READ THIS: READING JACKIE Her Autobiography in Books William Kuhn WHOM YOU KNOW CELEBRATES OUR 300TH POST IN READ THIS WITH READING JACKIE, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY WHOM YOU KNOW
Like many accomplished women throughout the ages, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis at first glance and on the surface is known for what she wore and whom she was married to. This is a tragedy of society and public thought, because we feel her true value lies in her sharp intelligence and wit and inside beauty that is celebrated in this outstanding work. Though we love and admire JFK as well, we do not think he would have been able to write "While England Slept" without her, and that was WAY before she was a book editor. One of the most private people the world has known, Jackie granted few interviews and exuded an extraordinary emphasis on privacy, which makes Reading Jackie that much more coveted: It is through reading about what she was involved in publishing and how it was published that you get to know her as well as you are able.
Of course, it is known that "she did not have to work;" however, what is admirable is that she did, and she did it on her own terms. When you read the book you'll see she worked remotely, on vacation, and was highly dedicated to the publishing world. Of course, though she started at Viking she ended up at Doubleday and that is where the bulk of her career was spent, and that is who published Reading Jackie so obviously you could not find a more reliable publishing source. Though we of course did not work with her or know her personally, her actions say that she was a team player, cared about helping people out, and was interested in achieving her potential. And did you know that Michael Jackson with his Moonwalk book was one of her projects? Doubleday smartly summarizes her career of books there in the back. Maybe we should review all 100 of those books too if they come out again and get to know Jackie.
Jackie Kennedy did a lot for the public good, and you only need to enter Grand Central or see the Temple of Dendur at the Met to see two examples of that, but if you are not in Manhattan, the rest of the world can enjoy the over 100 books she published no matter where you are. Of course the Reservoir in Central Park is also named for her.
And we could not be more pleased that she more than achieved her ambition from Secrets in the Attic from her Farmington Yearbook-Jackie, you were not a housewife!
Whom You Know Gives Reading Jackie our Highest Recommendation.
You all absolutely must read this.
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Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, famously never wrote a memoir, but she told her life story and revealed herself in intimate ways through the nearly 100 books she brought into print during the last two decades of her life as an editor at Viking and Doubleday. Though more than twenty biographies of Jackie Kennedy Onassis have been published, only about four percent of the roughly 6,500 pages address her editorial career, the most personally significant period of her life. Now, William Kuhn’s READING JACKIE: Her Autobiography in Books (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday; On-sale 12/7/10) reveals the serious and mischievous woman underneath the glamorous façade and acknowledges that Jackie was a more intellectual, better-read, and better-informed woman than we have known before.
Based on papers, personal letters, and more than ninety interviews with Jackie’s authors, colleagues and friends, READING JACKIE provides a compelling behind-the-scenes account of Jackie’s books: how she signed them up, her relationship with their authors, her interventions in the text, and why their subjects spoke so strongly to who she was herself. Many Americans regarded Jackie as the paragon of grace, but few knew her as the woman sitting on her office floor laying out illustrations, or flying to California Egypt and India
Though Jackie had a reputation for avoiding publicity, she willingly courted controversy in her books. She was the first editor to commission a commercially-successful book telling the story of Thomas Jefferson’s relationship with his female slave. Her publication of Gelsey Kirkland's attack on dance icon George Balanchine caused another storm. Though Jackie rarely spoke of her personal life, many of her books ran parallel to, echoed, and emerged from her own experience. She was the editor behind bestsellers on the assassinations of Tsar Nicholas II and John Lennon, and in another book she paid tribute to the allure of Marilyn Monroe and Maria Callas.
Jackie is remembered today for her connection to Camelot and to Onassis, but her real legacy is a group of intriguing works that reveal the experiences, recollections, and passions of a lifetime. This is the autobiography she never wrote.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
WILLIAM KUHN is a biographer and historian. He is the author of three previous books, including, most recently, a controversial biography, The Politics of Pleasure: A Portrait of Benjamin Disraeli. His Henry and Mary Ponsonby: Life at the Court of Queen Victoria was a BBC Radio Four Book of the Week read by actor Geoffrey Palmer.
READING JACKIE: Her Autobiography in Books
Published by Nan A. Talese/Doubleday
Publication Date: December 7, 2010
Price: $27.95
ISBN: 978-0-385-53099-6
