Reviews (10)

Amusing, mezmerizing, campy, hypnotic
I simply couldn't put this book down. Kostenbaum's charming analysis of Jackie O's celebrity is dazzling, eccentric and riveting. This book is by no means a biography; rather, the author introduces us to the Jackie of his imagination. Kostenbaum's highly personal essays tranform Jackie-watching from a mere sport into a delightful intellectual and spiritual excercise. It is truly a pleasure to read a book by an author who treats his subject with such playfulness and affection. However, certain Jackie fans might consider such treatment sacreligious and are not likely to enjoy this book.

supercharged koestenbaum!
While not the singular masterpiece that his "The Queen's Throat" remains, "Jackie Under My Skin" is an engaging, visceral, punchy romp through a classic American icon and an endearing ideal, while being at the same time a great deal more. Koestenbaum's theme remains the search surrounding our dilemma, he's a master of disguise that ends revealing everything . This book immediately goes under YOUR skin when you read it-- Koestenbaum's famous 5000 eyes see everything and keep everything balanced and bright. His literary sense is overpowering. The words leap and bite and nearly drown you sometimes. Koestenbaum's version of reality is clean and robust; this is a writer in jaw-dropping command of his thought. The prose is often downright shocking. Koestenbaum's preference to explore the threads of existence and suffering in a uniquely devoted way marks him out among modern writers, and he's an academic, as well; riding a single vein, a single notion, into the most perfect art, he is all about genius and the so-called redemptive aspects of literature, without ever leaving the most modern, most natural sensibility. His work is marvelous to READ. I would commend to you everything this fellow has written, especially "The Queen's Throat", but this book on Jackie is awfully fine.

FUN FACTS
Funny categories on our beloved Jackie. A book that one cannot possibly put down and definitly cannot forget. A Real treasure!!!!!! FOR QUESTIONS OR DISCUSSIONS ON JACKIE ONASSIS, PLEASE E-MAIL ME AT MellissaLD@aol.com. HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unbelievably penetrating analysis of our finest First Lady
Talk about deconstruction! This book both unravels and revels in the mystery of the divine Jackie O. Koestenbaum is obviously deeply reverential toward his subject matter, and although his fanciful writing sometimes veers to the extreme, leaving the reader a bit side-swiped in the process, the journey is exhilirating. Although often flippant in tone, this book is ultimately spiritual in nature, an astute dissection of perhaps our greatest modern American legend.

Koestenbaum creates his own genre
Koestenbaum's book is combustible, flamboyant, a marvel. He is a poet-essayist who has taken as his subject here something about which he truly feels passion, and the object of this affection just happens to be a well-known cultural icon, someone from America of the 1960s but not of it, a hieroglyphic who after her reign as First Lady ended reinvented herself completely several times over before Madonna ever thought of it, all without ever discussing herself or even acknowledging the power of her own celebrity. Other than Salinger, she may be one of the last U.S. icons, since an icon, by nature, does not speak about itself. Koestenbaum's love for Jackie O is unbounded; one can only imagine that she, editor and wordsmith that she finally became, would have appreciated Koestenbaum's wild exploration of her images. This book is funny and provocative, whether or not you know anything about Jackie! But as the other reviews here would suggest, Jackie lovers should stand forewarned -- they probably won't like this book. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Christopher Andersen chronicles the childhoods of both Jack Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy and then examines the fabled marriage--a great American love story, as he calls it. Andersen suggests that had it not been for reasons of personal gain, the two would never have married. She would never have married him if he hadn't been rich, and he would never have married her if his father hadn't insisted for career reasons. Andersen, who has also authored books on Madonna and Mick Jagger, contends that Jackie's sheer glamour and poise helped maintain the illusion, even in the most difficult of times. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

A speed-freak in the White House:How grand
This is a little light and PEOPLE magazine-y in parts.But every now and then the author slips the needle in and lets you know he knows more than he's letting on.The catty remarks by Gore Vidal spice things up. I particularly liked the account of Kennedy's personal physician, Dr. Max Jacobson -- the legendary "Dr. Feelgood." Four times a week, right up until the assassination, the Doc was shooting Kennedy up with a special concoction; 25% vitamins and 75% pure dexedrine.Isn't it nice to know we had a speed-freak tweaker in the White House with his twitching fingers on The Button?(Funny how they didn't teach me these stuff in 6th grade History class.)Beneath Jack Kennedy's "vigorous, youthful" facade was a sickly man. And the same can be said for the whole shiney, air-brushed "Kennedy myth" and the rot just underneath the surface.They don't call it "the Kennedy curse" for nothing. Truly, the Kennedys are one of the sickest families to ever inflict themselves on the American body.

Spectacular
A fast read.Many details and secrets that probably would not have been published if either of them were alive.

I never really knew!!
This book brought to light so many things that I never really knew.Concerning, love, drugs, children and affairs.It was a great book, but I found the last 20 pages or so to be the most captivating.This book left me with a sad feeling, because the Kennedy's were finally beginning to truly love each other when JFK was shot.This just goes to show that life isn't always fair.This was a great book that I would recommend for anyone to read.

WONDERFUL
A fabulous account of the childhoods and marriage of Jack and JackieKennedy. Fantastic pictures of the famous couple. A Wonderful read!!!! FORQUESTIONS OR DICUSSIONS ON JACKIE ONASSIS, PLEASE E-MAIL ME ATMellissaLD@aol.com. HPOE TO HEAR FROM YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Extremely Interesting, Very Informative
As someone who was born in 1977, all that I know of the "Camelot" era has come to me second and thirdhand. This book was great at setting to rest some of the myths surrounding this famous coupleand also presented some information I hadn't seen anywhere else about theirprivate lives in the White House. I discovered many things about Jackie'slife growing up that I did not know previously, and how those eventsfactored into her decision to marry JFK.

Sometimes the author's narrativestyle can be jarring ("'And what would be wrong with,' she askedcoyly, 'that?'") but I do not find the dialogues related to beunrealistic. It was rather like reading a transcript of an extra-longepisode of A & E's "Biography" television show. The book isan engaging account of a typical high-society marriage with a tragic"what might have been in this marriage" twist resulting from Mr.Kennedy's assasination so soon after the death of their baby brought thetwo much closer together. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
This is a heartwarming story. This book is about Sandra Day O'Connor in the early years, late years and the politic years. This story may tell you somethings you never new about Justice O'Connor it told me somethings I never new. Read lots about Justice O'Connor in this book. ... Read more

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Michigan Law Review, published by Michigan Law Review Association on May 1, 2003. The length of the article is 7390 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Lazy B; The Forgotten Memoir of John Knox; & Some Memories of a Long Life: 1854-1911.
Author: Laura Krugman Ray
Publication: Michigan Law Review (Refereed)
Date: May 1, 2003
Publisher: Michigan Law Review Association
Volume: 101Issue: 6Page: 2103(15)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A Good Read, but be prepared for the ugly truth...
...that JFK's Presidency and marriage to Jackie were not romantic fairytales. Heymann has done an impressive amount of interviews and research, and while some readers may argue with his interpretation of certain events, there's no doubt that he's done his homework. This book follows Jackie from her surprisingly unhappy childhood, which was marked by an ugly divorce between her dashing yet womanizing and big-spending father and her uptight, social-climbing and rather cold mother. Jackie was a definite daddy's girl - she adored her father and never seemed to care too much for her mother or the second man she married, wealthy stockbroker Hugh Auchincloss. Thereafter comes the familiar story - she grows into a beautiful and sophisticated young woman (who emphasizes her father's French ancestry and ignores her mother's Irish heritage), attends the best women's private schools in the US and France, becomes engaged to a nice yet boring young stockbroker; but then breaks off the engagement when she begins dating a sexy and exciting US Senator who just happens to come from a wealthy family - John F. Kennedy. Then comes the high-society wedding, the rocky marriage (made so by Jack's constant cheating and Jackie's aloofness from her in-laws), her glamorous tour as First Lady, the assassination, and finally her controversial marriage to the crude yet wealthy Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. Although Heymann tries to be objective and fair to his subject, the book does seem to emphasize the flaws and dark sides of Jack and Jackie. Some readers who have a romantic view of Jackie may not want to read this book, as it will definitely destroy your romantic view of her. Yet while she had her flaws, there's no denying her now-legendary poise during her husband's funeral or her outstanding role in raising her two children to be good citizens and good people. Overall, this is an engrossing warts-and-all biography of one of the most famous women of the twentieth century.

Much, much better than I had expected
As a British reader born after the 1960s I did not really know that much about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. A friend gave me this book and I began to read it out of a sense of duty. By the end of the first chapter I was hooked! I thought this was an exceptionally well written and researched biography that gives a very balanced view of a fascinating personality and period. The background to the Onassis wedding and the sections on JFK are especially good. It has left me wanting to read more about America in the 60s.

Fascinating!
This gives you everything you've ever wanted to know about Jackie Onasis. It also mentions on the first page that Jackie's mother's family were "lace curtain Irish." Many people mistakenly believe that Jackie was all French, but she was actually half French. Her mother's family emigrated from Cork, Ireland, and her grandfather had a rags to riches story. That wealth is the main reason that Jack Bouvier married Jackie's mother, Janet Lee. The whole book is exciting, and I would recommend it to anyone.

If you've never read on Jackie, PLEASE buy this!
I bought this book about five years ago at my local bookstore just out of curiosity. I liked the cover and the price and I've always like biographies. I had seen the mini-series on the book and so I was interested in reading the book. I seriously could not put it down! Like all biographies, the first two or three chapters were sort of boring, but once it started talking about Jackie's childhood and beyond...well, what can I say...ever since, I've been a "Jackie" fan. I really fell in love with her character and her style. She had to put up with so much in life and she endured such loss and heartache in life, yet she remained a rock in crisis until her tragic death. It has been said that she taught the world how to mourn during the death and burial of her first husband, President John F. Kennedy. This saying is so true. She mourned with elegance and grace and yet the world embraced her and still embraces her memory even four years after her own death. ! ! She truly is a legend and one of the most famous women who has ever walked this earth. This book will really open your eyes to a beautiful lady who was extremely intelligent and classy....A Woman Named Jackie.

A thorough account of Jackie O's life - the good and the bad
Through the author's detailed investigations, Jackie's life unfolds with all its complexities as one of the century's most famous lifestory. Here you can catch a glimpse of the "real" Jackie in excerpts of actual conversations and observations that the author was able to obtain from those who knew her on a personal level and those who watched from the sideline. The conspiracies and the tragedy of the Kennedy White House years can shock the reader. The Onassis years and her life of high society can also entertain the reader. At times, Jackie comes through, remaining unscathed and there is a sense of admiration for her. However, intimate details of Jackie's foibles can also generate criticism. This is a true biography of Jackie Kennedy Onassis and makes for entertaining as well as worthwhile reading in that you gain a proper perspective of who she really was. I highly recommend it. ... Read more

Book Description

This digital document, covering the life and work of Sandra Day O'Connor, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thomson Gale. The length of the entry is 1852 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Reviews (3)

Great for a small biography!
the biography is fairly good, and there are a few rare pictures.
I suggest it to all people who want to know a little bit about Jackie Kennedy. I suggest it to all kennedy's fans( for the pictures).
If you want to know more read: Jackie by Donald Spoto or Jackie by James Spada

Great book
This is a great book about all Jackies life.It seems to take you through her life.It takes you from her younger days in george town to her days to the white house.It takes you through her jet setting like life.If you like biographys,Jackie kennedy onassis,even people who travel this book will be great for you to read.

Great book
This book seems to take you all through jackies life.It explains how much she loved her children and how much she loved traveling.It seems to take you into her like jet setting life.Its a great book to read if you like jackie,biographys,exciting lives,or even people who travel alot ... Read more