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Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis never wrote a memoir, but she told her life story and revealed herself in intimate ways through the nearly 100 books she brought into print during the last two decades of her life as an editor at Viking and Doubleday. Based on archives and interviews with Jackie's authors, colleagues, and friends, Reading Jackie mines this significant period of her life to reveal both the serious and the mischievous woman underneath the glamorous public image.
Though Jackie had a reputation for avoiding publicity, she willingly courted controversy in her books. She was the first editor to commission a commercially-successful book telling the story of Thomas Jefferson’s relationship with his female slave. Her publication of Gelsey Kirkland's attack on dance icon George Balanchine caused another storm. Jackie rarely spoke of her personal life, but many of her books ran parallel to, echoed, and emerged from her own experience. She was the editor behind bestsellers on the assassinations of Tsar Nicholas II and John Lennon, and in another book she paid tribute to the allure of Marilyn Monroe and Maria Callas. Her other projects take us into territory she knew well: journeys to Egypt and India, explorations of the mysteries of female beauty and media exploitation, into the minds of photographers, art historians, and the designers at Tiffany & Co.
Many Americans regarded Jackie as the paragon of grace, but few knew her as the woman sitting on her office floor laying out illustrations, or flying to California to persuade Michael Jackson to write his autobiography. Reading Jackie provides a compelling behind-the-scenes look at Jackie at work: how she commissioned books and nurtured authors, as well as how she helped to shape stories that spoke to her strongly. Jackie is remembered today for her marriages to JFK and to Aristotle Onassis, but her real legacy is the books that reveal the tastes, recollections, and passions of an independent woman.
Though Jackie had a reputation for avoiding publicity, she willingly courted controversy in her books. She was the first editor to commission a commercially-successful book telling the story of Thomas Jefferson’s relationship with his female slave. Her publication of Gelsey Kirkland's attack on dance icon George Balanchine caused another storm. Jackie rarely spoke of her personal life, but many of her books ran parallel to, echoed, and emerged from her own experience. She was the editor behind bestsellers on the assassinations of Tsar Nicholas II and John Lennon, and in another book she paid tribute to the allure of Marilyn Monroe and Maria Callas. Her other projects take us into territory she knew well: journeys to Egypt and India, explorations of the mysteries of female beauty and media exploitation, into the minds of photographers, art historians, and the designers at Tiffany & Co.
Many Americans regarded Jackie as the paragon of grace, but few knew her as the woman sitting on her office floor laying out illustrations, or flying to California to persuade Michael Jackson to write his autobiography. Reading Jackie provides a compelling behind-the-scenes look at Jackie at work: how she commissioned books and nurtured authors, as well as how she helped to shape stories that spoke to her strongly. Jackie is remembered today for her marriages to JFK and to Aristotle Onassis, but her real legacy is the books that reveal the tastes, recollections, and passions of an independent woman.
368 pages, Hardcover
Published December 7, 2010
117 people are currently reading
1331 people want to read
About the author
William Kuhn
19 books141 followersMy new biography of Lord Byron tells the story of a man famous as a lover 200 years ago. But he fascinated me because of the way he performed miracles of self-healing and rebirth through his writing. SWIMMING WITH LORD BYRON shows how Byron the lover and Byron the writer were also combined, surprisingly, with Byron the swimmer. JACKIE STORIES describes my interviews with Jacqueline Onassis's friends. I went to their houses. I noticed their clothes. I listened to their views on the woman they knew well. READING JACKIE is a look at Jackie's private library. She revealed herself in ways she probably didn't intend during her lifelong romance with books. Two cheerful fictions about life inside the Royal Household are MRS QUEEN TAKES THE TRAIN and PRINCE HARRY BOY TO MAN.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 175 reviews
September 25, 2015
If the entire book were like the first six chapters, I would have given it 5 stars--but that's almost half the book, so let's call it 4 1/2 stars. The early chapters are a book-lover's dream--insights into the reading, writing, and life choices of an intelligent, fascinating woman who spent so much of her life overshadowed by her two famous husbands and the American tragedy that was the assassination of JFK, as well as the mythology that others created around her. But she made her own life as an editor--an excellent editor, with an impressive list of publications, many of which do not name her as their editor. Indeed, her complete "list," interesting in itself, is probably gathered here publicly for the first time. Although the later chapters bog down a bit in amateur, but educated, psychoanalysis of Mrs. Onassis as reflected in the books she chose to edit, I devoured the earlier chapters with delight, and a pen and notepad in hand to write down the authors and names of books to read and some wonderful quotations. If you love books and writing and editing, I highly recommend at least the first half of this book.
August 9, 2011
As a fan of all things Jackie--this biography in books did not disappoint. As a writer, editor, wife, mother, and fan of reading, I found the iconic woman surprisingly relatable. I would have loved to have had one--just one--editor's lunch with her. Her famous line as an editor is: "I want to be the type of editor you want me to be." She took great risks and did her best to serve her authors and their creativity. I learned so much about books, editing, and Jackie! Highly recommend.
January 5, 2011
Jackie was a deeply introspective, shy women who hid herself away in books, as many of us do. I did not read any of the biographies of Jackie that came out over the years. I did read the well received biography of John Kennedy, "An Unfinished Life", by Robert Dallek. Dallek is a highly respected historian and Professor. I always respected the dignity of Jackie and her family and the remarkable inner strength she displayed over the years. I was repulsed by the way she was treated in the media, with the disgustingly vulgar paparazzi chasing her essentially all over the world.
December 25: I love the comment on page 66. Jackie is recalling her frustration when she was editing Michael Jackson's memoir, Moonwalk. (This book was a huge cash cow for Doubleday. Jackie was asked to take on the project. As a new employee, she wanted to fit in to the culture and make a good impression.) She is asked by Bill Barry, a "deputy publisher" at Doubleday, if she would ever do her own autobiography. Barry remembers Jackie looking at him as though she was in "real pain." Her answer was: "I would never squander my time writing my memoirs when there are beaches to be walked". Jackie quietly and gracefully lived with unbelievably painful memories not just of the assassination, but of all the accumulated hurt from her childhood and her two unhappy marriages. She was very insular, keeping to herself all the agonies of her life. This is certainly not another trite, trashy book full of gossip about Jackie and the Kennedy's. I think Kuhn is really able to bring out the dignity of Jackie in a very intelligent, sensitive, respectful manner.
Jackie's career at Viking lasted only two years, ending with her resignation after Viking crudely agreed to publish a trashy Jeffrey Archer novel, "Shall We Tell The President", about an assassination plot on a political figure modeled after Senator Ted Kennedy. However, Jackie's career at Doubleday lasted the rest of her life and must have given her a great sense of accomplishment. I never knew she was the editor for books such as the Bill Moyers series "A World of Ideas", "Healing and the Mind", and "The Language of Life"; Naguib Mahfouz Cairo Trilogy, Emily Dickinson's nature poetry "Skies in Blossom", and many, many other books on a variety of topics. Kuhn's book will lead me to pursue reading of historical fiction works by Barbara Chase-Riboud and Elizabeth Crook, two writers who did not obviously get the recognition they may have deserved.
I was not aware Jackie had a personal correspondence with Harold MacMillan (a former Conservative Prime Minister of England) . At her request, all of her personal correspondence was destroyed upon her death. Upon first reading this, I felt it was unfortunate these letters were apparently destroyed. However, thinking about it, those letters included very private, deep feelings. Let Jackie rest in peace.
I felt Kuhn wrote of Jackie with sensitivity and respect. The book is well documented with a detailed list of sources and footnotes.
December 25: I love the comment on page 66. Jackie is recalling her frustration when she was editing Michael Jackson's memoir, Moonwalk. (This book was a huge cash cow for Doubleday. Jackie was asked to take on the project. As a new employee, she wanted to fit in to the culture and make a good impression.) She is asked by Bill Barry, a "deputy publisher" at Doubleday, if she would ever do her own autobiography. Barry remembers Jackie looking at him as though she was in "real pain." Her answer was: "I would never squander my time writing my memoirs when there are beaches to be walked". Jackie quietly and gracefully lived with unbelievably painful memories not just of the assassination, but of all the accumulated hurt from her childhood and her two unhappy marriages. She was very insular, keeping to herself all the agonies of her life. This is certainly not another trite, trashy book full of gossip about Jackie and the Kennedy's. I think Kuhn is really able to bring out the dignity of Jackie in a very intelligent, sensitive, respectful manner.
Jackie's career at Viking lasted only two years, ending with her resignation after Viking crudely agreed to publish a trashy Jeffrey Archer novel, "Shall We Tell The President", about an assassination plot on a political figure modeled after Senator Ted Kennedy. However, Jackie's career at Doubleday lasted the rest of her life and must have given her a great sense of accomplishment. I never knew she was the editor for books such as the Bill Moyers series "A World of Ideas", "Healing and the Mind", and "The Language of Life"; Naguib Mahfouz Cairo Trilogy, Emily Dickinson's nature poetry "Skies in Blossom", and many, many other books on a variety of topics. Kuhn's book will lead me to pursue reading of historical fiction works by Barbara Chase-Riboud and Elizabeth Crook, two writers who did not obviously get the recognition they may have deserved.
I was not aware Jackie had a personal correspondence with Harold MacMillan (a former Conservative Prime Minister of England) . At her request, all of her personal correspondence was destroyed upon her death. Upon first reading this, I felt it was unfortunate these letters were apparently destroyed. However, thinking about it, those letters included very private, deep feelings. Let Jackie rest in peace.
I felt Kuhn wrote of Jackie with sensitivity and respect. The book is well documented with a detailed list of sources and footnotes.
October 17, 2011
This is a library book, and I'm very glad I didn't buy it. I'm about a quarter of the way through it and just not enamoured; frankly, I don't know that I'll bother to finish it.
The premise of the book is good. Unfortunately, I just don't find it to be very well-written. Something about the writing style reminds me of something I might have written in high school. Many of his conclusions seems to be pretty broad and far-fetched. As an example: he claims that Jackie was interested in the occult, based upon her comments on a mansucript that the witch being described should be more fully developed. By and large, the book seems to be random facts and tidbits, randomly strung together. It lacks cohesiveness.
I hope to also read, "Jackie as Editor." Perhaps that one will do a better job with the theme.
The premise of the book is good. Unfortunately, I just don't find it to be very well-written. Something about the writing style reminds me of something I might have written in high school. Many of his conclusions seems to be pretty broad and far-fetched. As an example: he claims that Jackie was interested in the occult, based upon her comments on a mansucript that the witch being described should be more fully developed. By and large, the book seems to be random facts and tidbits, randomly strung together. It lacks cohesiveness.
I hope to also read, "Jackie as Editor." Perhaps that one will do a better job with the theme.
September 21, 2022
Reading Jackie is a fresh new perspective on a woman who has been written about ad nauseam. It focuses on her work as an editor -a career that spanned nineteen years, longer than the combined two marriages that made her a celebrity- and how she revealed herself in the books she published.
There’s no question that her interests informed the projects she chose: her lifelong love for dancing manifested itself in commissioning autobiographies from Martha Graham and Judith Jamison, as well as biographies about George Balanchine and Fred Astaire. Due to her interest in fashion, she collaborated with Diana Vreeland and even edited a book under her own name, In the Russian Style, about fashion in Imperial Russia. It was eviscerated by a prominent reviewer, who called it the work of a dilettante, and the experience discouraged the already insecure Jackie from publishing her writing.
But at times, the author’s thesis becomes implausible. Here’s an example: Through her championing of Barbara Chase-Riboud’s novel Sally Hemings, about Thomas Jefferson’s slave and mother of at least six of his children, William Kuhn claims that Jackie felt sympathetic towards presidential mistresses due to her own experiences. That may be so, since Jackie sometimes displayed unexpected compassion -in America’s Queen, a friend remembers that she was angry at Arthur Miller for his portrayal of ex-wife Marilyn Monroe in his plays-, but it’s more likely that she thought it would make for a great story and didn’t draw parallels to her life. Indeed, one cannot think of two more different people than Sally Hemings and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, to say the least.
Other theories are more credible, such as Jackie’s identification with Florence Adele Sloane, a wealthy New York socialite who lived through the Gilded Age, an era immortalized in the books of Edith Wharton and Henry James: by outward appearance, she seemed to have it all, but was trapped by the restricted world she inhabited, the impossible expectations placed upon her, and experienced the unbearable pain of losing a child - something that Jackie, whose first pregnancy ended in miscarriage and who lost two newborn babies, could very well understand. Jackie and Louis Auchincloss put together Florence’s diary, which was eventually published as Maverick in Mauve. These glimpses into women’s history are fascinating.
However, the author repeats himself more than necessary to make his points and is perhaps a little too enamoured with Jackie to regard her accomplishments objectively. From Chapter 12:
If Jackie was a more imperious figure than we had known before, American twentieth-century history has yet to acknowledge that she was also a more intellectual, better-read, and better-informed woman that we had known before. To have worked on about a hundred books in a career she came to only late in life certainly raises her stature not only among American first ladies but also among all people in American public life. Who else in the public life of the twentieth-century could come close to her personal elegance combined with her knowledge of European and American history, manners and fashion, dance and photography, civil rights and children’s books, historic architecture and historic preservation, women’s history and women’s fiction, as well as the art and archaeology of India and Egypt?
Now, I don’t doubt Jackie’s intellect or the worth of her work as an editor - her notes to her authors reveal her intuition for what worked and for what did not, which could only have been the result of being a great reader. But elevating her to the pantheon of American heroes is ridiculous. I suspect that if the assassination of John F. Kennedy hadn’t happened, she would have faded into obscurity. All in all, I enjoyed reading about this lesser-known side of Jackie; it has provided more insight into her complicated character than any other biography I’ve ever read, with the exception of Sarah Bradford’s excellent America’s Queen. It has also made me want to expand my horizons, as any good book should.
There’s no question that her interests informed the projects she chose: her lifelong love for dancing manifested itself in commissioning autobiographies from Martha Graham and Judith Jamison, as well as biographies about George Balanchine and Fred Astaire. Due to her interest in fashion, she collaborated with Diana Vreeland and even edited a book under her own name, In the Russian Style, about fashion in Imperial Russia. It was eviscerated by a prominent reviewer, who called it the work of a dilettante, and the experience discouraged the already insecure Jackie from publishing her writing.
But at times, the author’s thesis becomes implausible. Here’s an example: Through her championing of Barbara Chase-Riboud’s novel Sally Hemings, about Thomas Jefferson’s slave and mother of at least six of his children, William Kuhn claims that Jackie felt sympathetic towards presidential mistresses due to her own experiences. That may be so, since Jackie sometimes displayed unexpected compassion -in America’s Queen, a friend remembers that she was angry at Arthur Miller for his portrayal of ex-wife Marilyn Monroe in his plays-, but it’s more likely that she thought it would make for a great story and didn’t draw parallels to her life. Indeed, one cannot think of two more different people than Sally Hemings and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, to say the least.
Other theories are more credible, such as Jackie’s identification with Florence Adele Sloane, a wealthy New York socialite who lived through the Gilded Age, an era immortalized in the books of Edith Wharton and Henry James: by outward appearance, she seemed to have it all, but was trapped by the restricted world she inhabited, the impossible expectations placed upon her, and experienced the unbearable pain of losing a child - something that Jackie, whose first pregnancy ended in miscarriage and who lost two newborn babies, could very well understand. Jackie and Louis Auchincloss put together Florence’s diary, which was eventually published as Maverick in Mauve. These glimpses into women’s history are fascinating.
However, the author repeats himself more than necessary to make his points and is perhaps a little too enamoured with Jackie to regard her accomplishments objectively. From Chapter 12:
If Jackie was a more imperious figure than we had known before, American twentieth-century history has yet to acknowledge that she was also a more intellectual, better-read, and better-informed woman that we had known before. To have worked on about a hundred books in a career she came to only late in life certainly raises her stature not only among American first ladies but also among all people in American public life. Who else in the public life of the twentieth-century could come close to her personal elegance combined with her knowledge of European and American history, manners and fashion, dance and photography, civil rights and children’s books, historic architecture and historic preservation, women’s history and women’s fiction, as well as the art and archaeology of India and Egypt?
Now, I don’t doubt Jackie’s intellect or the worth of her work as an editor - her notes to her authors reveal her intuition for what worked and for what did not, which could only have been the result of being a great reader. But elevating her to the pantheon of American heroes is ridiculous. I suspect that if the assassination of John F. Kennedy hadn’t happened, she would have faded into obscurity. All in all, I enjoyed reading about this lesser-known side of Jackie; it has provided more insight into her complicated character than any other biography I’ve ever read, with the exception of Sarah Bradford’s excellent America’s Queen. It has also made me want to expand my horizons, as any good book should.
May 11, 2016
Added 2/8/11.
RE: _Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books_ (2010) by William Kuhn
SEE MY UPDATES TOWARD THE END OF THIS REVIEW (added in April & May, 2016).
In 2011, I read a sampling of this book via Google eBooks. Jackie Kennedy, in her later years, worked in publishing as an editor at Viking and then as an assistant editor at Doubleday. The book gives an interesting insight into that world.
In the prologue, Kuhn writes that Jackie's son, John, "said that one of his mother’s essential characteristics had been 'her love of words.'" Kuhn writes: "... it is those twin loves—of books and of words—that help to define who his mother was." ... "...first and foremost she was a reader."
Kuhn also quotes someone saying about Jackie: "She was a voracious reader".
The prologue of the book can be read at the link below:
_Reading Jackie, Her Autobiography in Books_
http://www.williamkuhn.com/bio.htm
More here:
http://www.williamkuhn.com/reading_ja...
http://www.randomhouse.com/audio/cata...
http://www.williamkuhn.com/index.htm
Below is a link to Random House page with a free audio excerpt from Chapter One:
http://www.randomhouse.com/audio/cata...
As you can see, I am a fan of Jackie. :) I've always been fascinated by her.
PS-Below is a link to another excerpt from the book _Reading Jackie, Her Autobiography in Books_:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-an...
This part of the book is called "When Jackie Met Jacko" and tells how Jackie became involved in the publishing of the book, _Moonwalk_ (1988). See the GR description here: Moonwalk (by Michael Jackson).
"The #1 New York Times bestseller! Michael Jackson’s one and only autobiography – his life, in his words. With original Foreword by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis..."
It's fun to read what goes on behind the scenes in the writing and publishing of a book!
PS-Below is an excerpt from the above link:
===============================
"... When the first writer who was assigned to the project didn’t work out, Areheart got more actively involved. She flew to California with a tape recorder to record Jackson’s responses to her questions about his life and career. She ... eventually handed off her material to a second writer, Stephen Davis ... He took the recorded material and shaped it into a narrative. ... Areheart had to fly to Australia to get his [Jackson's] approval of the text. He didn’t want to read it, so she read it to him, line by line, for two weeks in 1987, making notes of his changes."
==================================
The book, _Moonwalk_, was ostensibly 'written" by Michael Jackson", but from what I can see, they recorded what he said and edited the material into what became the autobiography. It's an interesting process in which editors do quite a bit behind the scenes.
4/24/16 - UPDATE : I am currently listening the the audio version of this book. I didn't remember that I had written this review and I don't remember much about what I had formerly read of it. However, I want to mention that some of the audio book gives the impression that there was a side to Jackie that wasn't as perfect as we've been led to believe. The book points out that she could be very sharp and had an angry side to her personality. They talk about her stamping her foot. One anecdote says that when Jackie said she wanted to be called "Jacque-leen" (the French pronunciation), her sister-in-law pointed out that it rhymed with "queen". The audio book says that Jackie had a flirty side to her when talking to some men. I guess those things can be said of any woman; we all have our moments, after all. But it's strange to be hearing these "catty" things about Jackie whom I've always admired.
The reader of the audio-book is Susan Denaker who can sound very catty herself as she reads. She often imitates Jackie's soft voice when quoting her and it comes across as a mock-imitation. The book suggests that Jackie wanted to marry someone with money because of her background, coming from a broken family. When her mother married for a second time, to a rich man, Jackie wasn't one of the trust-babies of the rich stepfather. At least that's how I understood it.
I plan to read some of the GR reviews to see if any of the impressions I got from the audio-book were had by other readers. Below is an excerpt from a GR review which reflects what I said above, only it says it better:
===================================
"Part of the book goes into her imperious behavior toward some people, her noblesse oblige attitude toward others ... She was nurturing toward her writers yet very pointed in her written notes – sometimes verging on brusqueness. "Reading Jackie" presents a picture of a real woman with good and bad qualities ..." [ FROM M.L.'s GR review at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ]
==================================
Learning about Jackie's work as an editor was very interesting. She definitely had her own ideas about things. You have to admire her for that.
It's like entering another world to read about the circles which Jackie traveled in. Her world was peopled with so many blue-bloods, so many powerful, well-connected bigwigs, movers and shakers, and so many talented people who were tops in their field. This book gives a peek into that strata of society. A nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.
Another angle to the book was that it provided a peek into the publishing world and the work of an editor, including all the choices that must be made before we see the finished product. Mind boggling! Just dealing with so many different people with different opinions must be an enormous task. Too much pressure, if you ask me!
5/8/16
Below is an excerpt from Wall Street Journal review at: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1000142...
"Mr. Kuhn and Mr. Lawrence make it clear that she [Jackie-"Mrs. Onassis"] was a tireless and imaginative acquirer of compelling if sometimes esoteric books, an editor who nurtured her writers and fought like a lioness for her projects with the suits on the business side. "
5/11/16
I keep coming back to this book. In fact I've ordered a hard copy and I've also bought a digital copy for my Amazon Kindle Cloud. I was even inspired to buy a Kindle Fire HD Tablet at Amazon so that I can read the digital book at my leisure anywhere I go. It's that kind of book... so full of information and references. And it's the literary world after all, a world I am drawn to. I hope the enjoyment will last.
Below are some quotes (about "FASHION") from the book which interested me and changed my thinking. Up to now I had considered fashion a useless and superficial part of our culture. However the quotes below have made me see it another way:
==============================
KINDLE LOCATION 636, 641: “Do not be too hard on vanity," Vreeland* said. "Some may think it vain to look into a mirror, but I consider it an identification of self." She observed further, "The feel of a perfect piece of silk to a woman is a very exciting thing. It's the greatest projection of pleasure. And what's wrong with pleasure?" For Vreeland, fashion was also about the exquisite craftmanship of women's clothes, itself an art, not inferior to painting or writing or photography. It was important for women of means to sustain this art..."
KINDLE LOCATION 646, 663: "Jackie took Vreeland's lesson and put it into words she chose herself. ... In writing this piece, Jackie learned something else. To collect and commission beautiful things -- whether it was beautiful dresses or beautiful books -- was itself a form of creation, of worthwhile knowledge, because it stimulated the work of other artists. Sartorial connoisseurship is a stimulus to creation in fashion."
LOCATION 2510: "Vreeland's biographer Eleanor Dwight argues that the movie ["Funny Face"] had a serious point to make, because it 'illustrated Vreeland's own conviction that fashion is an authentic art form, and is important because it makes life more beautiful.'"
==============================
*Diana Vreeland (1903-1989), was a noted columnist and editor in the field of fashion. She worked for the fashion magazines Harper's Bazaar and Vogue and as a special consultant at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1964. FROM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_V...
==============================
RE: _Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books_ (2010) by William Kuhn
SEE MY UPDATES TOWARD THE END OF THIS REVIEW (added in April & May, 2016).
In 2011, I read a sampling of this book via Google eBooks. Jackie Kennedy, in her later years, worked in publishing as an editor at Viking and then as an assistant editor at Doubleday. The book gives an interesting insight into that world.
In the prologue, Kuhn writes that Jackie's son, John, "said that one of his mother’s essential characteristics had been 'her love of words.'" Kuhn writes: "... it is those twin loves—of books and of words—that help to define who his mother was." ... "...first and foremost she was a reader."
Kuhn also quotes someone saying about Jackie: "She was a voracious reader".
The prologue of the book can be read at the link below:
_Reading Jackie, Her Autobiography in Books_
http://www.williamkuhn.com/bio.htm
More here:
http://www.williamkuhn.com/reading_ja...
http://www.randomhouse.com/audio/cata...
http://www.williamkuhn.com/index.htm
Below is a link to Random House page with a free audio excerpt from Chapter One:
http://www.randomhouse.com/audio/cata...
As you can see, I am a fan of Jackie. :) I've always been fascinated by her.
PS-Below is a link to another excerpt from the book _Reading Jackie, Her Autobiography in Books_:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-an...
This part of the book is called "When Jackie Met Jacko" and tells how Jackie became involved in the publishing of the book, _Moonwalk_ (1988). See the GR description here: Moonwalk (by Michael Jackson).
"The #1 New York Times bestseller! Michael Jackson’s one and only autobiography – his life, in his words. With original Foreword by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis..."
It's fun to read what goes on behind the scenes in the writing and publishing of a book!
PS-Below is an excerpt from the above link:
===============================
"... When the first writer who was assigned to the project didn’t work out, Areheart got more actively involved. She flew to California with a tape recorder to record Jackson’s responses to her questions about his life and career. She ... eventually handed off her material to a second writer, Stephen Davis ... He took the recorded material and shaped it into a narrative. ... Areheart had to fly to Australia to get his [Jackson's] approval of the text. He didn’t want to read it, so she read it to him, line by line, for two weeks in 1987, making notes of his changes."
==================================
The book, _Moonwalk_, was ostensibly 'written" by Michael Jackson", but from what I can see, they recorded what he said and edited the material into what became the autobiography. It's an interesting process in which editors do quite a bit behind the scenes.
4/24/16 - UPDATE : I am currently listening the the audio version of this book. I didn't remember that I had written this review and I don't remember much about what I had formerly read of it. However, I want to mention that some of the audio book gives the impression that there was a side to Jackie that wasn't as perfect as we've been led to believe. The book points out that she could be very sharp and had an angry side to her personality. They talk about her stamping her foot. One anecdote says that when Jackie said she wanted to be called "Jacque-leen" (the French pronunciation), her sister-in-law pointed out that it rhymed with "queen". The audio book says that Jackie had a flirty side to her when talking to some men. I guess those things can be said of any woman; we all have our moments, after all. But it's strange to be hearing these "catty" things about Jackie whom I've always admired.
The reader of the audio-book is Susan Denaker who can sound very catty herself as she reads. She often imitates Jackie's soft voice when quoting her and it comes across as a mock-imitation. The book suggests that Jackie wanted to marry someone with money because of her background, coming from a broken family. When her mother married for a second time, to a rich man, Jackie wasn't one of the trust-babies of the rich stepfather. At least that's how I understood it.
I plan to read some of the GR reviews to see if any of the impressions I got from the audio-book were had by other readers. Below is an excerpt from a GR review which reflects what I said above, only it says it better:
===================================
"Part of the book goes into her imperious behavior toward some people, her noblesse oblige attitude toward others ... She was nurturing toward her writers yet very pointed in her written notes – sometimes verging on brusqueness. "Reading Jackie" presents a picture of a real woman with good and bad qualities ..." [ FROM M.L.'s GR review at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ]
==================================
Learning about Jackie's work as an editor was very interesting. She definitely had her own ideas about things. You have to admire her for that.
It's like entering another world to read about the circles which Jackie traveled in. Her world was peopled with so many blue-bloods, so many powerful, well-connected bigwigs, movers and shakers, and so many talented people who were tops in their field. This book gives a peek into that strata of society. A nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.
Another angle to the book was that it provided a peek into the publishing world and the work of an editor, including all the choices that must be made before we see the finished product. Mind boggling! Just dealing with so many different people with different opinions must be an enormous task. Too much pressure, if you ask me!
5/8/16
Below is an excerpt from Wall Street Journal review at: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1000142...
"Mr. Kuhn and Mr. Lawrence make it clear that she [Jackie-"Mrs. Onassis"] was a tireless and imaginative acquirer of compelling if sometimes esoteric books, an editor who nurtured her writers and fought like a lioness for her projects with the suits on the business side. "
5/11/16
I keep coming back to this book. In fact I've ordered a hard copy and I've also bought a digital copy for my Amazon Kindle Cloud. I was even inspired to buy a Kindle Fire HD Tablet at Amazon so that I can read the digital book at my leisure anywhere I go. It's that kind of book... so full of information and references. And it's the literary world after all, a world I am drawn to. I hope the enjoyment will last.
Below are some quotes (about "FASHION") from the book which interested me and changed my thinking. Up to now I had considered fashion a useless and superficial part of our culture. However the quotes below have made me see it another way:
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KINDLE LOCATION 636, 641: “Do not be too hard on vanity," Vreeland* said. "Some may think it vain to look into a mirror, but I consider it an identification of self." She observed further, "The feel of a perfect piece of silk to a woman is a very exciting thing. It's the greatest projection of pleasure. And what's wrong with pleasure?" For Vreeland, fashion was also about the exquisite craftmanship of women's clothes, itself an art, not inferior to painting or writing or photography. It was important for women of means to sustain this art..."
KINDLE LOCATION 646, 663: "Jackie took Vreeland's lesson and put it into words she chose herself. ... In writing this piece, Jackie learned something else. To collect and commission beautiful things -- whether it was beautiful dresses or beautiful books -- was itself a form of creation, of worthwhile knowledge, because it stimulated the work of other artists. Sartorial connoisseurship is a stimulus to creation in fashion."
LOCATION 2510: "Vreeland's biographer Eleanor Dwight argues that the movie ["Funny Face"] had a serious point to make, because it 'illustrated Vreeland's own conviction that fashion is an authentic art form, and is important because it makes life more beautiful.'"
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*Diana Vreeland (1903-1989), was a noted columnist and editor in the field of fashion. She worked for the fashion magazines Harper's Bazaar and Vogue and as a special consultant at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1964. FROM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_V...
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June 24, 2011
Reading Jackie took me well beyond the headlines and gave me a respectful portrait of a personable intellectual. A woman more than the pillbox hat. I’d never gotten the impression she was a shallow person, so to learn how she cringed when the public only seemed interested in her fashion sense as she forged ahead to educate the world with more important and intelligent matters, I wasn’t surprised. I simply left the book realizing how she is one person I really wish I had the chance to have met in this life. I’m sure I would have felt the same way that Carly Simon did – in awe, in step with a maternal figure who would coax me into being a more revealing and prolific writer. She encouraged her authors to let it out. Even as she worked hard to protect her private life, as a supportive editor she gave authors a platform through fiction and nonfiction to expose themselves through their craft. In this way via the materials she read and encouraged the publishing houses to print and market, she enlightened us about her a bit more as well.
Her vast range was from world history to civil rights to art promotion to fiction and even children’s books. This book almost made me feel as close to her as her colleagues did. In the office, she was “Jackie”, another hard working editor with the love of the written word; on the outside, they respected and even protected her boundaries for her. She seemed to have taken the public tragedies of her life and combined them with her reverence of the aesthetics of life which was representative of her graceful and even nurturing personality.
Many years ago, I had read Sally Hemmings by Barbara Chase-Riboud. It’s one of my favorites; I hadn’t a clue that Jackie was involved in getting it out there. Even later, I read The Wedding by Dorothy West. Understanding why the voice of The Wedding had changed drastically after Jackie’s passing, I understood just why I didn’t like it nearly as much as I had enjoyed reading West’s The Living is Easy several years earlier. Kuhn’s assessment of Jackie’s motivation to having these books published helped develop the ongoing platform of her interests and how her influence shaped the work of others and our libraries.
Kuhn also took the opportunity to use the book as a stage to remind us writers why we write and we bibliophiles well… read: The love of the written word. We learned just how it fueled her existence, too. Jackie was a lady who exercised her choice to share a part of her life with the public in a very unique way – by nurturing others to render themselves through writing. As these subjects reflected her own interests in many ways, Kuhn presented how this uniquely opened her up to us as well. I was most impressed to learn how she grabbed the ropes guiding others, becoming a great literary mentor to the many who looked back fondly at her encouraging influence in their lives.
Her vast range was from world history to civil rights to art promotion to fiction and even children’s books. This book almost made me feel as close to her as her colleagues did. In the office, she was “Jackie”, another hard working editor with the love of the written word; on the outside, they respected and even protected her boundaries for her. She seemed to have taken the public tragedies of her life and combined them with her reverence of the aesthetics of life which was representative of her graceful and even nurturing personality.
Many years ago, I had read Sally Hemmings by Barbara Chase-Riboud. It’s one of my favorites; I hadn’t a clue that Jackie was involved in getting it out there. Even later, I read The Wedding by Dorothy West. Understanding why the voice of The Wedding had changed drastically after Jackie’s passing, I understood just why I didn’t like it nearly as much as I had enjoyed reading West’s The Living is Easy several years earlier. Kuhn’s assessment of Jackie’s motivation to having these books published helped develop the ongoing platform of her interests and how her influence shaped the work of others and our libraries.
Kuhn also took the opportunity to use the book as a stage to remind us writers why we write and we bibliophiles well… read: The love of the written word. We learned just how it fueled her existence, too. Jackie was a lady who exercised her choice to share a part of her life with the public in a very unique way – by nurturing others to render themselves through writing. As these subjects reflected her own interests in many ways, Kuhn presented how this uniquely opened her up to us as well. I was most impressed to learn how she grabbed the ropes guiding others, becoming a great literary mentor to the many who looked back fondly at her encouraging influence in their lives.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 28, 2013
I think I am the perfect reader for this book because of my interest in presidential history and in books about the act of reading. I've read many books about the Kennedys but I hadn't realized Jacqueline Kennedy was such a reader. I didn't know much about her later career as an editor or that she'd been selected for a prestigious magazine internship as a young woman. Though I already admired her as a First Lady, I'm glad to have learned so much more about her. It makes me sad that she wasn't able to pursue writing or to be more public about her intelligence earlier in life. It is really impressive that she carved out a professional career when she easily could have lived as one of our country's most famous widows.
This book provides a lot of detail about the books Jackie worked on in her publishing career. After the first few chapters the book is separated into the themes of the books she edited, and that was a bit jarring at first since I expected a chronological storyline. Since she never wrote an autobiography, Kuhn tries to use the books she edited or showed interest in to provide insight into Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's mind and her life. What he shared was pretty fascinating and made me look at Jackie O as much more than just a fashion icon. Anyone interested in American presidents, the '60s, or women finding a second career, would enjoy this book.
This book provides a lot of detail about the books Jackie worked on in her publishing career. After the first few chapters the book is separated into the themes of the books she edited, and that was a bit jarring at first since I expected a chronological storyline. Since she never wrote an autobiography, Kuhn tries to use the books she edited or showed interest in to provide insight into Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's mind and her life. What he shared was pretty fascinating and made me look at Jackie O as much more than just a fashion icon. Anyone interested in American presidents, the '60s, or women finding a second career, would enjoy this book.
March 3, 2012
Well-written and certainly interesting if only for the revelation of the intelligence and strength of a woman that the whole world has seen only as the picture of grace and grief. It's an interesting way to look at an icon - through the books she acquired and edited - but undoubtedly books, those we own, read, edit, write in the margins of, do say something about us, and Kuhn does a formidable job of showing what Jackie's books said about her. A certain level of awe is removed from the distant Jackie O after reading this, but then again, the book did nothing to make me believe she was any less of a snob than I supposed she was anyway...
If you're interested in Jackie Kennedy, I'm sure you'll love it. If you're interested in high art and high-culture, you'll find a kindred spirit in this figure and in the artists and societies she hob-nobbed with. If you're just looking for a good read or a character-sketch full of nuance, look elsewhere.
If you're interested in Jackie Kennedy, I'm sure you'll love it. If you're interested in high art and high-culture, you'll find a kindred spirit in this figure and in the artists and societies she hob-nobbed with. If you're just looking for a good read or a character-sketch full of nuance, look elsewhere.
February 18, 2011
This was a great glimpse into the later years of Jackie's life. Despite her iconic status very little is actually known about Jackie's personal life and how she felt about her celebrity. Accordingly, this book makes some leaps of faith in interpreting the projects she worked on professionally. Some hit the mark, others seem a bit far fetched, but overall it's a very interesting concept.
It's also inspiring to think of the many ways in which Jackie reinvented herself over the course of her life. Highly recommend this if you're at all a fan.
It's also inspiring to think of the many ways in which Jackie reinvented herself over the course of her life. Highly recommend this if you're at all a fan.
January 1, 2011
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is a captivating and iconic figure which makes her a great subject for a book. Known mainly for her role as wife to the powerful (JFK) and rich (Onassis) it's refreshing to read about her later life as an independent woman who supported herself by working as an editor. It's always a plus when a book gives you new ideas for reading possibilities and Kuhn's Reading Jackie added at least a page of Jackie-edited volumes to my Amazon wish list. A further bonus of this career centered biography are the fascinating portraits of many of the authors and subjects of those books, including photographers, politicians, cultural historians, and media stars like John Lennon, Michael Jackson, former Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, mythologist Joseph Campbell and ballerina Gelsey Kirkland.
Also profiled is Greg Lawrence, who was Gelsey Kirkland's boyfriend at the time Jackie was editing Kirkland's book Dancing on My Grave. Lawrence has just published his own book about Jackie's life as an editor which is maybe why Kuhn is almost comically dismissive and writes particularly harshly about him.
Detracting from the reading experience for me is that Kuhn has a jarring tendency to quote someone or describe something and then interrupt the flow of his narrative with an, "in other words," to explain what is already clear. Also, Kuhn has written too much of the book in an expanded version of the five paragraph essay style that is taught to middle school students, stating and restating what he would like to prove and making sometimes improbable connections to support his thesis. Kuhn has written this book with the idea that there is a lot to be learned about Jackie's private feelings by looking at the list of books she edited, but sometimes he seems to be reaching too far. Editing a book on Sally Hemmings is supposed to show Jackie is sympathetic to presidential mistresses. Her books on ballet are held up to prove she has issues with her body.
Still, Reading Jackie is full of talented and sophisticated people and Kuhn has done his research, treating Jackie like a queen without ignoring her flaws, so this book is both moving and entertaining.
Also profiled is Greg Lawrence, who was Gelsey Kirkland's boyfriend at the time Jackie was editing Kirkland's book Dancing on My Grave. Lawrence has just published his own book about Jackie's life as an editor which is maybe why Kuhn is almost comically dismissive and writes particularly harshly about him.
Detracting from the reading experience for me is that Kuhn has a jarring tendency to quote someone or describe something and then interrupt the flow of his narrative with an, "in other words," to explain what is already clear. Also, Kuhn has written too much of the book in an expanded version of the five paragraph essay style that is taught to middle school students, stating and restating what he would like to prove and making sometimes improbable connections to support his thesis. Kuhn has written this book with the idea that there is a lot to be learned about Jackie's private feelings by looking at the list of books she edited, but sometimes he seems to be reaching too far. Editing a book on Sally Hemmings is supposed to show Jackie is sympathetic to presidential mistresses. Her books on ballet are held up to prove she has issues with her body.
Still, Reading Jackie is full of talented and sophisticated people and Kuhn has done his research, treating Jackie like a queen without ignoring her flaws, so this book is both moving and entertaining.
February 15, 2015
People have wondered for decades what Jackie felt about JFK's affair with Marilyn, about her real relationship with Ari, considering his reputed ill-treatment of her. Jackie never, of course, addressed these subjects publicly nor did any of her confidants. "Reading Jackie" tries to answer those questions by examining her choices as an editor. Yet the book itself notes there were books she was assigned (Michael Jackson's autobiography) that she really didn't want to edit.
There were some interesting tidbits. Jackie loved to read, even causing Ari to wait dinner for her while a servant went to pull her away from her latest book. I found Grace Kelly’s connection to her interesting and the Josephine Baker story was unknown to me until this book. The footnotes in the back were quite handy for finding references later.
The writing does keep you engaged, although there is some specious reasoning. At times, "Reading Jackie" deifies the woman – not unusual for laypeople to do. But this is a biographer and the repetition of the scene where Jackie actually gets down on the floor to spread pictures out when trying to work on an arrangement for books she was involved with reflected almost a school girl crush on the woman. It's tantamount to saying she, a human, actually does human things. I doubt if Jackie would have thought this even worth mentioning.
Part of the book goes into her imperious behavior toward some people, her noblesse oblige attitude toward others and her practical daily habits – her insistence on maintaining some regular activities even though she was often stalked by photographers. She was nurturing toward her writers yet very pointed in her written notes – sometimes verging on brusqueness. "Reading Jackie" presents a picture of a real woman with good and bad qualities who decided to live as normal a life as possible under the circumstances.
Her differentiation between “fame” and being “well known” helped me understand her as well as anything in the rest of the book.
There were some interesting tidbits. Jackie loved to read, even causing Ari to wait dinner for her while a servant went to pull her away from her latest book. I found Grace Kelly’s connection to her interesting and the Josephine Baker story was unknown to me until this book. The footnotes in the back were quite handy for finding references later.
The writing does keep you engaged, although there is some specious reasoning. At times, "Reading Jackie" deifies the woman – not unusual for laypeople to do. But this is a biographer and the repetition of the scene where Jackie actually gets down on the floor to spread pictures out when trying to work on an arrangement for books she was involved with reflected almost a school girl crush on the woman. It's tantamount to saying she, a human, actually does human things. I doubt if Jackie would have thought this even worth mentioning.
Part of the book goes into her imperious behavior toward some people, her noblesse oblige attitude toward others and her practical daily habits – her insistence on maintaining some regular activities even though she was often stalked by photographers. She was nurturing toward her writers yet very pointed in her written notes – sometimes verging on brusqueness. "Reading Jackie" presents a picture of a real woman with good and bad qualities who decided to live as normal a life as possible under the circumstances.
Her differentiation between “fame” and being “well known” helped me understand her as well as anything in the rest of the book.
January 20, 2011
An excellent biography that focusses on Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' life after her marriages, as a working woman editing books, first for Viking Press and then for Doubleday. I couldn't really figure out how a biography would come out of this period of her life based upon the books she edited, but amazingly the author gives a lot of insight into Jackie Kennedy's character, values, taste and even her attitudes about JFK, etc.. Much information and insight is gleaned from the books she chose to promote and edit and through her correspondence from that period with her authors along with interviews with these same authors and her co-workers. Not only was this an interesting slant on an interesting woman, but it provided me with many leads for future reading! My Kindle now has about 8 free samples waiting to be read - and most of them are NOT about the Kennedys!
January 8, 2011
Always had an interest in reading more about Jacqueline Kennedy's career as an editor at two of New York's prestigious publishing houses. Pat Conroy's My Reading Life also on my list of "to read".
This book was a revelation to me about Jackie's stunning success as an editor with two Doubleday. She Having edited 100 books over last 20 years of her life, some of which were major bestsellers, the book also examines her abhorrance of the jet-setting lifestyle. More often than not, she would disappear from parties and gatherings (of Ari's)only to be found in her rooms, reading a book.
This book was a revelation to me about Jackie's stunning success as an editor with two Doubleday. She Having edited 100 books over last 20 years of her life, some of which were major bestsellers, the book also examines her abhorrance of the jet-setting lifestyle. More often than not, she would disappear from parties and gatherings (of Ari's)only to be found in her rooms, reading a book.
August 8, 2015
I was surprised that I liked this take on the subject (Jacqueline Onassis as editor) better than than the other book (“Jackie as Editor: The Literary Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis," by Greg Lawrence). Kuhn sort of eviscerates Lawrence, and it was an "ah-hah" moment to realize that Gelsey Kirkland's Lawrence is the same man. The Lawrence book is more pretentious; this book is just a good gossip, although I will never believe that Onassis really loved "Wide Sargasso Sea," which is just a miserable excuse for a novel. Anyway: good read.
February 22, 2013
Hard to review. Fascinating information and insight into her and also into the world in her lifetime. I particularly liked the aspects,that showed how she reinvented herself and, how she was, in many ways, exemplified the changes brought on by the women's lib movement.
I had problems with the structure of the book. I'm still not sure what the organizing principle was. Seems like that may be a result of having too much material.
Still, just learning how many interesting books she edited and supported was fascinating. (I've added a number of the to my to read shelf - or will shortly.)
I had problems with the structure of the book. I'm still not sure what the organizing principle was. Seems like that may be a result of having too much material.
Still, just learning how many interesting books she edited and supported was fascinating. (I've added a number of the to my to read shelf - or will shortly.)
Currently reading
September 22, 2011Icon in my eyes, Jackie Kennedy, is portrayed through the books that she published over the course of her editorial career. When I had the opportunity to take a class in the offices of Random House, luck was with me when the instructor (who worked with Jackie at Doubleday!) gave me a copy of the book. Needless to say, I’m enjoying the picture of Jackie that Kuhn paints during the time of her life when she guarded her privacy, yet through her work was most revealed.
May 27, 2012
This book was very enlightening; I learned a lot about this fascinating woman that I don't think I would have known if I had not read it. This being said, I found the writing a bit formulaic and the same points being reiterated many times over. Sometimes the author included information that didn't seem relevant, bits of story that were haphazardly thrown in and were never expanded upon. Despite these shortcomings, however, I was captivated to meet a Jackie beyond Camelot.
March 10, 2013
Jackie Kennedy Onassis was well known to be a very private person. The premise of this book is that the books she edited & brought into print during her time of working at Viking & Doubleday reveals her tastes & passions. One can "get to know who she was" using this method. As a person who is always interested in what one is reading & checking out people's personal libraries this book was "right up my alley" so to speak. I enjoyed this very interesting book.
March 2, 2017
The author endeavors to learn more about the elusive Jackie Kennedy through examining the books she took on as an editor at Viking and Doubleday. It was interesting to see which books she took on, which she fought for and which didn't interest her much. Most of the authors who worked with her found her to be a very good, sometimes exacting, editor. She told one author "I want to be the editor you want me to be."
September 15, 2011
I didn't finish this book before my e-loan on my e-book ran out. I found it interesting but a bit repetitive at times - "if you want to know Jackie, just read the books she edited" but have been written about 100 different ways in the parts that I did read. But you did feel like you knew her a bit more after seeing what she did with her career as a book editor.
January 5, 2011
Not incredibly well written and the author was a little too fawning but the subject matter was fascinating, ie what Jackie's list of books she published as an editor revealed about her character, apart from her two famous husbands.
June 2, 2012
I loved this. It was a fair portrayal of a lady who has been criticised and lauded in equal measures. It didn't focus on her time as the wife of Kennedy or Onassis, but on her successes as an editor with Doubleday in New York. Fascinating!
March 27, 2022
Interesting account of Jackie's life as an editor in NYC. Does a good job at humanizing a myth. She was so much more than the wife of a president and a billionaire. A good read to finish off Women's History Month.
Read
January 23, 2011Gift from Katrina for Christmas - so far really really good! I enjoyed this book a lot and now have a very long list of books to read that I have to get in here! THANK YOU KATRINA!
August 8, 2016
Very insightful and would be an excellent choice for a book club.
October 2, 2014
This is a different picture of Jackie and gives a good understanding of her & the life she had. Whether you admired her or not, her place in history is assured. I found it interesting.
March 8, 2011
Jackie O spent the last twenty years or so of her life as an editor at Viking and Doubleday, and prior to that, she was an avid reader. Kuhn explores Jackie's relationship to her own writing, the books she loved, and the books she published, as a means of getting to know the press-shy icon.
What I loved:
* I learned a lot about Jackie. I don't even think I knew that she had the long career as an editor. I only knew her as the stylish widow of Power and later Money.
* The ode to books. Like any avid reader, I could relate to Jackie's own search for solace and more from books. In that respect at least, we are kindred spirits.
* The inside glimpse at the publishing world. I can't say I know that much about getting a book written and out to the consumer. In what I read, Kuhn only touched on it superficially, but it was interesting nonetheless.
What I didn't love:
* My problem with the book even before I picked it up is that the idea of extrapolating a person's beliefs and ideas from what they read (or publish) seems a little far-fetched, and Kuhn was never able to convince me otherwise.
Among my favorite books is a series about a protagonist who could crudely be described as a masochistic prostitute. By Kuhn's methods one might conclude that I'm into S&M, but that would be an incorrect conclusion. What I really love about the stories are the themes of religion, politics, and romance.
So I'm uncomfortable with, for example, the assessment that because Jackie sought to publish the story of Jefferson's mistress, she was ok with JFK's dalliances. It is quite possible that she was, but perhaps she wasn't and there were other overarching reasons for her wanting to publish the book.
It would be one thing if Kuhn could back up his claims with multiple examples, but in most cases he did not have enough data to support his conclusions.
It's an intriguing concept, but I imagine there are other better sources of information about Ms. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis that are based on fact.
What I loved:
* I learned a lot about Jackie. I don't even think I knew that she had the long career as an editor. I only knew her as the stylish widow of Power and later Money.
* The ode to books. Like any avid reader, I could relate to Jackie's own search for solace and more from books. In that respect at least, we are kindred spirits.
* The inside glimpse at the publishing world. I can't say I know that much about getting a book written and out to the consumer. In what I read, Kuhn only touched on it superficially, but it was interesting nonetheless.
What I didn't love:
* My problem with the book even before I picked it up is that the idea of extrapolating a person's beliefs and ideas from what they read (or publish) seems a little far-fetched, and Kuhn was never able to convince me otherwise.
Among my favorite books is a series about a protagonist who could crudely be described as a masochistic prostitute. By Kuhn's methods one might conclude that I'm into S&M, but that would be an incorrect conclusion. What I really love about the stories are the themes of religion, politics, and romance.
So I'm uncomfortable with, for example, the assessment that because Jackie sought to publish the story of Jefferson's mistress, she was ok with JFK's dalliances. It is quite possible that she was, but perhaps she wasn't and there were other overarching reasons for her wanting to publish the book.
It would be one thing if Kuhn could back up his claims with multiple examples, but in most cases he did not have enough data to support his conclusions.
It's an intriguing concept, but I imagine there are other better sources of information about Ms. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis that are based on fact.
March 25, 2023
A very thorough book albeit at times a bit dense. To me me this book felt like a story of contrasts. Understanding such a public figure who banked on privilege but also demanded and deserved privacy. The stories behind the books she edited helped to shine a light on who Jackie was but also were fascinating in their own rights. The topics for the most part were fascinating- feminism, India, Egypt, ballet, the arts in general, among others.
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