Product Description

From the New York Times bestselling author of American Legacy, RFK, and A Woman Named Jackie, an in-depth look at the much talked-about -- but never fully revealed -- relationship between Jackie Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy

Few writers have immersed themselves in the world of the Kennedys as completely or successfully as C. David Heymann, whose biographies of Jackie, Robert, John F. Kennedy Jr., and Caroline together have sold millions of copies and have shed light on the private lives of the most prominent members of this iconic American family. Now he draws on more than two decades' worth of personal interviews, as well as previously unavailable reports and briefs from the Secret Service and the FBI, to create a complete picture of the complex relationship that existed between two of the most heralded figures of the twentieth century.

Americans have long been fascinated by the rumored love affair between Jackie Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy. With Bobby and Jackie they will finally get more than a glimpse of their emotional and romantic connection. An open secret for decades among family insiders, their affair began as a result of their shared grief over the assassination of the president in 1963 and lasted until Bobby began his run for the Demo-cratic presidential nomination in 1968.

Readers will gain behind-closed-doors access to Bobby and Jackie's liaison, from late-night trysts at Jackie's Fifth Avenue apartment to fervent embraces at the Kennedy estate in Palm Beach. They will also learn more about the deep friendship that grew out of the couple's shared tragedies, their family loyalty, and their overflowing ambition.

It was "perhaps the most normal relationship either one ever had," Truman Capote observed. "In retrospect, it seems hard to believe that it happened, but it did." Poignant, illuminating, and enormously entertaining, Bobby and Jackie is a glorious account of a legendary romance.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5336 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781416556244
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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From Publishers Weekly
Pulitzer-nominated biographer Heymann delivers a gawk-worthy beach read with this fascinating look at Jackie and the Kennedy clan in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Life for JFK and Jackie was less than perfect; one story finds him cheating on Jackie during their 1953 Acapulco honeymoon, leaving the new Mrs. Kennedy "by herself on the verandah." Still, Jackie's devastation was real; afterward, her love for his brother Bobby was equally genuine. Unable to find peace (her Georgetown home had become a stop for all D.C. tour buses), Bobby gladly volunteered to play surrogate father to her kids; before long, an affair began. According to Truman Capote, it was "perhaps the most normal relationship either one ever had." It was not necessarily simple, however; both saw a number of people while together. Promiscuity aside, the Kennedys were also notoriously "chintzy" in their personal lives-they didn't tip and employed undocumented workers at home- though Jackie fares marginally better. It's anyone's guess how the affair would have ended if Bobby hadn't been killed; just four months later, she married Aristotle Onassis. Heymann's research is top notch, with plentiful attributions, making this train-wreck love story a substantial guilty pleasure and a sizzling reminder of how the rich are different.
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Review
"Pulitzer-nominated biographer Heymann delivers a gawk-worthy beach read with this fascinating look at Jackie and the Kennedy clan in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy's assassination....Heymann's research is top notch, with plentiful attributions, making this train-wreck love story a substantial guilty pleasure and a sizzling reminder of how the rich are different."-- Publishers Weekly

"Full of gossipy tidbits.... This book is shocking, yearningly romantic and tons of fun." -- People

About the Author
C. David Heymann is the internationally known author of such New York Times bestselling books as The Georgetown Ladies' Social Club; RFK: A Candid Biography of Robert F. Kennedy; Poor Little Rich Girl: The Life and Legend of Barbara Hutton; and A Woman Named Jackie: An Intimate Biography of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. Three of his works have been made into award-winning NBC-TV miniseries. A three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, he lives and works in Manhattan.

Customer Reviews

Heymann's work is simply not credible
Heymann's book is simply not credible. First of all - and let's clear this up before we begin - he is NOT a Pulitzer Prize "nominee." That term is reserved for people the Pulitzer Prize committee selected as finalists. Heymann was simply an entrant - meaning, his publisher submitted his book in the HOPE of getting a nomination. I verified this both by talking to his current editor and by talking to the Pulitzer Prize committee.

Suffice it to say if you believe what's in the book, stay away from real estate brokers, as you are clearly at a disadvantage. He provides footnotes for items that are not new, and doesn't footnote his more astonishing claims. Heymann relies heavily on his purported interview with a guy who died several years before Heymann started writing about the Kennedys. And some of the more sensational claims for that interview are, surprise, not in his earlier books on the Kennedys. Did he only just rediscover things you truly couldn't forget on first hearing?

All the people who he has making extraordinary claims regarding an affair between Jackie and Bobby are dead. How convenient. If that's not what they said, they are no longer alive and able to sue.

Now perhaps Heymann is being fed bad information by his researchers. He credits a number of them for this book. Maybe Heymann is the gullible dupe. But his researchers didn't list him as a three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee when he wasn't. That was Heymann's doing. I suspect most other "mistakes" are his alone, as well.

I've tried to use his other books for research before, but his footnoting wouldn't pass a History 101 course. He'll source the right book in some cases but the wrong page number, and when you finally find the relevant passage, you'll see he quoted this wrong. For that reason, I'm unable to use his books in any of my own research. It's not worth the time to try to figure out what he got right.

If you like novels and hate the Kennedys, then this may be the book for you. If you have a serious interest in history, however, this book will not help you. And woe to other authors who quote from his unsourced claims. They'll reveal themselves to be shoddy researchers in a field mined with plenty of disinformation already.

Tiresomely opportunistic (and somehow cheap)
I too was curious when I bought the book, and am ashamed of myself for giving way to my curiosity,particularly since my purchase has increased this author's income. He has made a living off this family, and has done so by purveying sleazy reading material to the greedy public, of which I now have, to my shame, become an too-willing member. The book is no more than a rehash of rumors, innuendo and cheap gossip, and I found myself grieving for Mrs. Kennedy's daughter, nearly the last surviving member of a family who has had to suffer through too much of this tabloid trash as it is. There's nothing new here, save for a titillating title and a lot of speculative gossip, some of which may or may not be true. And, my God, at this juncture, who cares? The principals are, for the most part, dead, and seemingly are still not allowed to rest in peace. Whatever comfort any of them found in one another's presence is surely a matter for gratitude, and not this cheap, tawdry speculation which adds nothing to anyone's life and can only wound the living. I am ashamed of myself for succumbing to the temptation to buy this book, and I found it to be Heymann's usual trash.

Prepare for a really exciting reading!
C. David Heymann has written a very exciting book about the relationship between Jacqueline and Robert Kennedy. Frankly, I bought it because I wanted to read more about the unusual relationship between Jackie and Bobby. And I do not regret spending money on it; the book sheds light on the liaison and paints a social and historical context.

The author has gathered an engaging interview material. He has listened not only to some gossipy maids and society photographers, but also to near-standing friends of the couple. They portray a relationship which was an open secret to everyone who was in the inner circle of Jackie's and Bobby's friends and acquaintances while, at the same time, guarded from the public eyes.

It is fair in treating all the parties -- none was spared and none was favoured. Personally, I felt that the book was a bit too open about a - essentially private - love relationship. Occasionally, it felt like reading a dirty tabloid or pages from a teenager's hot, privately revealing diary. But, I suppose, that is a risk you have to take, if you want to immerse and understand a relationship between any lovers.

I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the private lives of the two of the greatest liberal politicians of the United States in 1960-ties. (Oh, yes, Jackie certainly qualifies as a politician!)It is a definite page-turner and an exciting time-killer at worst.