America's Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (Nova Audio Books)

Rating:
Summary: So, So
Review: This is my first time reading a book on Jackie so I did not come in with certain expectations. I felt it was interesting to get a background on the woman, but I feel that there has to be better out there. My first complaint would have to be the constant name dropping. I didn't need to know who was on every cruise and vacation. Early on there are hints of problems between Jackie and her mother Janet yet the depth of the problems are not reached. The book was also disappoining in the sense that because it spent more than 3/4 of the content discussing her famous marriages, one would think there would be more than the superficial detail. For example, we are told that there are these various love letters but the content is kept under wraps. In the case of her second husband, Onassis is described as being insulting and cold towards her after a certain point in the marriage but any idea as to why is left up to the reader's imagination. Most importantly, her children are mentioned scarcely beyond their births when this is a woman who took great pride in being a mother. The picture just looked incomplete from many sides. Yes, Jackie was a private person but no one is an island. I do appreciate the care in which the author took to structure the book so that even the slow beginning was readable.

Rating:
Summary: the most wonderful book
Review: This is my ultimate favorite book. I have read it a million times just because it's so fun and exciting to read.
What a glamorous life one had! She also led the most complex and interesting life with Jack Kennedy and Onassis. Sadly she had to face too many deaths of her loved ones during her life time, but she endured it with dignity and class.
I honestly think there is no one one can compare with Jackie Kennedy concerning elegance and feminism. She truely is a symbol of intelligence, wealth, fortune. That's one reason I like her so much- not only was she beautiful but also intelligent and smart.
Sarah Bradford is one of my favorite writers. Her writing is simply elegant and honest and so detailed. It's unlike any other book I have read. I often wonder how she gathered all this information and how she managed to get these rare interviews from all these people who were very close with Jackie. Sometimes I think it's more of her writing that interests me more than Jackie's actual life.
I strongly recommend this book to everyone. It's fast paced and simply too good not to read.

Rating:
Summary: Nice subtle context lends understanding
Review: What a fascinating book on a fascinating subject. More than six years after she died, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis continues to hold her grip on the world's imagination. And Sarah Bradford has presented the story of the world's most famous woman in a manner rich in subtle context. While many of the anecdotes are familiar, many others are not. Of all the books I've read on Mrs. Onassis -- and I've probably read them all -- this one somehow seems to capture her various moods, her good intentions and her sometimes petty, diva-like idiosyncracies (she dropped "friends" for what seem like minor infractions, she grew "full of herself," she transformed from a normal, fun-loving young woman into an often regal "marble widow," as Bradford writes). Somehow, this book seems to capture Jackie's essence much more so than any of the previous Onassis biographies.