From Publishers Weekly
Eloquent is a strong word to apply to this collection of musings and quotes. Adler, editor of the bestselling The Kennedy Wit: The Humor and Wisdom of John F. Kennedy, has vacuumed up excerpts from Onassis’s letters, speeches and interviews along with recollected verbal asides to friends, heads of state and hairdressers, and has even included a portion of her will. The results are uninspiring. Onassis reflects on politics ("We should all do something to right the wrongs that we see and not just complain about them"), the arts ("Poets are the ones who change the world"), motherhood ("The things you do with your children you never forget") and the White House ("It’s like a hotel. Everywhere I look there is somebody standing around or walking down a hall"). Unsurprisingly, many of the snippets herein concern John F. Kennedy: she notes that "Jack was something special, and I know he saw something special in me too"; "My life revolves around my husband"; "I never told him anything or showed him anything unpleasant"; and "I would certainly not express any view that was not my husband’s." To her mother, she reportedly said that JFK "didn’t even have the satisfaction of being killed for civil rights. It had to be some silly little communist." Other bon mots include "The first time you marry for love, the second for money, and the third for companionship" and "I do love to live in style." The portrait that emerges is not a flattering one. But that may be a fault of the volume rather than its subject. Who among us would like to be remembered through a smattering of interview snippets and off-the-cuff remarks? Photos. One-hour DVD insert from A&E Biography not seen by PW.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Book Description
As her own words prove well, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis could be at times funny, buoyant, candid, irreverent, and of course poignant, too. This collection of quotes shares her thoughts on marriage, family, political life and ambition, publicity, privacy, and more as she confided them to intimate friends, family, and interviewers alike.
Memories of her childhood, her love for Jack, her children and grandchildren, the Kennedys, her often misunderstood marriage to Aristotle Onassis, her years as a widow, and her later companionship with Maurice Tempelsman are all represented here, as are some rather remarkable correspondences with the Johnsons, the Nixons, and the Khrushchevs.
A sampling of her wit and wisdom:
"I was a tomboy. I decided to learn to dance and I became feminine."
"Well, I think my biggest achievement is that, after going through a rather difficult time, I consider myself comparatively sane."
"When Harvard men say they have graduated from Radcliffe, then we've made it."
"If Jack proved to be the greatest president of the century and his children turned out badly, it would be a tragedy."
Forty years ago, when the nation was coming out from under a period of mourning, Bill Adler edited The Kennedy Wit and in so doing helped the world remember a man and a president, not just a sorrowful event. To commemorate the tenth anniversary of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's death, he has edited yet another book of quotes celebrating life -- this time the life of Jackie.
The accompanying DVD documentary is considered by many to be the definitive film biography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and was produced by CBS News Productions for Arts & Entertainment Network.
About the Author
Bill Adler is the editor of four New York Times bestselling books, including The Kennedy Wit, and is also the president of Bill Adler Books, Inc., a New York literary agency whose clients have included Mike Wallace, Dan Rather, President George W. Bush, Bob Dole, Larry King, and Nancy Reagan.
The Eloquent Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Portrait in Her Own Words (With a Fifty-Minutes DVD Insert from A&E Biography) FROM THE PUBLISHER
As her own words prove well, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis could be at times funny, buoyant, candid, irreverent, and of course poignant, too. This collection of quotes shares her thoughts on marriage, family, political life and ambition, publicity, privacy, and more as she confided them to intimate friends, family, and interviewers alike.
Memories of her childhood, her love for Jack, her children and grandchildren, the Kennedys, her often misunderstood marriage to Aristotle Onassis, her years as a widow, and her later companionship with Maurice Tempelsman are all represented here, as are some rather remarkable correspondences with the Johnsons, the Nixons, and the Khrushchevs.
A sampling of her wit and wisdom:
"I was a tomboy. I decided to learn to dance and I became feminine."
"Well, I think my biggest achievement is that, after going through a rather difficult time, I consider myself comparatively sane."
"When Harvard men say they have graduated from Radcliffe, then we've made it."
"If Jack proved to be the greatest president of the century and his children turned out badly, it would be a tragedy."
Forty years ago, when the nation was coming out from under a period of mourning, Bill Adler edited The Kennedy Wit and in so doing helped the world remember a man and a president, not just a sorrowful event. To commemorate the tenth anniversary of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's death, he has edited yet another book of quotes celebrating life — this time the life of Jackie.
The accompanying DVD documentary is considered by many to be the definitivefilm biography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and was produced by CBS News Productions for Arts & Entertainment Network.
FROM THE CRITICS
VOYA - Florence H. Munat
In 1964, Adler compiled an anthology of quotations from John F. Kennedy as an antidote to the grief that millions felt after Kennedy's assassination. Now ten years after the death of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, he compiles a similar volume of quotes from the former first lady. Most entries are short and require minimal explanation and others demand none at all. They come from public interviews and speeches, books and magazine articles by Jackie, and her letters. Letters written to Nikita Khrushchev, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard and Pat Nixon after JFK's death are gracious and poignant. The book is organized chronologically and topically (School Days, Early Career, 1960 Presidential Campaign, White House Restoration, The Funeral, Camelot, Children, Marriage to Aristotle Onassis, On Her Own Again). The majority of the book concerns Jackie's years with John Kennedy, including her determination to create a private, restorative home life for him and their children; her struggles with being a public figure; her desire to turn the White House into a historically restored, art-filled place; her composure during her husband's funeral; and her consequent emotional devastation, which lasted for years. The book could be read at a single sitting, but it is better spread out over several sessions to appreciate the remarkable evolution of the shy young wife thrust into the public eye to an elegant wise woman who has experienced life's happinesses and tragedies. The book comes with a DVD, Jackie O: In a Class of Her Own, which is part of A & E's Biography series. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P M J S A/YA (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High,defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult-marketed book recommended for Young Adults). 2004, William Morrow/HarperCollins, 246p.; Photos., Ages 11 to Adult.
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