Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration

Rating:
Summary: A comprehensive & in depth look into the Camelot White House
Review: A wonderful book that gives you every little detail in the entire restoration project of the White House. The color coded floor plans at the beginning of each chapter really let you picture where they are in the White House and how it all flows together as a building. I especially enjoyed the photos of the private residences and reproductions of handwritten notes and Christmas cards.

Rating:
Summary: Classic Lady, Classic Designer, Classic Book.
Review: James Abbott and Elaine Rice have documented the blueprinting and designing of much more than rooms in the White House. The title says it all. Camelot was about all things Kennedy Administration. Navy suits and Limousines were younger and more progressive. Presentations on the lawn for visiting heads of states by far surpassed the ho-hum receptions at the train station. No detail of Camelot, the White House public rooms and the family quarters escaped scrutiny of Jackie, Sister Parrish and Boudin. Jackie even designed the ash stands with Boudin's help.

I don't understand the criticism of this book as dry or wordy. It's a book. It's a narrative, not a coffee table book. Tomes have been printed and documented of the restored rooms, before and after. The photos are what they were. In this world of colorized movies, Photoshopped magazine covers and remastered music, Abbott and Rice have given us the plain unvarnished way it was, warts and all. I found the background very interesting. It was a collaborative effort between the committee, Jackie, Sister Parrish and Boudin, with a giant does of Henry duPont thrown in. Any one person could have completely changed the way the great house looked, but Jackie rescued the building from it's Gimbell's basement look. It remains generally true to her vision, even though eight First Ladies have imprinted on it. This country would not exist if not for the help of France during the Revolution. It influenced this country greatly and I see nothing wrong with the influence. No one criticized Mamie Eisenhower for the his and hers tvs in the wall or the Mamie Pink.

I enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: not enough for the money
Review: The writing is dry. The pictures are not the best and it fails to show whnat the White House looked like before the restoration. Everyone says that it looked horrible so why not give the reader a taste of what was so wrong with it? If you can find the White House guidebook that was produced to pay for the restoration read that instead. It has much betters photos.