Jackie, Ethel, Joan : Women of Camelot [Hardcover]

J. Randy Taraborrelli (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 2000

Jacqueline Bouvier. Ethel Skakel. Joan Bennett. Three women who married into America's royal family and became forever linked in legend. Set against the panorama of explosive American history, this unique story offers a rarely-seen look at the relationship shared among the three women -- during the Camelot years and beyond. Whether dealing with their husbands' blatant infidelities, stumping for their many political campaigns, touring the world to promote their family's legacy, raising their children, or confronting death, the Kennedy wives did it all with grace, style and dignity.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What a great idea for a deep-dish tell-all! JFK's lonely, classy wife, Bobby's athletic, competitive wife, and Ted's meek, alcoholic wife, together at last between covers, soothing each other when not fighting like fishwives. Taraborrelli's breathless prose makes you a fly on the wall when formidable mother-in-law Rose Kennedy walks in on Joan commiserating with Ethel about their honeymoons: "I think Bobby was finished before I got into the room!" said Ethel. "Now what are you ladies talking about?" asked Rose. Jackie, who was present, cooed, "Oh, we were just saying how well Bobby sleeps at night." "He gets that from me," said Rose.

Ethel should never have been so catty when gentle, simple Joan joined the clan: "Goodbye wine and cheese," hissed Ethel. "Hello macaroni and cheese." And she shouldn't have mocked Jackie for being unable to compete in touch football--with the Kennedys, it was more like "claw, scratch and bite" football. And what about when she rubbed it in that she and Bobby were closer than Jackie and Jack? After all, when Lee Remick phoned Ethel to say "You're on the way out," and Ethel replied that Bobby was home in bed, Bobby was in fact (says Taraborrelli) in bed with Lee Remick.

You may have heard that JFK's dad, Joe Kennedy, offered Jackie $1 million not to divorce JFK, but did you hear Jackie's alleged reply? "The price goes up to $20 million if Jack brings home any venereal diseases." Did Ethel betray Jackie's discontent to Joe--and then go ballistic when Joe only gave Ethel $500,000? You'd think Joan would be the clinker in the group, like Zeppo Marx. She was a bit dim, but should Ted have put her down as dumb? He's the one who showed up soused with a prostitute for dinner with the king and queen of Belgium, whose priceless antique couch Ted's date ruined by wetting it.

Who knows how historians will judge this book, but it sure does a great job of making history into a Jackie Collins novel. --Tim Appelo

From Library Journal

The author of best-selling biographies of Sinatra, Michael Jackson, and Diana Ross on being a Kennedy woman.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Warner Books; 1st edition (February 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446524263
• ISBN-13: 978-0446524261
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.8 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (105 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #190,768 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #20 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( O ) > Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy

More About the Author

J. RANDY TARABORRELLI is the author of 16 biographies, many of them New York Times' best sellers, including "Call Her Miss Ross," "Sinatra - Behind the Legend," "Madonna - An Intimate Biography," "Jackie, Ethel, Joan - Women of Camelot" and "Elizabeth." His most recent New York Times' best sellers include "Michael Jackson - The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story." (2009) and "The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe" (also 2009). He is presently at work on his 17th book.

Taraborrelli is known as the foremost authority on Michael Jackson. He interviewed him and his family members countless times and has written more than one hundred articles about him. When Michael Jackson turned eighteen, Taraborrelli was there to report the story with an exclusive interview. As he did when Michael turned 21. And then 30. When Michael recorded "Thriller," Taraborrelli was in the studio. The author also reported on his first marriage to Lisa Marie Presley and his second to Debbie Rowe, the mother of two of his children. Taraborrelli landed the first interview when Jackson settled molestation charges against him in 1993 and was in the courtroom every day when Michael Jackson was on trial for child molestation ten years later. He anchored Michael Jackson's memorial service with Katie Courice in 2009.

J. Randy Taraborrelli is also a CBS News analyst.

The author lives in Encino, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

79 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Most Exciting Kennedy Book Yet, February 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Jackie, Ethel, Joan : Women of Camelot (Hardcover)

I really loved this book for so many reasons and I can't encourage you enough to read it. It's chock full of information on Jackie, Ethel and Joan Kennedy, but it's never dull or plodding. It actually draws you in from the opening chapter and goes on to weave a complicated tale of three famous women who you may think you know - but learn more and more about as the book goes on. Taraborrelli has achieved a perfect example of biography at it's best because it's written by an author who knows and understands his subjects. Like putting the pieces together to a complicated puzzle he carefully brings each character to life using historical facts and never before heard anecdotes. He somehow managed to get first-time interviews with reliable sources so there's quite a few shocking revelations. But even the most lurid details are presented with compassion and integrity. Believe me, there are greater ingredients here than any mini-series writer could dream up: power, sex, money, betrayal and fame - with backdrops that include the White House, Hollywood, and Europe. There's Jackie - the complicated first lady, sometimes strong, sometimes insecure. Ethel, the first of the women to marry into the Kennedy family but who was soon overshadowed when the glamorous and provocative Jackie married the first born son. And Joan, beautiful, sensitive and totally unprepared for the high pressure life of living in a fish bowl. It is fascinating to read how these three ladies - each one very different from the other - interacted when they were forced into "sisterhood" when they married into the illustrious Kennedy family. Each woman was extremely complicated with different areas of strengths and vulnerabilities. They somehow learned to get from each other whatever it was they were lacking in themselves so that, combined, the three women made up the perfect "Kennedy Wife." Taraborrelli shows that during each significant moment in their lives, the wives banded together - in triumph and tragedy, through joy and suffering. Even with all their money and fame and power Jackie, Ethel and Joan had to struggle all their lives against extraordinary odds because of the complications of being the wives of the most famous brothers of this 20th century. "Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot" is a perfect read....historic and informative while being entertaining and glitzy. By the way, the chapters about the wives' dealings Marilyn Monroe alone are worth the price of admission.

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW! What a great book about three great ladies!, January 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Jackie, Ethel, Joan : Women of Camelot (Hardcover)

"Jackie, Ethel, Joan -- Women of Camelot" is such a wonderful and exciting read. It is both fascinating and touching -- often having me in tears. Each character is so well defined, by the end of the book the reader feels that he or she has truly lost a "friend." The way Jackie assisted poor Joan during Joan's times of crisis in her marriage and with her alcoholism was beautifully documented by the author, who had great sources. And Ethel's eccentricities, yet the way they all loved her despite them, reminded me of so many women in my own family. I was also happy to see that the picture of Jackie painted here by author Taraborrelli is so unique. Unlike in other books about her, he doesn't dwell on silly things like her spending habits, but rather on how she related to the other people in her family, always with grace and dignity. Sometimes she could be a little bitchy ... but that was Jackie, too, and the author writes about that side too. And I loved the way Jackie handled her husband, so self-empowered in her refusal to let him believe that she was naive to his unfaithfulness. The material about Jackie and Marilyn Monroe held me spell-bound. Please buy and read this great book, "Jackie, Ethel, Joan," if you really want to laugh, cry and have a good time. I loved it.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read it, Cover-to-Cover, April 25, 2000

By 

thomas J. Ingrassias - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jackie, Ethel, Joan : Women of Camelot (Hardcover)

The reason I decided to buy and read this book was because of all of these reviews on Amazon by interested readers. Most are positive, a few not. But it seemed like this book really touched people, moved them in some way. So, I wanted to be in on it, see what all of the talk was about. I was glad I decided to read it. I, too, felt strong emotions. Sometimes I was annoyed with the writing; it seemed too personal and I thought some of the revelations could have gone "un-revealed." Sometimes I was amazed; the research really is in-depth ... and who could be bothered to read all of those boring source notes? Mostly, I was entertained. What a great read! Three amazing women, so different yet so much alike. They endured so much. They reminded me of women in my own family. Was I educated? Probably not. I think that's asking too much of a book like this, after all this isn't a political biography of the Kennedys. It's about personal relationships ... families, not politics. I think if you want to read about politics, you should go elsewhere. But if you want to read aboutr real people -- strong women -- this is the book for you. Yes, it does read like a miniseries, and now I hear it's going to be one in the Fall of 2000. I think it'll be as good a miniseries as it is a book ... five stars. Great job.