I enjoyed it, but felt it affirmed everything we already knew or assumed. Joe Kennedy's boys illustrate the picture of "like father like son" and the wives prompt the question "why would an...more
Heymann covers the period of time between JFK's assassination and RFK's murder. During this five-year period there is plenty of circumstantial and eyewitness evidence to indicate Jackie and Bobby were having an affair. And this book dishes out all the dirt on their togetherness.
It seems that all the Kennedy men did was politickin' and fornicatin' -- hopefully that kind of stuff is done more quietly today (since I assume it's still being done).
What an incredibly dysfunctio...more
It seems that all the Kennedy men did was politickin' and fornicatin' -- hopefully that kind of stuff is done more quietly today (since I assume it's still being done).
What an incredibly dysfunctio...more
This is down there with the Frank Sinatra trash I read a few months back. Ironically, he was a friend. I've read various Jackie O things about different aspects of her life. This was about the dissolute sexual antics of this whole crowd of folks. They may have been the cause of the sharp increase in the number of STDs from the 1950s to the 1990s. And it made regular reference to their levels of religious fervor. You begin to realize that separating the goats from the sheep is probably easie...more
At first I felt guilty about reading this because I didn't want to invade their privacy, and now I feel guilty for really enjoying the book when the sources are all questionable. I finished the book thinking that all Kennedy men are pigs...starting with Joseph Kennedy....and I guess I still think so. The book is a soap opera with real people as characters, and I'm sorry to say, it was pretty darned interesting. And to think poor Clinton was impeached....and back in the 60s, the media left the...more
Pulitzer-nominated biographer Heymann delivers a gawk-worthy beach read with this fascinating look at Jackie and the Kennedy clan in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Life for JFK and Jackie was less than perfect; one story finds him cheating on Jackie during their 1953 Acapulco honeymoon, leaving the new Mrs. Kennedy "by herself on the verandah." Still, Jackie's devastation was real; afterward, her love for his brother Bobby was equally genuine. Unable to find peace (h...more
Much of what was included within Bobby and Jackie was a rehash of everything we have ever read about the assasinations of JFK and RFK. The news here are the years in between which saw a love relationship blossom between the mourning widow and brother of JFK. And, now I can understand how Jackie was able to stay so thin - according to this book she was keeping Bobby, Aristotle Onasis and at least one other man satisfied at all times. How did she manage not to get pregnant again? As you can tel...more
This book started off strong telling the historic story of the Kennedy's. Starting with JFK and Jacqueline Kennedy's marriage, life in the White House and subsequent assassination of a leader. Towards the middle of this book I really had to force myself to continue reading. Apparently everybody slept with everybody and tons of famous name dropping. When I got the book from the library I wasn’t sure what really to expect but it definitely wasn’t a love story. It seemed as though once Bobby K...more
This story starts with Bobby & Jackie's friendship and rapport (despite Jackie's clashing with the rest of the Kennedy family) and, after the tragedy of JFK's death, becomes a love affair between two people who are destined to be kept apart (after a few years of off-and-on romantic trysts).
The author quotes a lot of sources in his effort to convince us that Bobby and Jackie were in love. I'm sure tabloids quote a lot of sources too, but at least this story is told with relative resp...more
The author quotes a lot of sources in his effort to convince us that Bobby and Jackie were in love. I'm sure tabloids quote a lot of sources too, but at least this story is told with relative resp...more
Upon the death of Teddy Kennedy, I thought I would like to read more about the Kennedy family. As I was only in junior high when JFK died, I did not realize there was a closeness between Bobby and Jackie after the assassination. This gives quite a detailed account of their love affair. Although I knew about JFK's many indiscretions, I was not aware of all of the relationships that Jackie was involved in. Interesting read.
As fascinating as this book was, there were times when I felt a bit voyeuristic reading it, with its lists of romantic conquests of both Jackie and Bobby Kennedy.
Ending, as it does, with the death of RFK and quickly afterwards, of Jackie herself, one's sympathy tends to swing back towards this tragic and deeply flawed family who ruled American politics, and one can't help but wonder what goes on behind the closed doors of today's politicians.
Ending, as it does, with the death of RFK and quickly afterwards, of Jackie herself, one's sympathy tends to swing back towards this tragic and deeply flawed family who ruled American politics, and one can't help but wonder what goes on behind the closed doors of today's politicians.
Obviously if you're picking up this title you are looking for some dirt...and dirt is definitely what you will get.
4-1/2* for the writing
4-1/2* for the research
3* for the presentation.
While this book seems very thorough, and very nicely weaved the "love story" of Bobby and Jackie throughout, it read like an US Weekly. As I was reading through the whole book I kept wondering, "Is this really true?", which became somewhat frustrating by the end. ...more
4-1/2* for the writing
4-1/2* for the research
3* for the presentation.
While this book seems very thorough, and very nicely weaved the "love story" of Bobby and Jackie throughout, it read like an US Weekly. As I was reading through the whole book I kept wondering, "Is this really true?", which became somewhat frustrating by the end. ...more
Jen
added it
This was our January book club selection. This was a total eye opener to the Kennedy era - Camelot, the image of Jackie and the entire Kennedy clan. I was too young to be involved with this administration, but, always heard of the "Camelot" reference. It somehow tainted my view of that era - but, again, it was a great book for book club discussion.
The tabloid flavor of this book just got too sickening for me to continue reading this book; I'm done with it. Sure, JFK was a philandering bastard, but so were many others before him and many others after him, and beyond -- and did we really need to go into gorey detail to get the point? It was hard to focus on an otherwise compelling love story.
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C. David Heymann is the internationally known author of such New York Times bestselling books as The Georgetown Ladies' Social Club; RFK: A Candid Biography of Robert F. Kennedy; Poor Little Rich Girl: The Life and Legend of Barbara Hutton; and A Woman Named Jackie: An Intimate Biography of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. Three of his works have been made into award-winning NBC-TV miniseries. ...more
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