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Jackie: Her Life in Pictures
A photographic biography of Jaqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis covers her entire life, accompanies its many pictures with anecdotal captions, and is largely made up of rarely or previously unpublished images. 50,000 first printing.
196 pages, Hardcover
First published May 19, 2000
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47 people want to read
About the author
James Spada
36 books29 followersAs a thirteen-year-old kid in Staten Island, James Spada started the first Marilyn Monroe Memorial Fan Club. He produced four bulletins and one yearbook a year for four years, when he had to disband the club due to lack of money.
In college he founded EMK: The Edward M. Kennedy Quarterly, and worked as an intern in Senator Kennedy’s Boston office in 1970.
At 23 his first book, Barbra: The First Decade (The Films and Career of Barbra Streisand), was published. He followed that up with the authorized book The Films of Robert Redford. He went on to write illustrated coffee-table books about Streisand, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli, Katharine Hepburn, Bette Midler, Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty, and Jane Fonda.
In 1987 his first non-pictorial biography, Grace: The Secret Lives of a Princess, became a major international bestseller. He followed that up with intimate biographies of Peter Lawford, Bette Davis, Barbra Streisand, and Julia Roberts.
His writing has appeared in Vanity Fair, People, Ladies Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, The New York Times Book Review, McCall’s, the Los Angeles Times, the London Sunday Express, and many other publications.
In 2010 his first work of fiction, Days When My Heart was Volcanic—A Novel of Edgar Allan Poe, was published.
In recent years he has become equally renowned as a photographer of the male nude. His first collection, Black & White Men, was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award as the Best Visual Arts Book of 2000.
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From "Black & White Men" published in 2000:
Over the past several years, Jim has also become known for his evocative black-and-white studies of the male nude. He has had three one-man exhibitions, most recently in January 2000 at the prestigious Gallery One at the New England School of Photography in Boston. "I've been taking pictures since I was a teenager," Jim says, "but it took a back seat to my celebrity books. Now I d like to be known as a hyphenate, a writer-photographer. Photographing people is very much like writing about them, except that I'm creating the portrait with light rather than words. Light is as much a subject for me as the model."
In college he founded EMK: The Edward M. Kennedy Quarterly, and worked as an intern in Senator Kennedy’s Boston office in 1970.
At 23 his first book, Barbra: The First Decade (The Films and Career of Barbra Streisand), was published. He followed that up with the authorized book The Films of Robert Redford. He went on to write illustrated coffee-table books about Streisand, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli, Katharine Hepburn, Bette Midler, Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty, and Jane Fonda.
In 1987 his first non-pictorial biography, Grace: The Secret Lives of a Princess, became a major international bestseller. He followed that up with intimate biographies of Peter Lawford, Bette Davis, Barbra Streisand, and Julia Roberts.
His writing has appeared in Vanity Fair, People, Ladies Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, The New York Times Book Review, McCall’s, the Los Angeles Times, the London Sunday Express, and many other publications.
In 2010 his first work of fiction, Days When My Heart was Volcanic—A Novel of Edgar Allan Poe, was published.
In recent years he has become equally renowned as a photographer of the male nude. His first collection, Black & White Men, was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award as the Best Visual Arts Book of 2000.
-----------------------------
From "Black & White Men" published in 2000:
Over the past several years, Jim has also become known for his evocative black-and-white studies of the male nude. He has had three one-man exhibitions, most recently in January 2000 at the prestigious Gallery One at the New England School of Photography in Boston. "I've been taking pictures since I was a teenager," Jim says, "but it took a back seat to my celebrity books. Now I d like to be known as a hyphenate, a writer-photographer. Photographing people is very much like writing about them, except that I'm creating the portrait with light rather than words. Light is as much a subject for me as the model."
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 23, 2020
My mom is fascinated with the Kennedy’s, most of all Jackie. She’s owned this book for years, and I just now got around to reading it through. I love documentary and portrait photography so of course, I enjoyed seeing the life of Jackie through all the wonderful pictures. Each photograph included enlightening facts, recounting her journey in each and every one. She will always be my favorite First Lady. ❤️
February 21, 2024
I very much enjoy biographies that contain lots of pictures & this one certainly has oodles. However they’re all in black & white. Really? For such an alluring & most photographed woman you’d think it’d be filled with coloured ones. It’s touted as many never-before-seen pictures… well I don’t know about that. Many were very familiar, I think just some were less than perfect poses. Hence seldom printed.
There are captions on each photograph, good for someone newly introduced to Jackie O. The only thing that jumped out of the page was to learn she had a full face lift done in her later years. Always the glamour queen.
All in all it’s an easy read & to thumb through. If it were in colour it would have made a great coffee table book.
There are captions on each photograph, good for someone newly introduced to Jackie O. The only thing that jumped out of the page was to learn she had a full face lift done in her later years. Always the glamour queen.
All in all it’s an easy read & to thumb through. If it were in colour it would have made a great coffee table book.
April 17, 2019
This is a visual treat for those interested in the life of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis.
The only concern I have is that a few of the captions seemed to be not quite accurate. For instance, I have read in many other credible sources that it was Jackie's mother, Janet, who did not want her to leave the country, and therefore had her turn down Vogue magazine's Prix de Paris contest. However, in this book, the author states that it was her stepfather, Hugh Auchincloss, who feared she may stay in France permanently, and therefore talked her out of accepting the prize. (page 11).
The only concern I have is that a few of the captions seemed to be not quite accurate. For instance, I have read in many other credible sources that it was Jackie's mother, Janet, who did not want her to leave the country, and therefore had her turn down Vogue magazine's Prix de Paris contest. However, in this book, the author states that it was her stepfather, Hugh Auchincloss, who feared she may stay in France permanently, and therefore talked her out of accepting the prize. (page 11).
October 18, 2020
Can't bring myself to buy coffee table books, but this one is worth a library checkout. If you're looking for something a little more comprehensive and gossipy about Camelot, I also enjoyed The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters.
October 20, 2018
Wonderful photos of an icon, Jackie Kennedy Onassis.
August 19, 2008
The only thing better than reading about Jackie is looking at pictures of Jackie. This is a fun adult version of a picture book.
October 1, 2008
A really neat way to learn about the life of Jackie Kennedy. I loved seeing her life through photographs.
December 2, 2012
A look at the stages of her life through pictures.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews