Camelot [Hardcover]

Caryl Rivers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2000

From the bestselling author of "Virgins" comes this hilarious take on the sexual politics and high seriousness of the Kennedy years. A young White House reporter's evolution from personal ambition to public spirit is brilliantly set against a background of advancing civil rights and the first stirrings of American involvement in Vietnam.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A mystical valentine to JFK's media-savvy presidency and a Pollyanna-ish portrait of the early Civil Rights movement serve as backdrops of this melodramatic tale of a self-reliant woman reporter discovering liberated love in conservative Belvedere, Md., in 1963. Mary Springer strikes up an acquaintance with President Kennedy when assigned to cover the White House for her paper, the Belvedere Blade. Crisis looms in her life and the life of the country. While Martin Luther King Jr. prepares to march on Washington, racial violence erupts in Belvedere and the president tragically goes about his last days, Mary is immersed in her own problems: learning to live separated from her alcoholic husband while raising their daughter alone. She also finds herself falling in love with sensitive photographer Jay Broderick, and the two end up dangerously involved with local Civil Rights activists. Former Washington correspondent Rivers (Slick Spins and Fractured Facts: How Cultural Myths Distort the News; Indecent Behavior) takes us into the minds of Jay and Mary, often through rather unfortunate fantasies involving Sigmund Freud and the Nixons. Civil Rights leader Donald Johnson appears in first-person entries from his journal, and the inner musings of JFK himself?including ominous premonitions of his demise?are also woven in. The effort is doomed by superficial characterization, contrived plotting and Rivers's tendency to simplify this dramatic era, the nuances of which have already occupied so many biographers and historians.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Rivers (Indecent Behavior, Dutton, 1990) offers a picture of the early 1960s mainly from the perspectives of two twentysomethings at a small-town newspaper outside Washington, DC. Mary Springer, the paper's White House correspondent, captures President Kennedy's interest and even meets with him. Meanwhile, she falls in love with the paper's photographer, Jay Broderick (she's separated from her alcoholic husband), and together they cover car accidents, White House press conferences, and the decision to demolish a neighborhood of low-income houses. Interspersed with this story are chapters in Kennedy's voice describing his feelings about his family and Vietnam. As if this weren't enough, Rivers also includes Mary's husband's story as well as that of a young black man contemplating a writing career. Rivers manages to include all the elements of the Sixties, but she is so busy setting up the background that she fails to bring her characters to life. She has written better novels in the past; let's hope she'll write better ones in the future. Not recommended.ANancy Pearl, Washington Ctr. for the Book, Seattle
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Zoland Books; 1st edition (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0944072968
• ISBN-13: 978-0944072967
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.8 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,617,202 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A personal look at a fascinating period of history, July 20, 2000

By 

Mrs. Donihue (Clear Lake Riviera, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Camelot (Hardcover)

To many people, the years when President Kennedy was in the White
House and Martin Luther King, Jr. preached a message of equality and
freedom were "Golden Years" whose like will never come
again. That this era was a magical time for Americans can be summmed
up in the name that was given to it, and in the title of Caryl Rivers'
book: "Camelot."

I wasn't alive yet at the time, so I
found Rivers' book invaluable in bringing the era alive for me. The
Civil Rights movement that coincided with Kennedy's tenure had a
lasting impact on our society. Many people still carry on the
struggle to keep these hard-won rights in the hands of everyone,
regardless of skin pigmentation or gender.

Rivers' book brings this
explosive time alive through the experiences of Mary, Jay and
Don. These three young people witness some of history's most pivotal
events firsthand. Rivers presents their reactions and experiences with
honesty and power, triumph and tragedy.

Rivers creates distinct
individuals masterfully through Mary's youth and freshness, Jay's more
worldly cynicism and bizarre sexual fetishes -- one could almost call
them hangups -- and Don's eloquent ruminations (Don's experiences are
told entirely from the first person). His weakness for truly horrific
bodice rippers is a stroke of genius on Rivers' part.

I laughed out
loud when the liberated and educated girlfriend of this likewise very
idealistic and principled young man begins mouthing dialogue from his
favorite author. That I also laughed at Mary and Jay's "Pat and
Dick" routines almost goes without saying.

Whether you wish to
revisit this treasured era of American history, or if, like me, you
are experiencing it for the first time, you can possibly do it in no
better company than Rivers' masterful and wonderful creations.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!, December 27, 1998

By 

Kate ([e-mail]) (The West) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Camelot (Hardcover)

"Camelot" was a wonderful book; one of those that I accidentally found in a small corner book store. Having a fixation with the Kennedys and their legend, I picked it up-- admittedly, it was the cover which drew me to it. I read it in a day and couldn't put it down. Ms. Rivers does an amazing job in creating wonderful characters and wrapping you up within their lives, their trials, their tribulations, laughter, and their tears.

It did not have as much to do with JFK as I had originally thought; though there were conversations, and every few chapters Rivers expertly directs you into the mind of one of the most romantic figures in American History. She manages to capture the charisma and charm, the LIFE that JFK is famous for, which is no small accomplishment. Clearly researched for this role.

Mary is a great character, filled with charm and personality, as is the young president she chats to so he can learn the truth of what goes on outside the white house walls. Jay is amazing- egocentric to some degree, perverted in others, and has his own sick sense of humour. And Don is wonderful, both perfect and flawed, innocent and sinful with his amazing views of the world from a black man raised Catholic in a white neighbourhood, who struggles with his inner self during the Civil Rights Movement which inevitably climaxes to give the reader an experience of MLK Jr's "I have a Dream Speech", and a sit-down protest. "Camelot" succeeds in presenting the reader a portrait of the 1960's, one which is more than just a history book rendering.

This book is worth reading, if just for the "Pat and Dick" (Nixon) segments that I thoroughly enjoyed- Bravo Ms. Rivers! It had me laughing for hours, and then crying afterwards. However, if you're not a fan of 'sick' humour, or the blatent truth as to how things really are/were, don't even bother.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A delightful, funny, thought-provoking read, January 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Camelot (Hardcover)

The great thing about Caryl River's writing is that she can impart real wisdom and still make you laugh out loud. I loved the characters in this book, each one completely human, each one trying to play they hand they've been dealt (including JFK), each one struggling to find a place for herself or himself in a rapidly changing world. The story has the sense of reality that can only be achieved by someone who was there.