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God had a talent for creating exceptional women—Helen of Troy and Cleopatra come to mind. So does Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, who lives again in this "warts-and-all" portrait. It's being released on the 20th anniversary of the tragic death, in 1994, of the icon who changed America's beliefs about what a woman of style, power, and influence could accomplish "behind the throne" of men whose careers changed the course of history.
During her tumultuous life, she zealously guarded her privacy and her secrets, but in the wake of her death, more and more revelations have emerged about her frustrations, her rage, her passions, her towering strengths, and her delicate fragility, which she hid from the glare of the world behind oversized sunglasses. Within this posthumous biography, a three-dimensional woman emerges through the compilation of some 1,000 eyewitness testimonials from men and women who knew her over a period of decades.
The public epitome of charm, grace, and elegance, the private, chain-smoking Jackie was known for her sharp wit and her acid tongue, dissing some of the great men and women she encountered. Examples include such figures as Nancy Reagan (“I heard she used to give the best head in Hollywood when she was a starlet at MGM”); Queen Elizabeth II (“pompous, stuffy, a heavy trip, and seriously pissed off at me for turning on Philip”); or Martin Luther King, Jr. (“a terrible man and a tricky, phony, skirt-chaser and race baiter”).
This outspoken testimonial to the flimsier side of Camelot contains a cornucopia of gossip and intrigue, including details about Jackie’s scandalous love affairs with her two brothers-in-law (Bobby and Teddy), and her penchant for movie star seductions (Warren Beatty, Paul Newman, William Holden).
Also detailed are her famous feuds with Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe, and Maria Callas; her almost unknown love affairs with Spain’s greatest matador and with Peter Lawford; her night in Georgetown coping with LBJ’s aborted seduction; her friend Rudolf Nureyev’s pursuit of both her and Bobby; her interchanges with Lem Billings, JFK’s homosexual “First Friend” whom Bobby defined as “Jack’s other wife”); her blood feud with Christina Onassis; her sibling rivalry with Lee Radziwill; her illicit affair with a senator nicknamed “Gorgeous George; her love-hate relationship with Frank Sinatra; and her Italian fling with Fiat’s kingpin, Gianni Agnelli, who taught her all about La Dolce Vita during the summer of 1962.
Conceived in direct and sometimes defiant contrast to the avalanche of more breathlessly respectful testimonials to the life and legacy of “America’s Queen,” this book is the latest installment in Blood Moon’s endlessly irreverent BABYLON series.
Anonymous
Posted Sun Jun 08 00:00:00 EDT 2014
If you want to read gossip about Jackie Kennedy, this is the book for you. Nothing is cited, there is no indication where this information came from, and quotes are used when only two people, both dead, were im the room. That being said, Darein Porter must have heard a lot of gossip in his day and he wrote it all down. Do I think he made up the stories in this book? No, but I do think they are exaggerated a lot. According to Porter, Jackie slept with everybody and had a great time doing it. So if you like a racy story where famous people crawl in and out of bed, and you take this with a ver large grain of salt, you will find this a fun read.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Fri Jul 11 00:00:00 EDT 2014
Thought this book would be factual history about JFK and Jackie Kennedy and not a bunch of gossip regarding their sex lives with numerous partners. Would not recommend reading this book. Save your money!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Randall_Sherman
Posted Tue Jun 17 00:00:00 EDT 2014
This is a wretched book. Unfortunately, there were no previous reviews to read and I took a chance. Bad idea.
This book is filled with nothing but sex and gossip. I am already 200 pages in and sick of it all and can’t see finishing the book at this point as it really has nothing to say except expose and scandal. I was hoping for a book with some history and context, but the writers are obsessed with nothing but detailing affairs and sexual trysts. Everyone is lowered as a result and you cannot come away from this book without despising all involved – JKF, Jackie, and all down the line. It is such a smear job as sex is the unrelenting theme - particularly homosexual sex which the writers make clear that everyone was involved with at some point (must be a personal preference). Each new section begins with a discussion of repeated sordid events that have no uplifting ideas to offer.
It’s a disgrace that such books are written and especially presented as literature for the reading public. What could the authors possibly be thinking by writing such inflammatory and unverifiable stories? As the most recent reviewer noted, very little is sourced and must have been placed in the book for titillation or personal fulfillment. I don’t like greedy or ambitious people like this.
Stay away from this one. The writers have made a long career on writing such trash as you can easily discover.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Fri Jul 18 00:00:00 EDT 2014
I have read many books and this one is particularly detailed. It mentions all the characters involved in her life, not just a phase of it.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Fri Jun 27 00:00:00 EDT 2014
The authors seemed to have compiled every tidbit of gossip ever written, or for that matter thought about Jack & Jackie Kennedy...with a few facts/validated info thrown in for good measure...and placed it between a book cover. Amateurish writing combined with so-called "conversations" between characters and their "inner-most thoughts" places this book right up there with Confidential magazine of years past...though the latter-mentioned had fewer grammatical and typographical errors....With that being said - an easy & relaxing read for those who are interested in the White House as the setting for Caligula's reign.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Fri Jun 27 00:00:00 EDT 2014
Should of been titled Jackie's Sex Life.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Wed Sep 24 00:00:00 EDT 2014
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Overview
God had a talent for creating exceptional women—Helen of Troy and Cleopatra come to mind. So does Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, who lives again in this "warts-and-all" portrait. It's being released on the 20th anniversary of the tragic death, in 1994, of the icon who changed America's beliefs about what a woman of style, power, and influence could accomplish "behind the throne" of men whose careers changed the course of history.
During her tumultuous life, she zealously ...