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Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books

by William Kuhn
Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books

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ISBN13: 9780307744654
ISBN10: 0307744655



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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

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.

From the Hardcover edition.

Synopsis

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 as an editor at Viking and Doubleday during the last two decades of her life. 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. William Kuhn provides a behind-the-scenes look at Jackie at work: commissioning books and nurturing authors, helping to shape stories that spoke to her. Based on archives and interviews with her authors, colleagues, and friends, Reading Jackie reveals the serious and the mischievous woman underneath the glamorous public image.

About the Author

William Kuhn is a biographer and historian. He is the author of three previous books, including, most recently, a controversial biography, The Politics of Pleasure: A Portrait of Benjamin Disraeli. His Henry and Mary Ponsonby: Life at the Court of Queen Victoria was a BBC Radio Four Book of the Week read by actor Geoffrey Palmer.

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Average customer rating 4 (1 comments)

`
LT Reader , January 06, 2013 (view all comments by LT Reader)
I liked this look at the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis through the books that she edited and at her lifetime as a reader. I've always had some sort of fascination with her, from the time in grade school when I donated fifty cents towards the new Kennedy Presidential Library fund and received, like everyone else, a thank you note from her. But I am also fascinated with reading and books, and William Kuhn's combination of these topics appealed to me. The book includes a listing of all the books that Mrs. Onassis edited and I was surprised at the number of them, and also, that I own a few of them. The stories of the work that went into editing and publishing the books, as well as the authors and other personalities involved were always interesting. I liked that chapters were based on book topics and general areas of interest, and that many photos were placed at the point of the narrative where they were most pertinent. (There is also a central photo section.) Jackie, herself, was portrayed as someone very human, rather than larger than life. This may be in part because many of the sources (interviewees) were quoted as speaking with some candor, as they remembered her foibles, as well as grace and dignity. I enjoyed reading this book by William Kuhn from start to finish.

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780307744654
Binding:
Trade Paperback
Publication date:
11/29/2011
Publisher:
Anchor Books
Language:
English
Pages:
448
Height:
.91IN
Width:
5.31IN
Thickness:
.75
Illustration:
Yes
Author:
William Kuhn
Author:
William Kuhn
Subject:
Biography-Women

Ships free on qualified orders.
Add to Cart
$17.00
New Trade Paperback
Available at a Remote Warehouse. Ships separately from other items. Additional shipping charges may apply. Not available for In Store Pickup. More Info
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QtyStore
12Remote Warehouse
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