The Kennedy heirs : John, Caroline, and the new generation--a legacy of triumph and tragedy

The Kennedy heirs John, Caroline, and the new generation--a legacy of triumph and tragedy

J. Randy Taraborrelli

Book - 2019

"A unique burden was inherited by the children of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his celebrated siblings Senators Robert and Ted Kennedy. Raised in a world of enormous privilege against the backdrop of American history, this third generation of Kennedys often veered between towering accomplishment and devastating defeat. In his revelatory new book, acclaimed Kennedy historian J. Randy Taraborrelli draws back the curtain on the next generation of America's most famous family. John Kennedy, Jr.'s life in the public eye is explored, following the Kennedy scion as he faced the challenges posed by marrying his great love, Carolyn Bessette. Riveting new details are shared about the couple's tragic demise--and why Ethel ...Kennedy advised Carolyn not to take the trip that would ultimately end her life. John's sister, Caroline Kennedy, had her own complicated relationships, including a marriage to Ed Schlossberg that surprised her mother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and an unexpected bond with her mother-in-law, Mae Schlossberg. Additional stories, many shared here for the first time, illuminate the rest of the Kennedy dynasty: Kara Kennedy, Ted's daughter, and her valiant battle against lung cancer; how Ted's wife Vicki introduced a new era of feminism to the Kennedy family; the lifelong struggles with addiction faced by Bobby Kennedy Jr. and Patrick Kennedy; the unexpected way pop star Taylor Swift helped Conor Kennedy heal after the death of his mother, Bobby's wife Mary; and Congressman Joe Kennedy III's rise to prominence. At the center of it all is the family's indomitable matriarch, Ethel Kennedy--a formidable presence with her maddening eccentricities and inspiring courage. Based on hundreds of exclusive first-hand interviews and cultivated over twenty years of research--including numerous Oral Histories from the JFK Library and the Edward M. Kennedy Institute--The Kennedy Heirs is an epic drama of ambition, scandal, pride and power."--Dust jacket.

Saved in:
Place a Hold Save to List Email this

2nd Floor Show me where

973.922/Taraborrelli
1 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
2nd Floor 973.922/Taraborrelli Checked In
Subjects
Kennedy family.
Politicians > Family relationships > United States.
Biographies.
Genres
Biographies
Published
New York : St. Martin's Press 2019.
Language
English
Main Author
J. Randy Taraborrelli (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
xv, 606 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages [561]-581) and index.
ISBN
9781250174062
  • Introduction
  • Book 1.
  • Part 1. Son of Camelot
  • Prologue: The Tide of Events
  • Part 2. The Senator's Family
  • Part 3. Being Kennedy
  • Part 4. Family Secrets
  • Part 5. The Caretakers
  • Part 6. A Tale of Two Brothers
  • Part 7. The Reckoning
  • Part 8. The In-Laws
  • Part 9. Running Out of Time
  • Book II.
  • Part 1. Daughter of Camelot
  • Prologue: Pinkie Swear
  • Part 2. The Politics of Marriage
  • Part 3. "The Kennedy Curse Ends Here"
  • Part 4. The Shriver Way
  • Part 5. Family at War and Peace
  • Part 6. A Political Gamble
  • Part 7. Betrayal of the Heart
  • Part 8. A Miraculous Life
  • Part 9. Demons
  • Part 10. The Family Endures
  • Epilogue: American Promise
  • Postscript: Permission to Speak Freely
  • Author's Note
  • Research
  • Sources and Other Notes
  • Personal Acknowledgments
  • Index
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

The offspring of the Camelot generation wallow in melodrama without much compensating achievement according to this dishy group portrait. Kennedy biographer Taraborrelli (After Camelot) styles the children of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Ted Kennedy, and their cousins, as sensitive souls shadowed by their elders' assassinations and other misfortunes that "caus[e] our hearts to ache unbearably for them." The narrative, however, depicts a clan of overentitled mediocrities with unimportant careers whose only interesting characteristic is bad judgment: RFK Jr. moves from drug addiction to relentless womanizing to antivaccine lobbying; his brother Michael sleeps with his kids' 16-year-old babysitter and dies in a skiing accident; JFK Jr. leads a feckless life, then dies along with his wife and his sister-in-law when the Cessna he was piloting crashes. Presiding over Taraborelli's account, and the lavishly described Hyannisport rigmarole of clambakes and touch football, is RFK's widow, Ethel, an imperious matriarch and the book's liveliest figure, forever slapping people and lecturing everyone on the Kennedy mystique. Padding out the chapters is much tabloid-grade gossip about small-bore marital squabbles, infidelities, and catfights sourced to servants and anonymous friends. Some readers may find this material unengaging, but Kennedy worshippers-and haters-will feast on the juicy details in Taraborrelli's soap opera. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

The children of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Senator Robert Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, Senator Ted Kennedy and Joan Kennedy, and their siblings comprise the clan's third generation, according to Taraborrelli (Jackie, Janet and Lee). This account, the author's fourth on the Kennedys, based on 400 interviews conducted over the last 20 years, describes the glamour, advantages, and sorrow experienced by the Kennedy heirs. Although portrayed as arrogant and entitled, their lives were also darkened by the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy, which Taraborrelli argues drove some family members to drug and alcohol addiction and might have contributed to six untimely deaths. Also included are the stories of Patrick Kennedy, Joseph Patrick Kennedy II, Kathleen Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, and others who carved out successful political careers or advocated for mental health and environmental issues. Readers will be fascinated by the relationship between Senator Ted Kennedy and members of the third generation, stories about matriarch Ethel, and life inside the family compound. VERDICT Kennedy followers will be intrigued by this absorbing narrative of the dynasty's continuing hold on American life.-Karl Helicher, formerly with Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

The prolific celebrity biographer delivers another Kennedy family saga, this time focusing on the 29 individuals comprising the "third generation" of the famed clan.In this sprawling post-Camelot account, Taraborrelli (Jackie, Janet Lee: The Secret Lives of Janet Auchincloss and Her Daughters Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill, 2018, etc.) details the lives of the third generationthe grandchildren of Joe and Rose Kennedyas they have tried to live up to Kennedy values (honor, family, loyalty) while failing to cope with the murders of John F. (1963) and Bobby (1968). Growing up in families that never discussed the assassinations among themselves and offered few healing mechanisms to their children, the young heirs often self-medicated with alcohol and drugs. Innumerable infidelities, confrontations, and divorces run through this soap opera, which teems with intimate views of angry, heavy-drinking matriarch Ethel, mother of Bobby's 11 children; Ted, who kept the family together, and his wife, Joan, both "unpredictable, alcoholic parents"; and the smiling, seemingly happy children, who struggled inside, some wanting "anything other than to be Kennedys." Taraborrelli rehashes Bobby's son Michael's affair with a 16-year-old babysitter; the murder conviction of Ethel's nephew Michael Skakel; David Kennedy's death by cocaine overdose; JFK Jr.'s death in a plane crash, and so on. "Terrible things have happened to the Kennedys," writes the author, "sometimes by fate and circumstance, sometimes by their own volition." Taraborrelli's depictions of Caroline's therapy as a child and the family's expectation that Bobby Jr., who made drug runs to Harlem, would run for president, are unsettling. All of this is recounted against the glitz, wealth, and historical role of the family, the ever present paparazzi, the family pressure to excel, and the children's careers in politics and other fields. No scandal or luxurious dining room goes overlooked.A doorstop of a melodrama. Kennedy die-hards will love it. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Similar Items