I think the reason for the this obsession was my aunt & mom's adoration for Jackie O. I mean, my aunt has a Jackie O Barbie Doll that is still in the packaging, and she got it probably before Jackie passed away in 1994.
When I was younger, every biography book report I ever did was on four people: Princess Diana, Walt Disney, JFK, and Jackie Kennedy.
The family is so tragic, so dramatic, so filled with scandal, and glamour. They are fascinating to me and I want to know so much about them.
Like I said, I've read a lot of books about the Kennedy family, but I felt that it was time for another round. I needed a new book to listen too, after I listened to "The News Sorority" (review coming soon!) and I knew I wanted something on the memoir road. I've been addicted to memoirs and biographies, as you can tell from my last two book reviews.
I settled on the Kennedy book called "The Good Son" which surrounds the special relationship of Jackie O & JFK Jr. It's written by Christopher Andersen, who has written so many awesome biographies, including two of my favorites "William & Kate" & "After Diana"
The book was read by a man, an aside from Andy Cohen, I hadn't listened to a man read a book but after a few chapters, I got used to it.
It was a very hefty book, with lots of first hand accounts, and a lot of information. It started out with the day JFK Jr died in a plane crash (I remember the day in 1999 quite vividly) and then proceed to go in chronological order, from the day JFK Jr was born, the day JFK was assassinated, and so on and so forth.
It was so interesting to hear all of the stories, some a lot the public may have not known. These "inside scoops" did in fact, make me wonder how much of the book was actually true. I found myself, more times than one, asking "But how do they KNOW that?"
It was very cool to hear all the parts of history I had learned about in my history books... the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of JFK, the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, and all the other major milestones throughout the years.
I felt like I learned so much about the Kennedy family, and I loved the way this book focused on the high standards that were put on JFK Jr, before he was even 1-years-old. The book did not mention Caroline Kennedy nearly as much as I thought, but probably because the book IS called 'The Good SON.'
Getting a glimpse inside the lives of the most famous family around was incredible. Listening to the stories of how protective Jackie was of the children, how she moved them to New York to try to live a semi normal life after their dad died, how glamorous she was but also how private, it was so different from what I expected.
I really enjoyed the book and felt like I had learned everything I could've ever wanted to know about the Kennedys... so much that even though I wanted to listen or read another book about them right after I finished this one, I couldn't bare it because I felt that it would be repetitive.
If you're like me and you find this family incredibly interesting, I would highly recommend this book. It kept my attention but was also so informative, I learned so much!
What is your guilty pleasure book genre? Tell me in the comments!
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