Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Review of Jackie O on the Couch by Alma H. Bond

Jackie Kennedy Onassis is a well-known person. She was a first lady, married to the famous president, John F. Kennedy. She lived a hard life, which includes tragic events such as losing her husband and other family members through assassinations. This is her story, a biography of sorts, fictionalized, written in first person, journal-style. The words and thoughts expressed in this book may be ones she actually used.

The book has an index and a bibliography, so I am assuming that everything is accurate. I am not knowledgeable in the area to comment on the accuracy of the book. What I can comment on is the content, how it reads, how it is worded and organized. The book is organized into various chapters based on different events, eras or people in her life. There is a full chapter, for example, on the assassination of her husband, J.F. Kennedy. It is not an autobiography that is chronologically laid out; rather, it is more of a scrapbook of thoughts, much like a journal. As such, some events or people overlap and we get a ‘more about that later’. And, at times, the book does feel a bit jumpy in-between different segments – within a chapter, one thing is being described, and then all of a sudden, something else is being discussed.

The book is written in first person suggesting that it is an autobiography, when, in fact, the book was not written by Jackie. The book, as a whole, is well written. However, the book portrays Jackie as a bitter and selfish person, which many people would agree that she was. For example, I remember reading parts about her whining about not having enough money to go shopping and complaining about her ‘low’ allowance. Her allowance, from what I recall reading, was quite a large sum even for today.

Alma H. Bond has a Ph.D in developmental psychology. She has retired from private practice to become a writer. She has published several books including Camille Claude: A Novel, On Becoming a Grandparent and The Tree that Could Fly.

If you are interested in Jackie Kennedy Onassis or just want to find out more about her, this may be the book for you. Recommended by: Margaret Orford, Allbooks Reviews. http://www.allbooksreviewint.com/index.html

Title: Jackie O On the Couch

Author: Alma H. Bond

Publisher: Bancoft Press

ISBN: 978-1-61088-025-1

Pages: 260 pages

Price: $14.95 US

Sept 2011

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