A shocking portrait of the 1980s, America, and the woman whose position helped shape the values and policies of the Reagan administration. Through over 1,000 interviews collected during four years of exhaustive research and reporting, Kelley reveals Nancy Reagan as a superb public performer, a vain, materialistic social climber, a bitter foe and formidable strategist--an American phenomenon. Photographs.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
This infamous look at the former First Lady spent 12 weeks on PW 's hardcover bestseller list and inspired George Carpozi Jr.'s scathing Poison Pen: The Unauthorized Biography of Kitty Kelley. More than 800,000 hardcovers are in print.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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More About the Author
Among the awards that Kitty Kelley has been honored with by her professional peers are the Outstanding Author Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors for her "courageous writing on popular culture," the Philip M. Stern Award for her "outstanding service to writers and the writing profession," the Medal of Merit from the Lotos Club in New York City, and the 2005 PEN Oakland Literary Censorship Award. She has also been selected as a member of Vanity Fair magazine's Hall of Fame. Her articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, People, Ladies' Home Journal, McCall's, the Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I wasn't expecting much when I sat down to read this book. I assumed it would be a fairly cut and dried bio of an marginally interesting, blatantly social-climbing first lady. Was I wrong!! There's plenty to read here about Nancy Reagan, her family, the presidency, and more. They don't call Kitty Kelley the Saddam Hussein of journalists for nothing! I enjoyed this book very much, (going on the assumption that all of her sources were being 100% honest of course) and I'd recommend it without reservation.
23 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
You just have to love Kitty Kelly, if a subject of any of her books was ever short with a staff member, cut someone off in traffic, or returned a movie late Kitty will find out and make a chapter out of it. This book is really no different, it is the standard, made for tabloid mini series book from her, but that is probably why you buy it. Whenever a person gets to a high profile public job they are always going to have issues that the rest of us what to read about and authors tend to make a little more scandalous then they actualy were. This case is no exception with a person that was first a successful actress and then the First Lady of one of the biggest states and then the country. There are any numbers of toes that have been stepped on and Kitty found them all.
The most interesting bits I found were the years in the White House and her hatchet jobs of staff members of her husbands that she did not like, the odd calls to her San Francisco psychic to plan major events, and the wonderful warm relationship she had with her kids (sarcasm in high gear). Overall this is a fun and gossipy kind of book that you would expect from the author. At times there is a bit much detail, but some judicious page skipping will correct that issue. The book is a good representation of all the bad days Nancy had and is worth reading for no other reason to understand the closest advisor Ron had.
17 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
When the late Barbara Olson wrote a biography of Hillary Clinton from a right wing perspective, she was imitating this excellent "hatchet job" of a book. Nancy Reagan comes across as a phony control freak in this book. She ordered her husband around like he was a little baby throughout their marriage. There is a lot of fascinating gossip about the rather dysfunctional Reagan clan. There is a great joke in the book as follows: Ron and Nancy go to a restaurant. Nancy tells the waiter she'll have a steak. The waiter asks"And the vegteable?" Nancy answers"He'll have the steak too".
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Some Kind Words for Nancy
Could Nancy be this evil? I am sure she was social climbing with no interest in civil rights & no Eleanor zRoosevelt but this is a total hatchet job on her. Read more
Published 5 months ago by george sand
Lady in Red
No modern name has influence more the political philosophy of the right than that of Ronald Reagan. However, behind every great man there is a great woman and Reagan found that in... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Dr. Wilson Trivino
"Wonderful Read!"
Kitty Kelley is known for her searing books on people like Frank Sinatra, Oprah Winfrey, and this woman, Nancy Reagan. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Terry Richard
A social climbing prostitute unmasked
She was nothing more than a prostitue, sleeping with men to get what she wanted. She must have invented the casting couch. You can also tell from the photos that she had p.s. Read more
Published 15 months ago by ronk
Nancy Reagon: The Unauthorized Biography by Kitty Kelly
Thanks for sending this so quickly. The book is in good condition.
I do appreciate Amazon.com.
Jean
I do appreciate Amazon.com.
Jean
Published on May 20, 2010 by Jean Cottrell
Vulgar by any other name
Kelly's books, whether you like her or not, can be taken to the bank. You know they are true, no matter how salacious (which means most of them) otherwise she would end up tied... Read more
Published on March 19, 2008 by Herbert L Calhoun
Unauothorized usually means vilified but this book is still riveting
Whenever I see a biography that is unauthorized, that usually means two things...the subject had aboslutely no input into it and thus cannot refute or put into perspective on... Read more
Published on May 6, 2007 by Kendrik Lau
SHE was running our country?
I think this is fair to say that Reagan was so far-gone most of his second term that I'm sympathetic for Mrs. Reagan! And probably grateful now.. better Mrs. Read more
Published on January 10, 2006 by Spunkychk
Catty Kelley tells all and then some
I avoided reading Kitty Kelly's books for many years, not because I felt they might not be interesting but because I considered it unseemly to go rummaging around in the closets of... Read more
Published on December 5, 2005 by Marvin D. Pipher
Do you love Gossip?
If you love gossip, you will love this book. Kitty Kelley does a great job of telling all the dirt she can dig up on Nancy Reagan and our former president, Ronald. Read more
Published on November 24, 2004 by J. Pace
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Two entries on Nancy Reagan's birth certificate are still accurate-her sex and her color. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
White House, Nancy Reagan, Ronald Reagan, New York, Los Angeles, Loyal Davis, Nancy Davis, Mike Deaver, Secret Service, Frank Sinatra, Washington Post, Phoenix House, Michael Reagan, Nancy Reynolds, Betsy Bloomingdale, General Electric, Pacific Palisades, Beverly Hills, John Sears, Betty Ford, Jane Wyman, George Bush, President of the United States, Don Regan, Governor Reagan New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Two entries on Nancy Reagan's birth certificate are still accurate-her sex and her color. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
White House, Nancy Reagan, Ronald Reagan, New York, Los Angeles, Loyal Davis, Nancy Davis, Mike Deaver, Secret Service, Frank Sinatra, Washington Post, Phoenix House, Michael Reagan, Nancy Reynolds, Betsy Bloomingdale, General Electric, Pacific Palisades, Beverly Hills, John Sears, Betty Ford, Jane Wyman, George Bush, President of the United States, Don Regan, Governor Reagan New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
18
books
cite this book:
See all 18 books citing this book
- How They Met: Famous Lovers, Partners, Competitors, and Other Legendary Duos by Joey Green on page 237, and Back Matter
- Telling Women's Lives: The New Biography by Linda Wagner-Martin on page 162, and Back Matter
- Great Communicator: The Story of Ronald Reagan (Twentieth Century Leaders) by Jeff C. Young in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Sweet Caroline: Last Child of Camelot by Christopher Andersen in Back Matter
- Power Money Fame Sex: A User's Guide by Gretchen Rubin in Back Matter
See all 18 books citing this book
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