Jackie Ethel Joan: Women of Camelot Abridged

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Summary: Taraborrelli's Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot
Review: The Editor and other reviewers have done an excellent job of reviewing this book, and I will only comment here on a few things. I agree with reviewers that Joan comes out as the hero of the book, but I think that the Kennedy women including Rose tell us something fundamental about the world in which we live. As a man, I consider that almost all of the women of the world deserve a Medal of Honor for the major role they play in civilization - as much as Field Marshalls Montgomery and Slim, whose books I have reviewed at Amazon.com. Joan Kennedy Taylor exemplifies the courage about which John F. Kennedy wrote in Profiles in Courage, although he restricted his book to men. Much of her character is excellently revealed in her 1992 book, the Joy of Classical Music, which the public should ask the publishers to reprint since it is out of print today. Like most women, Joan was under "enemy fire" most days of her life, and she not only survived but triumphed. Her alleged battle with alcoholism is no blemish on her character. The U.S. Veterans Administration (itself under fire with almost constant budget cuts) treats thousands of courageous men and women veterans of Vietnam and earlier conflicts with alcoholism and similar problems every day. Women like Joan bring us the best of classical music and indeed classical civilization. I am indebted to them beyond words.

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Summary: Read it, Cover-to-Cover
Review: The reason I decided to buy and read this book was because of all of these reviews on Amazon by interested readers. Most are positive, a few not. But it seemed like this book really touched people, moved them in some way. So, I wanted to be in on it, see what all of the talk was about. I was glad I decided to read it. I, too, felt strong emotions. Sometimes I was annoyed with the writing; it seemed too personal and I thought some of the revelations could have gone "un-revealed." Sometimes I was amazed; the research really is in-depth ... and who could be bothered to read all of those boring source notes? Mostly, I was entertained. What a great read! Three amazing women, so different yet so much alike. They endured so much. They reminded me of women in my own family. Was I educated? Probably not. I think that's asking too much of a book like this, after all this isn't a political biography of the Kennedys. It's about personal relationships ... families, not politics. I think if you want to read about politics, you should go elsewhere. But if you want to read aboutr real people -- strong women -- this is the book for you. Yes, it does read like a miniseries, and now I hear it's going to be one in the Fall of 2000. I think it'll be as good a miniseries as it is a book ... five stars. Great job.

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Summary: Excellent!
Review: I received this book as an Easter present! It was in my basket. What an odd gift for the Easter bunny to bring to me, huh? I'm half-way through it already and must say that I am enjoying it tremendously. I love the Kennedys; they're so fascinating as a family even though some of their politics have bothered me over the years. This is a primer course in Kennedy history. You get it all in a quick and easy read, everything from the Cuban Missile Crisis to the assassinations to the Bay of Pigs to Chappaqyiddick. All here and all done so well.

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Summary: Loads of fun, little substance
Review: I read this book cover to cover on a long flight and had a wonderful time with it. As light entertainment, it can't be beat. But I never took it seriously. It's a typical movie star bio, only the characters aren't movie stars. They are historical figures (senators, presidents, ambassadors) so I find the fact that some people took it seriously a little disturbing. I have read biographies before, a lot of them. That's how I know silliness and hokum when I read it. For example, there's a passage in here where a secret service agent recounts what Jackie and Joan are wearing 35 years after the fact as if he was an editor of Glamour magazine. He even comments on Jackie's brand of cigarettes, how many she smoked in a day and her cologne. I'm sorry, but I can't take that seriously. This book reads like a made for TV movie. Don't get me wrong. I loved it. But I took it as seriously as I would take a paperback romance novel. I suggest you put your desire for serious information about the Kennedys aside when you pick up this book and just enjoy it for what it is: a breezy, gossipy way to spend a few hours. Like indulging in a candy bar, it's fun, it hurts no one, but it has no real value.

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Summary: Yummy, Yummy, Yummy!
Review: Such fun! What a great book. Loved it. The writer made these women come to life for the first time, and not just superficially but with such amazing detail and vision. I couldn't resist it, even the gossipy parts. I heard that this is going to be an NBC miniseries in November. Now THAT should be fun!

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Summary: Excellent
Review: I have always admired Jackie Kennedy Onasis, but now, after reading this book I also have a new found respect for Joan and Ethel as well. An excellent read!

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Summary: A reader from Cheshire, CT
Review: A very entertaining read. I am thirty years old so most of the information was fairly new to me. It is amazing to me how awful/dysfunctional the Kennedy family truly was. The men were just terrible and the women appeared so pathetic. I know it was a different era but please! How Joan put up with that repulsive excuse for a husband is anybody's guess. If I married one of them, I'd become an alcoholic to! I also think Jackie came off as an incredible snob. It's amazing to me how people had looked up to her for so many years as such a paragon. She married for power the first time, money the second(I mean it really sounds as if she sold herself to Onasis). Then to top it all off, she carries on an affair with a married man for years until her death. This is suppossed to be a classy individual? I liked Joan. She is the Kennedy wife I knew the least about. She seems like the only true human being in the bunch. Good for her for divorcing that creep. I can't believe people still vote for that animal after knowing all there is to know about him. He seemed the worst of the three brothers and I truly can't stand him! I hope he gets what's coming to him someday.

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Summary: A Very Good Book
Review: I thought this was a good read with a lot of information that I didn't know before about three women I have long admired. I think the author did a great job of pulling together three very complicated stories, and I really enjoyed the way their lives weaved together. This could not have been an easy task, but author Taraborrelli did it. Jackie is my favorite here because of the way she assisted Joan in so many instances. Ethel is a tough nut to crack, but I think the author treated her as generously as possible and, when you think about what she has gone through in her life, her actions are more understandable. Joan does come out as the big winner in the end because she was the only one who really had to choose a destiny for her marriage (Ethel's and Jackie's choices were made for them by assassins.)So Joan is really a brave woman, which is something I didn't know about prior to reading this book. So if you want to learn new things about the Kennedys, this is a book I would recommend reading.

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Summary: Good Kennedys Book
Review: To me, it sounds like the critics of this book on these boards have never even read a biography before this one. What's with all the discussion about conversations between people being reconstructed. Big deal. Who cares? It's real clear to me how each scene was constructed based on who was in the room witnessing the conversation, or based on what one of the particpants in the conversation told someone else. I get the essence of what this book is about, anyway, and it's a great story that should be read. Buy this book! Jackie comes off like an angel sent to help Joan through such terrible ordeals. Yet, you also get it that she was a diva, herself, and that you wouldn't want to cross her. (Poor Judy Garland is taken to task in this book for interrupting Jackie while she paints!) Ethel is as complex as they come, always saying the wrong thing but always well-meaning. I loved Ethel in this book, and felt terrible for her when all of her dreams were dashed because of her husband's horrible murder. And Joan is the strong one, though she doesn't start out that way. At the beginning of the book, she has a lot of problems. She becomes an alcoholic due, at least in part, to her bad marriage but also her poor self-esteem. She sees herself as a victim, and that's what she is. (If Oprah was around then, she would have had Joan on her show!) But then when Jackie empowers Joan, Joan reinvents herself as the book's heroine. THIS is the way to live your life, I think, and the book really lays it all out for you. This author is pretty enlightened for a man. LOL. I learned a lot from reading about these women's experiences, and I'm glad the author passed it all on to me and the rest of his readers.

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Summary: Loved it!
Review: The relationships between the Kennedy women and their men is fascinating. I remember where I was when JFK was shot, but had forgotten that he was more than a decade older than Jackie. She was only thirty when she became first lady......of course, in the eighth grade that would've seemed ancient, so it's no wonder I didn't recall the info. Now, at 48 it seems nothing short of amazing.

This is a great book - written honorably, without smut. Just the facts, though some may not be pretty. A great read.