IN LOVE WITH NIGHT : The American Romance with Robert Kennedy

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: I feel the author did a first rate job in presenting the complex personality of Robert Kennedy to the reader. Bobby's father always felt that finishing first was paramount. If you finish second in anything, you might as well finish last. When Brother John was elected president Bobby considered himself to be a deputy president. After John's assassination, Bobby not only felt abandoned, but to think his enemy, Lyndon Johnson, now had the gall to be in his brother's place festered within him. Bobby accepted the Warren Commission's belief of the assassination because he felt Jack's image would be shattered if an investigation dug too deeply which may have uncovered the CIA's efforts to kill Castro and Jack's sharing a mistress with a Mafia leader. Bobby also felt a tremendous amount of guilt because he felt Jack's death to be retribution for his (Bobby's) harrassment of the Mafia. Bobby had a hateful side which he showed to Lyndon Johnson and Senator Eugene McCarthy and a compassionate side which he demonstrated to the downtrowden. As other Kennedys in more recent years Bobby took unnecessary risks, but as he said, "I really don't care about anything happening to me. This really isn't such a happy existence, is it?" The author doesn't believe the 1960's would have been any different had the Kennedys lived. What became Lyndon Johnson's war would have been Jack Kennedy's war. In addition, it was no sure thing that Bobby Kennedy would have been elected president had he lived. Lyndon Johnson accomplished more in the area of civil rights than either of the Kennedys would have pushed for. He, like his brother, had charisma, and we look upon both more highly than if they had lived. As poet A.E. Houseman wrote, in "To An Athlete Dying Young", "Smart lad to slip betimes away from fields where glory does not stay, and early though the laurel grows it withers quicker than the rose...Now you will not swell the rout of lads that wore their honors out. Runners whom renown outran and the name died before the man." Buy the book. It belongs in your bookcase.

Rating:
Summary: On the money
Review: I read this book right after I read, "The Last Patrician", another "sort of" biography of Robert Kennedy. I found "In Love With Night", to be a much better read. The language is less pompous, and the book stays more on the subject of Robert Kennedy. Kennedy was a dificult man-dificult to like, dificult to be around, dificult to understand. This book presents the facts and leaves the conclusions to the reader. A good book for anyone interested in the mystique and myth built up around the life of Robert Kennedy.

Rating:
Summary: Shamefull!!
Review: it's one of the worst book about RFK, The purpose of this book is evidently to tarnish and destroy the
memory and legacy of Bobby Kennedy, who was a great man like his beloved brother Jack. he was nice and not tough.
don't buy it, but buy more realize books like: RFK and his time, a common good..

Rating:
Summary: A BIT OF A LET DOWN
Review: Robert Kennedy was my very first hero as a child. Although I enjoyed to some degree the psychological portrait of the man, I was very perturbed by the author's contention that the Attorney General in any way engineered his brother's death. To suggest such a thing is to suggest pure madness as RFK was absolutely devoted to his brother and often sublimated his own identity during his Attorney General years so as to better serve his brother. I found that concept preposterous and completely without merit. Robert Kennedy was the only one of the brothers that I liked and I believed he had a lot of personal integrity, moral conviction and certainly a brave one. He met personal goals and was an extremely hard worker who had a lot to show for his efforts. In some way I feel this book trivialized his political career. Robert Kennedy is an interesting man in his own right and I think much more interesting than any of his brothers. I really felt somewhat disappointed in this book.

Rating:
Summary: Kennedy as machiavelli
Review: Steel drives home his point that the kennedy myth is a product of concerted manipulation of the American public. While clearly this is partially true it isn't necessarily the whole story. For a more balanced life of Bobby Kennedy check out Evan Thomas' more recent biography. This book while interesting grew tiresome for me as a result of the consistent focus on the darker side of Bobby's personality. Thomas gives that element more proportional treatment and allows the light to shine through.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing New Here
Review: The purpose of In Love With Night is to examine both the legacy of Robert Kennedy, and America's continued fascination with his tragic family. It does this by giving a biography of the man through the lens of the times in which he lived. Particular emphasis is given on his relationships with his father and his brother Jack, but the meat of the book is the conflict between the 'good Bobby' and the 'bad Bobby'. According to Steel, Bobby Kennedy was not the angel everyone thought he was. No big surprise there. After all, who was the angel everyone thought they were? In the end, this book seems to be about how Ronald Steel thinks the Kennedys are overrated. Again, no big surprise. Skip this one and read any of the far better books on RFK and his family.

Rating:
Summary: Skip This One...
Review: The purpose of this book is evidently to tarnish and destroy the
memory and legacy of Bobby Kennedy. It is far too negative, picking away at his image with every chapter. It is too harsh in its analysis of RFK, insinuating that all of his deeds and actions had selfish, ulterior motives behind them, and even goes so far as to refer to his followers during his presidential campaign as "animals," something I found to be totally inexcusable. My question is what was the point in writing this book in the first place? No, Bobby Kennedy was not a perfect man, but he was a good man. After reading this book, you might find yourself feeling displeased, or downright angry. Save yourself the hassle- go read a better book about RFK.

Rating:
Summary: The Art of Assuming
Review: We all know the saying, when you assume you make an (butt) out of you and me. Ronald Steel wrote a book about assumptions, which is bad enough. He tries to use the legend of RFK to predict vitality as a President and a man. However, he is unable to stay focused enough to present his case until the last nine pages.

Except for the last nine pages, the book is a very concise biography of Kennedy with a derogatory slant. Steel is critical of JFK's Presidency, making the suggestion that he would have been a forgettable president had he not been assassinated first. While Bay of Pigs was a failure, I suppose the Cuban Missle Crisis was unimportant in American history. Avoiding nuclear war is not important to Mr. Steel. The book suggests the legendary status JFK was exulted to was the only reason we even know of RFK. Steel goes on to suggest that Robert Kennedy was obsessed with his brother in the year following JFK's assassination. I suspect Mr. Steel would suggest Robert should be over his brother's death in a week's time. I would like to send Mr. Steel a copy of the Kubler-Ross's Stages of Dying.

My favorite assumption by Steel is that the primary reason RFK ran for President was because he wanted to be JFK. He makes Robert out to be like an obsessive stalker. Is it possible that RFK felt he had something to give the country as President? Or maybe he had something to prove being in his brother's shadow for so long?

The last nine pages, where Steel explains his thesis, is servicable for toilet paper. What is your vendetta against RFK, Mr. Steel? Robert Kennedy may not have won the nomination of his party, but RFK's very campaign stance is proclaimed hypocritical. Having apparently not cared for African-American rights during his tenure as attorney general, it is suggested that he only campaigned on the issue to get the votes. The portrayal of good Bobby/bad Bobby split personality is simplistic and inaccurate way for some to label Bobby coming out of his brother's shadow. He could not win, he was either mourning too long or trying too hard to establish his own identity. RFK encompassed the hopes of many Americans and had ideas to change America. He never had the opportunity to prove himself. Maybe he is not worthy of the legendary status he has gained in American history. However, people do change and can emerge with new priorities in their lives. I would hope Ronald Steel changes his career.

Rating:
Summary: Unbalanced Picture
Review: Why do people seem to find it necessary to focus on the dark aspects of a person? I think that's an important question to ask of this book. Steel seems only interested in deconstructing Bobby Kennedy. No consideration is paid to the positive parts (of which there are many) of the man and his legacy. I felt that Steel was merely writing the book to sound clever or different. I really didn't see much substance.