<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Mean Spirited, Critical, and Irritating
Review: Having read and enjoyed Barbara Gibson's story about working with Rose Kennedy during the matriarch's later years -- and the related stories of the fun and foibles of the clan's grandchildren -- I anticipated a more in-depth chronicle here about the lives and significant contributions and problems of the grandchildren-generation of America's Kennedy clan.It was a bloodbath. Whereas Gibson sounds as though she enjoyed her job despite the frustrations of working in such self-centered and affluent milieu in her book about Rose, this book presents those same grandchildren as selfish, snobbish, hedonistic hellcats with thorough disregard for the lives of those around them... resulting from their sub-par parenting courtesy of their abused, neglected, drug-addicted folks and hell-bent-on-success grandparents. This is a textbook of intergenerational blame. The redeeming qualities of this book include its attempt at even handedness (for example, the author does note that with few exceptions, Maria Shriver did in fact earn her journalistic distinction on her own... and that Caroline and John Kennedy were basically good children, exceptions to the Kennedy rule) and its historical validity; based on my experience reading every other Kennedy biography I can get my hands on, most of Gibson's factual information is accurate. However, allegations that Rosemary Kennedy never was retarded ring false to me (Gibson claims Rosemary was merely unacceptably mediocre as well as dyslexic... seems to me that other Kennedy children were similarly underendowed in priority areas, but no one wanted to lobotomize THEM -- except maybe Gibson herself). The word "hate" and its relative "hatred" are flung around with reckless abandon, classifying everything from Ethel's feelings about her son David to Rose's reaction to Kym to Jackie's response to John Jr.'s potential acting career. The author truly seems to hate this family, to use her already overused adjective. Obviously, she anticipated a windfall of money to make such a distasteful book worth her time, or maybe her co-author bewitched her... but there are more judicious Kennedy biographies out there, ones that manage to highlight accomplishments of this very accomplished family without seeming to relish their weaknesses, proclivities, deviations, or vulnerabilities. Get this from the library.
Rating: 
Summary: good book!
Review: I think this was a very good book. It has lots of information about the younger Kennedys that I never knew about. It has alot of information about the older Kennedys, but you must know about the older ones to understand the younger ones. I highly reccomend this book if you want to know anything about the younger generation
Rating: 
Summary: Watching The Younger Generations Self-destruct
Review: In spite of the title, a good portion of the book is devoted to a repetition of familiar family history centering on Joe, Rose, Jack, Bobby and Teddy. This book is not friendly to the Kennedys. It will be most interesting to those who enjoy watching members of the younger Kennedy generations self-destruct.
Rating: 
Summary: one of the worst books ever written about the Kennedys
Review: This book should never have been written. It is poorly researched, riddled with inaccuracies, and so relentlessly anti-Kennedy that it induces mental nausea. Ms. Gibson has made capital out of her secretarial job, but neither her pontificating nor the scuttlebutt of "household staff" is worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: one of the worst books ever written about the Kennedys
Review: While I don't have an overwhelming delight nor animosity towards the Kennedy family, I believe that the author, Barbara Gibson, does. Writing this book provides her with an opportunity to bash a former employer. The book is poorly written with regurgitated passages throughout. It also contains typos that should have been easily caught during proofing. Example: Anthony Shriver "was born in 1965..." Further down on the same page you will find this sentence: "In February 1965, he was quoted in People magazine..." Please! If you are going to take my money at least get your product correct. Bottom line - Don't waste your money or your time on this book.
<< 1 >>
| 
