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Rating: 
Summary: Refreshing unbiased account
Review: Certainly in the short form popular biography (192 pages) there is not room for major departures, nor radical reinterpretations or troves of previously unknown information. But Sidoreno treats his subject with discernment, clarity and elegance and is not afraid to take a strong stand. And it's this stand or point of view that sets his book gently at odds with other more recent accounts of RFK. The spiritual angle is persuasive and without banging any religious drum. The chronology is very thorough but I found it a bit confusing, or awkward, as it consists of a biographic chronology and an historic one (this is always fascinating in chronologies) but are not thusly and clearly identified (I did quickly figure it out but it would have been nice to have it identified as such). The book is a quick, lively and intelligent read; just what someone might be looking for, who does not have the time to get mired in a 500-page tome on RFK. Staying absolutely clear of sensationalism and speculation, the author still manages to provide us with a terricly intersting, and even entertaining story. Very glad to see the short biographies coming back. This particular book is a great book for those who do not know where to start with all the scores of books out there on RFK (and especially as an unbiased account) and it would seem a gem for college courses on the politics of the 60s.
Rating: 
Summary: Big disappointment
Review: I've read many/most of the RFK bios out there, and was really excited to pick up this one. While I doubted so slim a book could contain much insight, I was hopeful as I read the book jacket & skimmed the pages that this would be a much-needed corrective to all the half-truths, negativity, and speculation that has afflicted even such promising RFK efforts as Evan Thomas's book of a couple years ago.I was really disappointed! First, the book is even slimmer than it looks because there are several pages of photographs in there. There are also some really glaring errors of grammar, punctuation, and even fact in this book. One that comes immediately to mind: in the bibliography, Sidorenko indicates he relied on Jeff Shesol's "Mutual Contempt," which is listed as being published in 1977. Jeff Shesol wasn't even in in high school in 1977 (his book was actually published in 1997). The writing style is clunky. Take this example from page 130: "Time sobered heads inebriated by shock. Robert Kennedy began a process that took about six days. Most meetings the president did not attend. Security required that all seem normal at the White House." Inebriated by shock? WHAT process? I thought the subject was RFK, not the president. Actually, I blame the editors & publisher far more than the author. This book is part of some series called "Lives & Legacies," but there's no explanation of what the series is all about, and if this is how the whole series is edited, I wouldn't buy another book in it at all. In fact, I'd avoid any books put out by this seemingly bush-league publisher.
Rating:
Summary: author goes about things in a lively style
Review: RFK's life was an astonishing mix of contrasts: on one hand he was a "ruthless" and pragmatic politician that many in power feared, and on the other hand, a man with an absolute belief in God. The author strips away the decades of myth to reveal a complex man of execptional depth and dimension, and ultimately a politician who gave this country hope, and "set the stage whereby future politicians could lead with no less conviction and hope." Mr. Sidorenko's compelling profile lets us understand the continuing fascination with a man who was at once an ambitious career politician and a man who could rise above the political give and take; a ruthless prosecutor and a deeply moral man; a prosecutor who often ignored civil rights and a man of undeniable faith and sympathy and devotion to the poor and disadvantaged. The book very convincingly shows how RFK reconciled these opposite forces. An excellent short, but rounded account of RFK's life and the politics of the sixties.
Rating:
Summary: It takes an outsider....
Review: The author poses some interesting questions: Did, as author Ronald Steel has suggested, Bobby Kennedy use the rhetoric of religion--along with civil rights and liberal causes as a ruse for personal gain? Was Kennedy a chameleon using change simply to feed his personal ambitions? Or wasn't it more to the point that growth was a constant theme in Kennedy's life--"a steady evolution and not based on epiphanic interruptions"? Author Konstantine Sedorenko is very convincing when he says Faith was "neither politics nor pandering" for Robert Kennedy and that his spiritual and religious training kept him from embracing only worldly ambitions. True, ambition brought him to the edge, but, as the author smartly shows, worldly purpose fused with religious imperatives and values in Bobby's case, and the final leap into national politics, the political and social issues of his day, and finally, the presidential pool "came from his deep moral essence." Is worldly purpose necessarily at odds with religious and moral values or principals and standards? Bobby Kennedy's history and story, if one stands back and attempts to view objectively--as perhaps only an outsider can--would indicate quite the opposite. Kennedy's legacy indeed, to quote Sedorenko, "set the stage whereby future politicians could lead with no less conviction and hope." Finally, one thing that definitely can be said about Robert F. Kennedy: he never pulled any punches--not with his cohorts and not with the American public. Neither does Sedorenko in this dynamic portrait of a most complex man--one who could and firmly did--take a moral stance in a time when America needed "more than the advice cold war tacticians could supply."
Rating:
Summary: DEFINITELY WORTH READING!
Review: This is one of the best biographies of Robert Kennedy I have read to date. This author not only treats him with respect, but has the foresight and good sense to stay with factual information and not speculations and sensationalism. Mr. Sidorenko does an excellent, probing in-depth analysis of Robert Kennedy. What makes this book such a welcome contribution is that it focuses on the late Senator's spiritualism. A devout Catholic, Robert Kennedy took his faith seriously from all accounts. He is the only one of the sons who wears the stamp of Rose Kennedy. Religious and reclusive, the redoubtable matriarch left an indelible stamp on this penultimate son. His face is the face of Rose; the physical resemblance is quite strong. His faith was inspired by her own; he was the altar boy who would, later in his life travel with his Bible and admit how important Catholicism was to him. A man of strong convictions, Robert Kennedy let himself be pushed into public service in early adulthood. He admitted his own self doubts on numerous occasions, but never once shirked a duty. He was the man who pushed himself in all areas of his life; as a boy, he tried to teach himself how to swim. Some 35 years later, he would work with top mountain climbers to prepare to climb a Canadian Mountain that was named after his late brother, President Kennedy. Robert Kennedy suffered from acrophobia, yet he was able to table his fear and climb that mountain! Once atop Mt. Kennedy, the then new Senator made the Sign of the Cross and did, throughout the remainder of his life make spiritual references to the late president. Robert Kennedy was a self-educated man; he would, in adulthood make himself aware of Civil Rights related issues. He would also develop a strong knowledge base of classical literature. He drew on a myriad of references and, from all accounts kept his mind open to receiving new information. This is such a wonderful book. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Immensely readable account.
Review: Undeniably very often described, among other things, as, above all ruthless, Bobby Kennedy was and probably remains one of the most controversial figures in America. The author of Robert F. Kennedy: A Spiritual Biography goes past the glitter, and revisionism of his explosive subject and examines his life and his politics (with a heads-on approach--not unlike Kennedy's own)largely through the lens of his character, partly which was undoubtedly influenced by his deep religious background and foundation. It's been stated many times that Kennedy was one of the most complex and baffling personalities ever to emerge on the American political scene. What's been missing up until now, and especially for the newer generations, is a clear view of the real man rather than simply concentrating on the public image and his political career. This book effectively explores the life of the man America still loves to love--and, still loves to hate.
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