All Too Human: The Love Story of Jack and Jackie Kennedy [Hardcover]

Edward Klein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1996

On the basis of more than 300 interviews with those who knew the couple, the author breaks through a wall of secrecy to reveal the true dynamic between John and Jacqueline Kennedy, the couple who "built Camelot".

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Edward Klein shows that, despite their glamorous public lives, the Kennedys were as human as the rest of us. Through details on the couple's most intimate moments, including Jackie's defloration in a Paris elevator, and her amusing, albeit catty, disposition (kept under wraps because of her political standing), the ivory tower of their existence seems less out of reach. With chapter titles such as "Indiscreet," "Love Lies Bleeding," and "Pleasure First" the book reads a bit like a romance novel, but with a biting touch of reality.

From Publishers Weekly

As Klein, a former editor of the New York Times Magazine, notes in the acknowledgments for his book, people who knew the Kennedys have been increasingly willing to talk about them since Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's death?which means that a lot of what used to be gossipy conjecture is now being authoritatively fleshed out. Klein lists more than 200 people who agreed to be quoted with attribution for his book, and cites many more sources as well; what he has come up with can surely be regarded, therefore, as thoroughly vouched for. It is an extraordinary story, of the physically frail but sexually voracious President (among many ailments, according to Klein, was a longstanding venereal infection) in a battle of wills with a wife as determined to live her own life as he was to live his. Her passion as a mother seems to have been the only constant for her, having lost two children, one by miscarriage and the other at birth (the two others were born with difficulty); and the book begins and ends with her trying to ensure that John and Caroline hear only the best about their father. For Kennedy, despite all his charm, comes across as a ruthlessly selfish person who found close relationships, other than those with macho bragging companions, difficult. For all Klein's efforts to put some heart into the marriage?and it certainly seems clear that they were growing closer at the time the President was shot?much of their life together seems to have been inspired by opportunism on both sides. What will strike many readers is how emotionally difficult?"all too human"?the Kennedys were: he with his brash drive, his deep cynicism, his basic contempt for women (as learned from his father), she with her spoiled upbringing and passionate attachment to her own lamentable father. Klein's book is a swift, dramatic and colorful read, even if he hasn't painted quite the picture he seems to think he has. Photos not seen by PW. First serial to Vanity Fair; BOMC selection.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 406 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (September 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671501879
• ISBN-13: 978-0671501877
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #881,732 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #68 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( O ) > Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great love story, June 3, 2000

By 

lollilop (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Too Human: The Love Story of Jack and Jackie Kennedy (Mass Market Paperback)

I love biographies, and have read several on the Kennedy's. This is one of my favorites. It gives you a very in depth look at the real relationship between Jack and Jackie, which is, as the title says, "All Too Human". The book, which reads almost like a novel, starts with the first meeting of Jackie and Jack, and carries you all the way through until Jack was assassinated in November of 1963. Edward Klein was a personal friend of Jackie's for a number of years, which made him privy to alot of information. Some points of interest include Jack's affairs and womanizing, Jackie's feelings on being a politician's wife, Joe Kennedy's role in their relationship, how the death of their son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, brought Jack and Jackie closer than they'd ever been before, only to have it taken away on that fateful day in Dallas, and Jackie's relationship with her parents. Of course, there is a ton of other information in this book, but these are just a few. After reading this book, I read "Just Jackie: Her Private Years", which is also by Edward Klein. It picks up where "All Too Human" leaves off (shortly after the assassination of JFK). I highly recommend both books to anyone interested in reading about the Kennedys and Jackie O.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A touching story., February 13, 2001

By 

alisa (Boulder, Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Too Human: The Love Story of Jack and Jackie Kennedy (Mass Market Paperback)

This book tells the touching story of the relationship between Jack and Jackie Kennedy. It is well-written and is a sympathetic telling of their relationship. I enjoyed it very much - better than most of the books about the Kennedys on the market.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Camelot", October 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: All Too Human: The Love Story of Jack and Jackie Kennedy (Mass Market Paperback)

As a high school student you loves history, I found this book to be wonderful. As I read it, I had to remind myself that these were real people,-- Jack was the President dealing with the Mafia and Marilyn Monroe. Although JFK had a relativly short time as President, (just a "1,000" days), he had such an impact on our society. It was amazing to learn about his and Jackie's family life,--how they were brought together, the affairs, and the loss of their son Patrick. The Kennedy's have truly become America's Royal family.