Jackie Oh!

by Kitty Kelley, Joanna Puchalska (Translator)

Jackie Oh! is the first truly intimate biography of the complex and contradictory personality who is Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. As the child of a bitter divorce brought up in socially impeccable but not opulent surroundings, she experienced real wealth and power upon her marriage to John F. Kennedy. As President and First Lady they brought glamour, youth and excitement to the White House. His assassination 1000 days later and her grace during that tragedy elevated her to revered status. For five years she was named the most admired woman in the world. Then the pedestal cracked with her marriage to Aristotle Onassis, the Greek billionaire. Still she remained the cynosure of international fascination and one of the legendary women of the 20th century.
The author, Kitty Kelley, had extraordinary access to many Kennedy and Onassis intimates, including family members, who provided details never before made public about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, her relationship to her family, her marriage to John F. Kennedy, the other women in his life, and the dissolution of her marriage to Aristotle Onassis.
Written with insight the book became an immediate New York Times best seller.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Politics, Biography Memoir, Kennedy Family

367 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 12, 1979

About the author

Kitty Kelley is an American investigative journalist and author of several best-selling unauthorized biographies of celebrities and politicians. Described as a "poison pen" biographer, her profiles frequently contain unflattering personal anecdotes and details, and their accuracy is often questioned. Though many of her books have topped the best sellers list, Kelley's credibility and sources have been called into question multiple times.

Time magazine reported that most journalists believe Kelley "too frequently fails to bring perspective or analysis to the fruits of her reporting and at times lards her work with dollops of questionable inferences and innuendos." In addition, Kelley has been described by Joe Klein as a "professional sensationalist" and her books have been described as "Kitty litter."

Her past subjects have included Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Reagan, the British Royal Family, and the Bush family. Although Kelley has been criticized and her books hotly debated, she has never been successfully sued for libel and has never been forced to retract a written statement.

Reviews

[Orry Farrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

JACKIE OH NO YOU DIDN'T!
She was not a nice lady..... that's an understatement. Snobby and entitled. At those two, she was a consummate professional. Her motto was obviously " better living through older men with tons of money "........ well, there's an admirable life goal! The First lady was no lady. She spoke horribly of people behind their backs, treated staff as "the lesser people", and spent millions of dollars on nobody but herself. JFK and Aristotle Onassis were obviously " daddy figures " to her and she basically disliked all women except her sister Lee Radziwill.
I could go on and on....and on and on! I loved this book because it affirmed my opinion of her. America loved her as First Lady and martyr. Little did they know how shitty she thought of them and what a nasty person she was to so many people while in the White House. I feel sorry for Caroline and John Jr. They were basically raised by nannys. SHOW ME THE MONEY JACK...... SHOW ME THE MONEY ARI!

[HR-ML · Rating 2 out of 5]

Non-fiction. This was an imperfect Kennedy couple.
Most of us could not withstand the glare & scrutiny
this couple received. The author's facts contradicted,
at times, what I've read in previous books. Ms Kelley
preferred sensational claims?

This unflattering tale involved the "political marriage"
of 'moody' Jackie & Jack Kennedy, an unaffectionate
skirt-chaser. Per the author. Children of priviledge J &
J had a learning curve before/after Jack became POTUS.
Believable: Jackie had never met before a poor American
family until her limited campaigning on Jack's behalf.
Reportedly Jackie as First Lady refused many WH visitors
and teas. W/ the exception of state dinners & celebs in
the arts. By nature, shy, reserved, introverted. Jackie
preferred alone time or time with her children? VS just
rudeness on her part? Jackie chaffed when Jack complained
she spent more on lux items than his yearly Presidential
salary (he had other funds too).

We've read before that Jackie's younger sister Caroline
Lee ("Lee") was reportedly considered more: beautiful,
popular, lively, & sexy than Jackie. Lee met Onassis 1st
& was his lover. Lee & Jackie spent time on his yacht
after Jackie had a miscarriage.

Did Jackie experience depression? Did she have electro
shock therapy as the author claimed? Was the source
of the author's quotes: direct interviews? Or quotes of
quotes? Not made clear to the reader.

At times the author seemed gleeful when Jackie's life
'went south' or the media uncovered something to use
to embarrass Jackie.

[Gayle Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was in grade school when John Kennedy was running for President. I remember reading about his campaign in a Current Events newspaper published for school children. I remember seeing a photo of John and Jacqueline with the article. Something about the photo of her caused me to dislike her without knowing anything about her.

As time went on, Jack and Jackie were always in the news. I thought she was beautiful and charming. I admired him.

The assassination of President Kennedy was really a turning point in the lives of my generation. It was a gruesome event and the first time we'd seen real violence on our TV sets at home. It also was the beginning of the end of our innocence. Up to that time, we were uneasy about drilling for a possible nuclear war, but now someone had been able to kill our president. If he wasn't safe, who was? If there was a conspiracy to kill him, what kind of country was this? Even if one man killed him, what did that say about the rest of us?

I remember when Kitty Kelley's book was published. I had no desire to read it and never did until this summer. I picked the book up from a table of books that were part of a fundraiser for a women's group in Washington while I was on vacation. A plastic grocery sack of books for $1. A screaming deal. I picked up every biography and autobiography I could find. So, I decided it was time to read Jackie Oh!

As I was growing up, I was skeptical of the gossip and chose not to believe it. After reading the book, I'm more inclined to believe some of it. I wish I didn't know any of it.

It doesn't matter if Jack and Jackie might not have been the people I thought they were. This book and their lives are important because in them we see ourselves. We love to build up and tear down. We worship celebrity. We can't get enough of beautiful people. We want to believe that glamour is real for someone, even if our own lives are dull.

In spite of the first photograph I saw of Jackie, I did not continue to dislike her. After reading this book, I don't dislike her. However, I thought the book clearly showed that Kitty Kelley disliked her. So, for that, I gave it four stars. I think a biographer should be more objective, or at least, not betray bias in a book. That taints everything we read.

[Mirachil27 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Real Jacqueline Kennedy?

I devoured this book. It was hard to put down. I will say, I saw a side of Jackie (she hated when people called her that) that I had never seen before. Kitty Kelly has always been a controversial biographer, but this book contains lots of direct quotes of people who knew the First Lady well. I suspect that a lot of what I learned from this book very true indeed. I would recommend the book to anyone interested in the Kennedy legacy. It is a juicy read!

[Heather McWhorter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm surprised by the negative reviews of this book. I found it to be insightful & entertaining - then again, I'm a huge Kennedy buff.

[Mjbeers1 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sensationalist trash. I read it anyway.

[natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t understand why women like to be voluntarily controlled by men who are nothing more than self absorbed and insecure. it’s so sad to see that some women want male validation all the time. ofc it’s mostly a parenting mistake, because parents don’t teach their daughters from a young age that there is more to live for than male attention. I was taught this by my mom who said that I can’t base my happiness on some dumbass and that my life shouldn’t be revolved just around men. even my dad said this and advised me to be careful, because overall there’s nothing more beautiful on this earth than a healed soul who is not willing to hurt anybody. I actually don’t know where I was heading with this, but this book just made me so sad 😔

[Allan Vega · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was published during Jackie’s lifetime, so perhaps this is why the biography doesn’t dive as deep in the tabloid sensationalism as I expected, but it certainly doesn’t shy away from mentioning some of the rumors. The most damning portrayal? Her treatment of staff, depicted here as borderline cruel—less as the gracious First Lady of public imagination, more of an icy aristocrat who saw servants as disposable. It’s not a pretty side of her legacy. It is also clear that she was the ultimate gold digger. The book frames her pursuit of wealth not as survival instinct but brazen opportunism.

I came into this book already familiar with Jackie’s struggles in the Kennedy White House—the political pressures and the infidelity scandals. But where Jackie Oh! truly surprised me was in its coverage of her later years with Aristotle Onassis. I assumed this section would be boring, but instead, it turned out to be the book’s most compelling act. Kelley paints their marriage as a high-society drama of power, money, and quiet desperation—so intriguing that I finished the book wanting to dive deeper into Ari Onassis’s own notorious life.

Kelley’s reputation as a controversial biographer precedes her, but one thing’s undeniable: her research is exhaustive. Even when her interpretations feel pointed, the foundation is solid. After this read, I’m eager to pick up more of her work—love her or hate her, she knows how to make history feel alive.

[Reggie Martell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Media coverage of celebrities has changed so much in the last 40 years that Kitty Kelley's hatchet-job of a biography doesn't seem so sensational as it may have when first published. J. Randy Taraborrelli's new biography about the relationship between Jackie and her mother & sister "Jackie, Janet & Lee: The Secret Lives of Janet Auchincloss and Her Daughters Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill," relays unflattering details of their lives, many of which are the equal of Kelley's most sensationalistic contentions. Taraborrelli was, perhaps, a little more sympathetic to his subjects; a little more even-handed... not that I think bios need to be evenhanded, but some measure of counterweight is necessary when talking about someone as beloved as Jackie once was.

By the end of Kitty Kelley's evisceration of Jackie's character, the idea of anyone wanting to socialize with the former First Lady creates dissonance in the story. Or maybe the story of Ari Onassis is illustrative. At the end of his life he came to see Jackie as someone cold and heartless; someone whose interests were limited to shopping extravagantly and being famous; the spoiled little rich girl one could easily imagine her to be.

I don't know enough about Jackie's bio to offer much in the way of insight of Kelley's veracity, but there were 2 things that stuck out in my reading:

1) Kitty Kelley's thesis about the family dynamic between Jackie, Janet and Lee, is 180 degrees different than Taraborrelli's. Taraborrelli contends that Jackie, as the eldest child, was the apple of her mother's eye, always casting a long shadow over her younger sister Lee. Jackie got with Janet's program early, and married for power with stunning success. Lee was interested in men who made too little money or were likely gay. Janet would have been fine with Lee marrying a closeted gay man, so long as he was rich, but Lee needed a husband who excited her sexually. So Lee drifted along while Jackie became First Lady of the United States. Game. Set. Match.

Kitty Kelley contends that Lee was the top sister; the more social and outgoing sister; the more beautiful sister. One imagines Janet Auchincloss smiling down from her perch in the afterlife, admiring her handiwork as master manipulator.

2) The second section giving me pause in this book, was the moments of the JFK assassination itself. Kelley actually attempts to reconstructs dialog in the 8.3 seconds between the first and 3rd shots that hit JFK. The unfortunate participants seemed to have grasped their situation pretty damn quick, in Kelley's account. Maybe it was spot on, but it felt pretty unreal.

[KAREN RUTH ULLOM · Rating 4 out of 5]

A STORY OF A GENIUS YET COMPLETELY SELF-CENTERED WOMAN WHO WANTED RICHES BEYOND COMPARE AND PUBLICITY AT HER APPROVAL

It is easy to admire the nation's Jackie , but when one thinks how she was raised, it isn't surprisingly how she turned out. The author did not write much about all the conversations she and her father had that were so inappropriate for any daughter to hear. Besides her parent's divorce , the appalling conversations she had with her father most likely produced a blighted personality that led to many errors in judgement over the years. Even so, her talents were exceptional.

[Josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read other Kelley unauthorized biographies. Most of them, I thought, made the subject(s) seem more human. After reading the Oprah biography, I gained a new respect for Oprah.

This book, did not make Jackie look good at all. But this was no surprise. I listened to the taped interview Jackie did some time after JFK's assassination. She came off as self-centered, stuck-up, and ignorant in that interview. And, the recording was of her own words and not taken out of context. After 2 hours of listening to her chatter, I had to stop.

[Jena Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd heard of this book since it was published. I was in the mood to read some gossipy trash and this filled that need. I didn't expect it to be more than it was, so I enjoyed it.

I'm not sure why Good Reads shows the author as William Kelley. It's Kitty Kelley.

[Anita Colbert]

Insightful

True to the title. Oh Jackie!!! And Oh JFK!!! Just proves we should never put people on a pedestal.Sad to know what it's really like at the top.

[jimtown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally, I thought I would take the time to learn more about a woman so admired and emulated. The story this book told was a major disappointment.

Perhaps, I should have paid more attention to celebrity, politics and what's going on in the world, but I didn't. Every vision I had of the Kennedy's was that they were admired. After reading Jackie Oh! I was disillusioned.

We learn our fashion icon seems to have low self-esteem that she tries desperately to hide by applying designer fashions, make-up, hats and jewelry. I'm not going to even get into how JFK was depicted as this book was not really about him, though plenty of it covered his faults as well.

Even Aristotle Onassis who started out spoiling Jackie, bedecking her with jewels and protecting her while still allowing her freedom, eventually tired of her ways. It appears that she was not the role model American women imagined her to be. Jackie Oh! is depicted to be a spoiled prima-donna. But she photographed well, carefully choreographed.

There were two very touching moments in the book, that despite the depressing story, still brought tears, one was at the funeral of JFK and the other at the death of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis.

Is the image this book paints of the Kennedy's correct? Probably. Do I want to know this, probably not, so unless you want your image of Jacqueline and the Kennedy's shattered, this is not recommended reading.

A bit about Jackie: "She sees her friends intermittently, every six to eight months of so, because she cannot sustain constant companionship." ..."Just as she can respond to the dramatic occasions but can't bring herself to deal with ordinary happenings, she isn't up to close friendships with the weekly phone calls and lunches, the effort and the intimacy they entail. Jackie is capable of being capriciously, intermittently involved with people but she can't sustain anything."

"She eventually became the most gifted First Lady in history, collecting over two million dollars in foreign presents, and she took most of them with her when she lfet the White HOuse. Later, in 1966, Congress passed a lwa stipulating that First Families could not keep anything valued over a hundred dollars."

JFK to Jackie on politics: "You can't take politics personally," he said. "It arouses the most heated emotions, and if you are sensitive to what people are saying, you'll always be upset."

[Lauren Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this years ago when it first came out and decided to reread. It was just as trite and superficial the second time around. I don’t think it was the authors fault, just the fact that the subject here was a shallow, self-centered, inconsiderate person who cared only about herself. I will grant that Jacqueline Onassis was a good and caring mother to her children, however, even there she seems to live in a bubble. She seemed so intent on living in a fantasy dream of “Camelot” that she lied to her children repeatedly about their father. She seemed proud of the fact that even as adults her children didn’t believe the stories about their fathers women. She could have told them instead that even though their father wasn’t perfect, he was still a caring and committed parent and that nobody is perfect. But her entire life is based on lies and cruelty. She admits that Jacks behavior with other women caused her pain. But she herself didn’t care at all about the pain she caused other women by her relationships with their husbands. Roswell Gilpatrick’s third wife divorced him largely because of his relationship with Jackie. And Maurice’s Templesman’s wife Lily, who was a devout, Orthodox Jew, finally gave her husband a get (a Jewish religious divorce) because he deserted her to be with Jackie. Despite her own supposed pain that came from her husband’s infidelity, she cared nothing about causing pain to another woman. However I will admit at least that Kitty Kelly didn’t try to glamorize Jackie as a lead character in Camelot but rather tried to show the truth. It’s not her fault that the subject she wrote about was venal and shallow with little worth writing about. Kelly is a good writer; try some of her other books for interesting exposes.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Kelley unauthorized autobiographies. I guess this book does largely slur Jacqueline "JACK-leen" ("rhymes with queen") Kennedy Onassis, but from what I know, for someone in a bubble whose reflections back amplify and rationalize any negative personality traits, was she really that far beyond the norm? I don't think so, really: her cheapness in outgo combined with luchre-amassing actions and acting superior while hounded by paparazzi all seems par for the course. The main things I come away from: How would JFK's rampant philandering playout in today's journalistic arena? I think they call it something like R.I.P.: Reveal - Investigate - Prosecute, or something.... Also, Jackie's final abandonment of Onassis on his deathbed really seems to reveal a mercantile aspect to that marriage which (partly) scorned mistress Maria Callas slammed when asked for a comment after his wedding: “She did well, Jackie, to give a grandfather to her children. Ari is as beautiful as Croesus.” Ah, wonderful muckraking about the 1% of the 1%.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gossip-y, but humanizing.

For all which has been written about Mrs. Onassis over the years, most has been about the image. The First Lady. The enigma. The New Yorker. As harsh (& admittedly, I question certain facts as presented) as this book reads at times, it does offer an insight in to the person behind the iconic sunglasses.

For me personally, I’ve long related to Jacqueline Onassis. The insights in to the bookworm, the loner, the creative who relished style & the arts were close to home. Some will call her a snob. Some will call her a bitch. Regardless, I found much that resonates with me as a person. The perception of others is one thing, & yet there’s always a reason as to why people are as they are. Discovering more about the pieces of her life & childhood that made Jacqueline, Jacqueline was interesting.

Having Onassis ties, his is always a history I love reading more of. I believe the American writers often do a disservice to Aristo out of prejudice, but found this to be accurate—especially in terms of the downward spiral & his ultimate death.

[Lauren Mun · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve always been fascinated by Jackie Kennedy (as has all of America for decades) and I was so pleasantly surprised to see one of my vintage thrifted books available on kindle unlimited! (If you can get a physical copy of this book, the cover is gorgeous and dissimilar to the photo on goodreads)

I love the 20th century and I love iconic women. This was a biography that I couldn’t put down, and I loved the way it told Jackie’s story through tidbits of quotes from those close to her and the interesting web of politics, class, and intrigue that surrounded her.

I have to say that I might like her a little less after learning so much more about her, but I also am so much more empathetic to the true traumas she’s experienced, and I still have a ton of respect for the grace and poise that she presented throughout it all.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't have imagined how much I would dislike Jackie O. What a nasty, spoiled, childlike, unattached person. Of course you feel for her because of everything she went through in life and how well it looks like she handled it, can't fault her for having a few ticks along the way - but many were in place before the tragedy. Wow - how her and Jack Kennedy ever got together and stayed together is amazing - sounds like they genuinely didn't like each other. At all. She was terrible to the Johnson's before and after Jacks death.
The book improved after Jack's tragic murder and she seems slightly less nasty - but never less spoiled and out of touch. Felt like a sad life and I'm sorry for that - I guess everyone does the best they can with what they know.

[Pamela Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS IS A OLDIE BUT A GOODIE WRITTEN IN( 1978)

395 PAGES LONG EASY BREEZY FAST AND EASY READ I READ THIS BOOK 20 YEARS AGO WHEN IT WAS IN SOFT COVER KITTY KELLY!?!((KITTY KELLY) ) IS CONTROVERSIAL GOSSIPY TO SAY THE LEAST BUT HER BOOKS AS READER ARE FABULOUS!?!? ALL ABOUT KENNEDYS WHITE HOUSE JACKIE Os AND MRS. KENNEDY ALL IN ONE IS A DELICIOUS ARTIFACT OF A BOOK TO HER LUXURIOUS LIFESTYLE TO JETSETTING IN ONE DAY!?!TO FAMILY AND THE WOMEN HERSELF IS A NOT TO MISS BOOK ONLY IF YOUR A JACKIE O OR KENNEDY FAN LIKE MYSELF!?!
HAS INDEX IN BOOK AND BLACK AND WHITE CRYSTAL CLEAR POLORID PICTURES IN COLOR AS WELL!?!
EVERYONE HAVE A NICE ST. PATRICKS DAY NEXT MONTH

[Glynda Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know Kitty Kelley’s reputation for writing tell-all books that are derogatory. I have read and heard a lot about Jackie Kennedy Onassis. So, even taking the information from this book with a grain of salt, it is still a good book. I think there is more truth than fiction in this book. I gave it for stars just because I thought it was a little too wordy with too many details of minutiae, like descriptions of all the decor in a certain room. Otherwise, I recommend this book for anyone with curiosity about Jackie.

[Lisa Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh so fabulous!

I've read much about Jackie Kennedy yet this book revealed lots that I didn't know. I enjoyed the style of writing, it was easy reading but full of detail. Definitely presented aspects of JBK's character that other's failed to expose. I always suspected she was less saccharine and far more bitchy than I've read previously. Definitely one of the most detailed biography's I've read. Highly recommended

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author is Kitty Kelley. It was thorough and presented many points of view. I just read Tina Brown's book. Her brief encounter with Jackie triggered my curiosity. Jackie is a very complicated woman. Her choice of a husband like her father, who was a notorious womanizer, is baffling. Many of the very rich have such a different set of values.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kennedy gossip-my favorite kind. And it’s Kitty Kelley so it should be in trashy good fun. But this one is just sad. Jacqueline Kennedy is really tragic. She probably wasn’t the nicest lady but I have empathy for her.

[Gail Winstanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ok book

This book is an ok read, but there was material lifted work for word from other books written prior to this one which I found disappointing. I had hoped for perhaps a different angle or some addition insight into her early life.

[Su Bat-El · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book! I read it a lot of years back. I didn't understand it much, but it did shape how i thought about marriage and leadership. I think its a little destructive.

[June Pulver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very revealing about Jackie's private life and her public image.

I have always admired Jackie , and to read about her
Private life left me very surprised. Great read for all!

[Barbra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read but found Jackie to be very snobbish and whiny. She appears to have been quite materialistic and not a very nice person.

[G. Goodson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot more than I expected!

Kitty wrote a very in depth book on the princess of Camelot. I was only 14 yo. when Kennedy was assassinated. I'll never forget that day.