Product Description

In this much-anticipated sequel to his 1996 bestseller, Jack and Jackie, Christopher Andersen is certain to make headlines once again with his revealing account of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's life after Jack Kennedy's death.

Incredibly, Jackie Kennedy was only thirty-four when JFK was assassinated. With her husband, she had already captured the world's imagination. Without him, she would hold it until her own death three decades later--achieving a kind of global fame unsurpassed in this century. Billions of words have been written about her, but Jackie guarded her privacy so fiercely that the last thirty years of her life are still veiled in secrecy and mystique. For the first time, drawing on previously sealed archival material and newly declassified government documents--as well as important sources who have agreed to speak here for the first time--Jackie After Jack paints a sympathetic yet often startling portrait of Jackie in all her rich complexity.

Alone after Dallas, Jackie summoned the strength, grace, and dignity to go on. Along the way, she struggled with those all-too-familiar issues of remarriage, in-laws, money, romance, children, stepchildren, grandchildren, aging, illness, and finally, her own mortality. Jackie After Jack traces this remarkable woman's personal journey--and captures the drama, humor, glamour, and heartache that have made Jackie an enduring source of fascination and inspiration for millions.

Startling new revelations include:

The surprising truth about the men in Jackie's life before Onassis and after;

Important new information about Dallas and its aftermath -- including Jackie's battle back from depression;

How she avoided the Kennedy pitfalls in raising her children; what impact Jackie had on JFK, Jr.'s romantic life;

Jackie's spiritual quest, and never-before-revealed detailsabout her final days.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1601489 in Books
• Published on: 1998-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 472 pages

Amazon.com Review
Christopher Andersen's biography Jackie After Jack: Portrait of the Lady is one steamy read. Andersen claims that Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis had affairs with Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, William Holden, Warren Beatty, Bobby Kennedy, and JFK's former deputy secretary of defense. He writes that she battled anorexia, was both cheap and greedy, wore big sunglasses partly to cover up bruises inflicted by Aristotle Onassis, tried to sign Princess Diana to a book contract, offered Camilla Parker Bowles $2 million to tell all, and dropped Michael Jackson, whose book she edited, when he stood accused of pederasty. Andersen suggests that the cancer that killed Jackie may have been related to her habits: 40 to 60 cigarettes a day, four decades of carcinogenic black hair dye, and countless amphetamine and carcinogenic steroid injections in the 1960s. Many of the juiciest stories come from anonymous sources, and, according to Newsweek, Brando's biographer claims the alleged Jackie tryst never happened. Some readers may feel that Andersen's breezy assertion that Castro murdered JFK may not fully settle the question. But many will want to check out what ex-People magazine writer Andersen has to say. --Tim Appelo

From Library Journal
Best-selling celebrity biographer Andersen revisits Jackie Onassis.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
If ... dirt-digging is for you, then you're bound to enjoy Andersen's book, a sequel to his equally unflattering 1996 bestseller Jack and Jackie.... Forget about scholarly analysis or psychological insight; there's no denying, however, that Andersen's scavenged clues to the reality behind the Jackie myth make for compelling reading. -- People, Alex Tresniowski

Customer Reviews

A More Human Approach to an Icon
My favorite part about this book is the fact that it gave such a refreshing look at someone who could, so easily, be idealized. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was human & possessed all the failings of a human being. I don't think she saw herself as anything else, & reportedly, could be very self-deprecating among her friends. The Kennedys & all of their family will forever fascinate our imaginations, but this book was a look at a very real woman, who withstood many challenges. She was able to present herself to the world as almost superhuman, which may have been her greatest failing. As they say, everyone is fascinated by power & strength, but too often rejoice in seeing those who possess those qualities topple from grace.

Readable Fluff
I will give this book the compliment of readability, but I hesitate to go further than that in its praise.

As a voracious reader of biographies, and having read all other Jackie novels I could get my hands on, I would rank this book as low to middling in its portrayal of the former first lady.

Granted, no one, even an autobiographer, can paint an entirely accurate portrait of a biographical subject, but this book does, I think, fall well short. Do I think Jacqueline Onassis held Aristotle in contempt, as Anderson says? I find it easier to believe Kiki Feroudi Moutsatsos's comments in her book The Onassis Women than those of Anderson; Mrs. Moutsatsos WAS quite closer to Ari and Jackie than Christopher Anderson ever was. Do I think she slept with Marlon Brando? I find myself more inclined to believe, for example, J. Randy Taraborrelli in his book Jackie, Ethel, Joan, as his account makes more SENSE than Anderson's... Jacqueline's character in THIS particular book screams with inconsistency. I think that was Anderson's point, as she was a woman bereft and hunted. However, considering the sum of Jacqueline as a biographical subject, this book's dissonance in the face of the greater context is difficult to reconcile. But it is entertaining.

THE JACKIE WE NEVER KNEW
After the tragedy in Dallas, Jackie Kennedy became America's national hero and inspiration. Author Christopher Andersen takes us into a fascinating and often controversial journey into the real Jackie. The book wastes no time in getting to the action. It begins just seconds after John Kennedy has been shot. No story could be more heartbreaking than the the tragic journey back to Washington, DC and the days after Kennedy's death. According to Andersen, both Jackie and John relied heavily on Max Jacobson, also known as Dr. Feelgood, to relieve their pains and stresses. Jackie was kept well sedated during the funeral to become the brave grieving widow who inspired the world. JACKIE AFTER JACK is a surprising revelation. The widowed Jackie has numerous affairs often with married men and is always drawn to wealthier men. She shatters her golden image by marrying the wealthy and much older Aristotle Onassis. Jackie is portrayed as a woman who demanded loyalty and would end friendship over any perceived slight. Her shopping sprees and extravances were a strain to both her husbands. Although the book can weaken one's admiration for Jackie, it doesn't last long. By the end of the book, no one can feel anything but love and respect for a very remarkable woman. It's a fascinated and well-researched book.