–Publishers Weekly

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A Kennedy specialist, Taraborrelli has written six books on the family, yet this is the first on JFK. Americans have idolized subsequent presidents for their political views, but Kennedy and his circle’s glamour captivated the world. The author states bluntly that Kennedy was assigned the goal of being president by his father, a wealthy, fiercely ambitious Democrat with eyes on the 1940 election who ruined his career when, as ambassador to Britain, early in the war he repeatedly warned FDR not to support a decrepit nation sure to lose to the Nazis. He transferred his ambition to John, who, after well-publicized heroism in the South Pacific, was elected to the House in 1947, Senate in 1953, and presidency in 1960. Taraborrelli is not the first to disparage his political acumen. Kennedy shared the average voter’s fierce anti-communism, kept silent on McCarthyism, and paid little attention to the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement until forced to deal with it as president. Taraborrelli gives priority to his personal life, a disturbing experience for most readers, although his sexual appetite is old news. Plagued throughout life by crippling back pain, he often required crutches, underwent several unsuccessful spinal operations, and patronized dubious personal physicians who kept him going with injections of amphetamines and painkillers. A serial adulterer, JFK’s father had no objection to the son’s behavior but insisted that anyone he married be suitable for a presidential candidate; Jacqueline met his approval, although neither she nor Jack were in love. Most readers will be shocked at how badly he treated her after their 1953 marriage; she seriously considered divorce, although by his years as president they had achieved a deep affection. Other biographers, led by Robert Dallek, delve more deeply into politics, but Taraborrelli nonetheless has written a commendable history.

An excellent biography of the 35th president.

– Kirkus Reviews

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VERDICT Bestselling biographer Taraborrelli provides a unique perspective on JFK’s character and evolution, making this a riveting exploration for the millions of readers still fascinated by the Kennedy family’s dynamics and legacy.

–Library Journal

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– Publishers Weekly

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Taraborrelli’s nearly 25 years of research and interviewing sheds new light on every phase of Jacqueline Bouvier’s life, including her marriages to John F. Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis; the sacrifices and choices she made when establishing her publishing career; fits, starts, and ends with various lovers in the wakes of those marriages; and her relationships with her rakish, adoring father, John “Black Jack” Bouvier, domineering but loving mother, Janet Bouvier Auchincloss, and doting, reliable stepfather, Hugh D. Auchincloss. Taraborrelli spares readers from slogging through a conventional chronology, instead offering detailed vignettes in tandem with the necessary facts from his subject’s life that inform and enlighten. He details Jackie’s decidedly weird relationship with her sister, Lee, a sibling rivalry involving their attractions to love, money, and power. He elegantly portrays how the horrifying trauma of the assassination of JFK and Jackie’s attempts to reconcile the bizarre cocktail of tawdriness and genuine affection of their marriage were always under the surface. The author also capably describes Jackie’s efforts to restore and revitalize Lafayette Park, the White House, and Grand Central Station as metaphors for her own self-improvement, independence, and growth as a modern woman in the latter half of the 20th century. Taraborrelli’s firsthand knowledge of Jackie’s career in publishing, which underscored her lifelong literary sensibility, enlivens the tale, and his descriptions of Jackie’s editorial work with the likes of Michael Jackson—and her attempt to sign Frank Sinatra to write an autobiography (which dredged up uncomfortable truths about the company kept by JFK)—make clear the overwhelming intersection of power, celebrity, and fame in which Jackie found herself. The author understatedly conveys the many heretofore-unknown details of Jackie’s “secret” life without resorting to lurid or salacious sensationalism.

An absorbing and comprehensive account of one of the most remarkable women of the 20th century.

– Kirkus Reviews

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Taraborrelli, the author of glitzy celebrity bios of the Kennedys, the Hiltons, Marilyn Monroe, and Beyoncé, has his work cut out for him in finding intrigue in the Bush story—this isn’t Camelot territory—but he digs deep and locates plenty of interesting details. Early on, the author explores the psychic consequences of Barbara Bush’s growing up under the oversight of a clinically depressed, critical mother. He shows a particular fondness for the older George’s wealthy, spirited mother, Dorothy, or Dotty, “the most misunderstood of the Bush women” and “a feminist before the word was coined.” The author is ambivalent about the “more conventional” Barbara: He admires her ability to recover from a depression, triggered in part by the loss of a child, that lasted for decades but annoyed by her apparent willingness to tolerate her husband’s alleged decadeslong affair with another woman. Taraborrelli has a soft spot for Laura Bush, whose life was shaped by a tough childhood in rural Texas and a tragic incident during her teen years, when the car she was driving caused the death of a classmate. While the focus of the book is on these three women, the author also branches out to other women more tangentially connected to power and, inevitably, the political lives of the men they married. As in previous books, Taraborrelli doesn’t shy from clichés—e.g., “verdant lawn” and “strong as an ox” appear on a single page. Writing in dozens of brief, punchy chapters and making good use of ample research, including many interviews with those who worked in the households of the various branches of the family, the author assembles a colorful mosaic of lives that didn’t always fit comfortably together.

Taraborrelli gives the Bushes the royal treatment.

– Kirkus Review

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–Publishers Weekly

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https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/j-randy-taraborrelli/the-kennedy-heirs/

The post KIRKUS REVIEWS THE KENNEDY HEIRS appeared first on J Randy Taraborrelli.

“Taraborrelli is highly effective at describing this sisterly dynamic. [But] for all the sisters’ dramatics, the true star of this particular show is decidedly neither the directionless Lee nor the determined Jackie. It is, in fact, the third figure in the book: Janet Bouvier Auchincloss. Taraborrelli brings her to splendid, renewed life. His trick of turning incidents into highly colored tableaus threaded with dialogue makes excellent use of well-trodden material. By today’s reckoning, Janet was a monster of a mother; but Taraborrelli paints her with a kind of superb pathos. These women dealt in surfaces but that doesn’t mean they lacked depth. They made no achievements by any modern standard, but this deliciously readable book is not in the business of judging: it knows its value better than that.”

–New York Times

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New York Times best-selling biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, who has recently published a new book titled “Jackie, Janet & Lee,” revealed unearthed letters penned by the former first lady alleging her mother was the victim of elder abuse.

Jackie O, who died in 1994 at age 64 from cancer, feared her mother, Janet Lee Auchincloss, was a victim. Citing letters, the book claims Kennedy was sure her mom’s third husband, Bingham Morris, was mistreating her.

Read More Here

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