Customer Reviews

Sweet Caroline: Last Child of Camelot

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was entranced by Andersen's account of Caroline Kennedy and realize that as a former editor of People Magazine that he has had access to mountains of information/misinformation on the Kennedy family. I found his treatment of Caroline's story to be sweet, as in the title, but not saccharine. And the admiration I already had for her has been upped by this biography. I feel sure that this is purely unauthorized. But it does not scandalize Caroline. And, although I am certain it further violates her privacy, I feel that Andersen's work ennobles Caroline as the lone survivor of the Camelot family.

Perhaps it is because I am an inveterate reader of People that I found Andersen's style so readable. But I really did want to keep reading. And not all biographies are so enticing. Of course, there is the lure of trying find out another scoop on one of the chosen Kennedy clan. But I honestly find this volume on Caroline to be uplifting, although I know that there are things yet to be known about her. Time will tell about the rest of her life, yet a young life in the scheme of things. One just hopes that she not only survives her family's tragedies, but that she and her spouse and children and their progeny prosper and continue to use their wealth to enrich not only themselves, but this nation. Brava!

I just finished reading "Sweet Caroline". Even if you're familiar with the Kennedy family saga, Christopher Andersen's gracefully written and meticulously researched book provides new and often heartbreaking insights into the life of Camelot's soul survivor. From the book's opening scene when Caroline is told that her brother John's plane is missing ("I should feel him, but I can't," she says when someone suggets that hemay turn up alive) you're reminded that Caroline has suffered one devastating loss after another, always with courage and dignity. I found "Sweet Caroline" to be a touching and fitting tribute to its subject.

Caroline's my favorite Kennedy and I think this book did her some justice. There has never been a book written solely on Caroline and I thought it was about time that one was done on her. I don't think any Caroline Kennedy fan could ask for a better one.

Some people thought Caroline was a snob for apparently snubbing First Lady Laura Bush at the April 2001 Jackie costume exhibit at the Met. What they don't realize is that this "snub" was played up in the media. After all, Laura Bush had only been First Lady at the time for 3 months whereas Hillary Clinton had 8 years under her belt.

This is just an example of how sometimes Caroline's actions get misinterpreted by the press. I think how well she handles the onslaught of attention and being in the public eye is another reason to admire the woman, along with the fact that she has endured so many personal tragedies and has risen above them to carry on the legacies of her parents and brother.

The first 2/3 of this book is nothing more than another re-hashing of the story of Jack and Jackie. Only it's told as the story of "Caroline's dad" and "Caroline's mother," references that the author uses ad nauseum. Perhaps that is how he justifies the title and the claim that this is a book about Caroline. It is only the latter part of the book that truly deals with the subject at hand, Caroline Kennedy.

Sure, it's difficult to tell Caroline's story without referring to her parents. However, we all know the story of Camelot. And is it really necessary to refer to the same old quotes from the same old sources? Somehow, I thought that this book might be different. It's not.

This is a easy read (in a People magazine sort of way), as I completed it in less than a weekend. But save your money... wait for the paperback, or better yet, get it from your local library. It isn't worth the full cost of the hardback.

It can't be an easy thing, writing a biography of someone who's still alive. If, as is the case with singer Johnny Mathis, the author has to go through paid spin doctors who try to control what is and isn't told, getting a book together that's sensitive to the subject yet doesn't back down from the truth can be darn near impossible.

I read a third of this book while browsing in Target, and it was evident Mr. Andersen had exceptional access to confidantes and other sources to put this book together. I found it a very readable, fascinating view of a privileged little girl who adored her father and her little brother and had to absorb so much at a very young age. But this isn't a children's book; there's enough real life in this story to give even the hardened biography reader pause. I appreciate a biography of a living public figure that isn't all fluff and dander.

I appreciate what the author had to go through to put a book like this together, and I highly recommend it.

I have read all of the Kennedy biographies and there is very little new information in this biography. The first part has been covered in all of the others, and the second part has been covered in the tabloids, which makes we question the accuracy of anything here that has not been lifted from another source. I noted two parts of this book that do not appear to be in keeping with what has been well documented. 1. The books states, that on April 4, 1968, Caroline was in her classroom when a teacher came in and whispered to her teacher that Martin Luther King had been shot. Quick research on the Web states this happened at about 4:30PM EST..Are 11 year olds in class at that time? 2. The books states that when visiting the White House JFK Jr. told then President Nixon, that he used to play under his desk. Everyone knows that the famous Kennedy desk was removed when he died, and not used again until it was brought back by President Clinton.

Just finished this book. I've read many Kennedy Bio's and this was no different. Learned nothing new. Save your money,don't buy this one.

I love biographies! I must have read a dozen about Elizabeth the First, and several about Abraham Lincoln. I always expect to find the same basic information, but there is usually another perspective or additional information in each of them. And so I genuinely appreciate Christopher Andersen's work on today's icons. The information is obviously fresh, and from direct sources. And all the Kennedy books seem to complete a picture of this family of which some of us may never get our fill.
The Caroline book was a surprise and a delight to me: I actually never expected to find out so much about the life of this secret princess. I'll keep this one, along with all the others, for my grandchildren.

This is an incredibly well researched and beautifully written book about one of my generation's unsung heroes. Caroline Kennedy has gone through so much yet she has survived with dignity and distinction. Her parents and brother would be proud of this "last child of Camelot".

Not only does this book do a fabulos job of detailing the intimate life of Caroline the only remaining survior of Camelot. But it also gives an imtimate look of the lives of her family. Jackie, John and John Jr. And even the before and after family events surrounding the assination of her father President John F. Kennedy. Whom Caroline herself, first heard about the assination from the radio. Also intimate details of the power and control that Jackie exerted over her family. Her (Jackie) extreme drive to obtain her vast wealth and to protect the family image and to shelter her and her children's privacy from the public-at all costs. The struggles that Caoroline faced with being a Kennedy, how she could't understand why she was famous for nothing more than her name. So, if you like me, enjoy reading about the intimate life of America's royal family, this book is for you.