Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Portrait of Her Private Years - Hardcover

A rehash of the life of Jackie as she turns 65: a collection of old news, non-news, and tabloid analysis. Kennedy chronicler David (Good Ted, Bad Ted: The Two Faces of Edward M. Kennedy, 1993) takes us on a walking tour of Jackie's Manhattan. Did you know, for example, that Jackie jogs clockwise around the Central Park reservoir instead of counterclockwise like the other runners (to avoid photographers on her route)? Or that she buys her sweatpants at the Gap at 86th and Madison? Although Jackie had a facelift in 1979, her hands have prominent veins and ``brown and yellow blotches of varying sizes.'' It can't be any fun churning out copy about a subject who does not give interviews. David has spent valuable time in the library and has interviewed colleagues, servants, tradespeople, and Kennedy relatives to get even the smell of a scoop, but his pickings are slim. This is a textbook on how to make short, impersonal interviews seem like page-one stories. As if we were reading a Christmas letter, we learn that Mrs. Onassis exercises regularly, gets plenty of sleep, and eats healthfully. Her newest roommate is chubby, married diamond merchant Maurice Tempelsman. She still doesn't get along with the other Kennedy women (``They were clam chowder, she was lobster bisque''), and she vacations on Martha's Vineyard, where she had a disagreement with the Wampanoag Indians. (Apparently, Wampanoag chief Moshup and his wife, Old Squant, are buried on her private beach.) Regrettably she has been diagnosed with lymphoma, but the prognosis is optimistic. The children and grandchildren are healthy, and John John is no longer dating Madonna. To be read under the hair dryer, but not really thrilling enough to take home. (16 pages b&w photos, not seen) (First printing of 50,000; first serial to New Woman) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Bringing the ever-alluring "Jackie" story up to date (she will turn 65 the month the book is published) seems to be the chief idea behind this effort by a Kennedy chronicler ( Good Ted, Bad Ted ). It is a pleasant enough, innocuous piece of work that makes no attempt to break new ground and is low on tattletale material. In David's view, the former First Lady, probably the most famous woman on earth, has settled well into life as a Doubleday book editor and grandmother who can still be aroused by preservationist causes. She has virtually ceased seeing any of the Kennedys, lives a quiet but seemingly affectionate life with her (married) companion, diamond merchant Maurice Tempelsman, and saves much of her comparatively meager party-going for book occasions. David glides rather too smoothly over the Onassis marriage, her hectic jet-setting middle years and her lifelong indulgence of her extravagant tastes--though he does bring a touch of acerbity to her efforts to get tell-all books out of British aristocrats while carefully guarding her own hyper-privacy. It seems unlikely that avid Jackie-watchers will find much in this mild concoction to satisfy their craving. Photos not seen by PW. 50,000 first printing; first serial to New Woman.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.