Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-243) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:
Introduction: An ill-fated house -- A chronicle of the Kennedy curse -- Part I: Scourge. Patrick Kennedy: the unintentional crime -- John Francis Fitzgerald: favorite son -- Part II: Affliction. Joseph Patrick Kennedy: speaking the language of his age -- Part III: Tribulation. Kathleen Kennedy: throwing caution to the wind -- John Fitzgerald Kennedy: the road to Dallas -- Part IV: Visitation. William Kennedy Smith: twilight of the gods -- John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr.: cut from the same cloth -- Epilogue: The fall of the house of Kennedy.
Summary, etc.:
"Drawing upon scores of interviews with people who have never spoken out before, troves of private documents, archives in Ireland and America, and private conversations with Jackie, Klein explores the underlying pattern that governs the Kennedy Curse." "The reader is treated to penetrating portraits of the Irish immigrant Patrick Kennedy; Rose Kennedy's father, "Honey Fitz"; the dynasty's founding father, Joe Kennedy, and his ill-fated daughter Kathleen; President Kennedy; accused rapist William Kennedy Smith; and the star-crossed lovers, JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. Each of the seven profiles demonstrates the basic premise of this book: The Kennedy Curse is the result of the destructive collision between the Kennedys' fantasy of omnipotence - an unremitting desire to get away with things that others cannot - and the cold, hard realities of life."--Jacket.