I, Jfk [Paperback]

Robert Mayer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1990

A wryly ironic Jack Kennedy recounts his own life story--years after his death--revealing the truths about his presidency, his marriage and mistresses, his colorful associates, and his death. Book available. Reissue.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this satirical debunking of the so-called Camelot presidency, John F. Kennedy, whose purported beyond-the-grave reminiscences are the substance of the text, emerges as a cynical, sex-obsessed egomaniac who took the American people for a ride. JFK says things like, "The simple fact is, I was telegenic," while his brother Bobby defends Joseph McCarthy's complexity of character, and Lyndon Johnson, commenting on the 1960 election, tells JFK: "You used me, and tossed me aside like a whore." Some of this is genuinely witty, as when JFK, about to meet Khrushchev, cracks: "It was like stepping into the pages of Orwell, for a chat with the head pig." But for the most part, Mayer ( Superfolks ; The Dreams of Ada ) recycles gossip and advances his own semi-surreal versions of events such as Marilyn Monroe's murder and JFK's assassination in a racy, sometimes amusing but highly forgettable fantasy. Joseph Kennedy, Lindbergh, Aristotle Onassis and "Jackie Zero," Martin Luther King, Hoover, Hoffa and assorted mobsters make appearances.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The author of Superfolks (LJ 3/15/77) has written a wildly inventive, outrageous, even blasphemous confession, supposedly created in the hereafter by John F. Kennedy. It is 25 years after JFK's death and almost time for him to move to the next tier, so he decides to write his memoirs or confession and set the record straight. In his present state he is surrounded by Bobby Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr., and Adlai Stevenson. Marilyn Monroe has already moved on; and Jimmy Hoffa, father Joe, and J. Edgar Hoover are in hell. JFK's versions of Marilyn's and his own death are probably no more ridiculous than what actually did happen. The author's impudence is mostly irresistible, but there are some farcical lapses that don't quite make it on the printed page--although they might on film. This could become very popular, and most readers won't be disappointed.
- Robert H. Donahugh, Youngstown and Mahoning Cty . P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: St Martins Mass Market Paper (October 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312923406
• ISBN-13: 978-0312923402
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,929,902 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Mayer bio


Born in the Bronx, N.Y., Robert Mayer attended the City College of NY, and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. After a brief stint at the Washington Post, he joined the staff of Newsday. He spent ten years there, six as a reporter and four as the paper's New York City columnist.

In 1968 he won the National Headliner Award as the best feature columnist in the country. In 1969 he won the Mike Berger Award for the year's best writing about New York City. In 1971 he received the Mike Berger Award again, becoming the first person to win it twice. He then moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to write books and articles.

Mayer is the author of nine books -- seven novels and two works of non-fiction. Three of the books have been reissued in new editions during the past few years. They include Superfolks, which (for better or worse) altered the treatment of super heroes in comics and movies forever; Notes of a Baseball Dreamer, a memoir about growing up as a wannabe major leaguer in the city; and The Dreams of Ada, the true story of two men spending life in prison for a murder they did not commit
.
Between writing books Mayer served six years as managing editor and then editor of The Santa Fe Reporter, an alternative weekly. His journalism has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, Condé Naste Traveler, Travel & Leisure, Metropolitan Home, Rocky Mountain Magazine and numerous other publications. Currently he is completing a new novel.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For the JFK enthusiast, June 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: I, Jfk (Paperback)

Dictating from purgatory, JFK sheds light on his life and all that has been written about him since his death. JFK talks about his mob connections, his friendship with Frank Sinatra, his feelings about Nixon, Jackie, LBJ, and Martin Luther King, his hatred for J. Edgar Hoover, and his affairs with Marilyn Monroe and Judith Campbell.

LBJ, Adlai Stevenson, J. Edgar Hoover, and Martin Luther King chime in as well.

With Kennedy wit and charm, Mayer brings Kennedy to life. Irreverent, wry, and suspenseful, it's hard to distinguish between fact and fiction.

Finally, the book also offers some illumination regarding Kennedy's assassination and death.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for all JKF buffs!, September 22, 2000

By 

Warren E. Maldonado (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I, Jfk (Paperback)

Robert Mayer's main characters are: JFK (Handsome Jack) in the afterlife ... along with RFK (Robert, the Young), Lord Veep Nixon (the stubble-hearted); LBJ, Bane of Texas, Henry Cabot (the Large), J. Edgar Hoover, Dr.King, Fiddle and Faddle, Judy, and of course, Marilyn, who sternly lectures Handsome Jack on morality and the Monroe Doctrine before and after their romps in the sack. Brilliantly written with much thought provoking truth woven in this delightfully humorous work of fantasy where JFK explains ALL.

3.0 out of 5 stars Outrageous JFK Assassination Theory!, October 7, 2009

By 

Gary W. Mitchell (Redlands, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: I, Jfk (Paperback)

OUTRAGEOUS!

Since I first purchased and read this book in the late 80's, I have enjoyed sharing it with friends and colleagues who share my interest in this period of our history. Whether you have read only one account of the tragic events of November, 1963, or, like me, haver probably contributed to the burgeoning growth of the JFK assassination "cottage industry" works that continue to fill library shelves, you will not find another work like this.

Having worked with several entertainment personalities over the years, stories abound in Hollywood concerning the private life, and particularly the sexual escapades of it more prominent citizens. Joseph P. Kennedy's sexual exploits may be legendary across the nation, but I have heard tales of his sexual dalliances of his Hollywood days that make many other ribald stories seem pale by comparison. Thus the premise early in the book about a disadvantaged offspring he had as a by-product of one of his many West Coast flings is all too believeable.

But the premise that this physically disadvantaged "son" was actually the triggerman in Dallas that Friday aftrenoon can be found nowhere else.

Thus begins the fictional (?) account of what the author would have use believe is the "real" story.

After re-reading this book several times, I am struck with a preoccupation with the following questions/concerns.

(1) Is it possible that the elder Kennedy could have fathered such an offspring?

Quite likely.

(2) Did the author write about the sexual proclivities of JFK with information and passion only capable of being known by someone who had such knowledge in the real world?

Quite possible. Other accounts of JFK's sexual appetite and boasting comments are well documented.

(3) Concerning JFK's alleged involvement with Marilyn Monroe, who was also involved with both parties who in later years sold any story he (and perhaps only he could know) for a price?

People I know who knew Peter Lawford have told me that he practically invented "checkbook journalism".

Reference his telephone calls from a rehab center in Palm Springs fibbing on such luminaries as Liz Taylor, for example. It is said thnat he was considered almost a regular contributor to such sensational publications as "The National Enquirer" inter. alia.

(4) The descriptions of two older husky men dressing up as Ethel and Jackie with masks to torment Marilyn during her last days suggest someone with quite a knowledge of such types of activity. Could the FBI be involved in this charade, even inclduing Hoover and his buddy Tolson?

Who knows? Only recently have subsequent books bring us a better understanding of these two.

In summary, if you are looking for a very different - and somewhat thought-provoking - discourse on what may have been background events to late 1963, this book is worth your time.

I am left with a disturbing impression that even if this is truly a work of fiction, someone who may have been very close to these times and people may have an invisible involement in this story.

My only regret is that I may have to buy another copy, since I loaned my book to a Cuban attorney three years ago who has since failed to return it!