The House of Kennedy Hardcover – April 13, 2020

Amazing book told by the amazing Patterson. Learned things I never knew about the Kennedy family and the tragedies they faced.

The world's bestselling author James Patterson has an interest in politics and recently collaboratedon a thriller with President Bill Clinton. His specialty is not the political content but his gift ofstorytelling. The narrative is in the present tense which adds to its sense of immediacy.The Kennedy family has always had many of the highs and lows of humanity, which can be framedas blessing and curse. It is striking to me that even this year, with Covid-19, there were moreaccidental tragic deaths in the family. So as Patterson's narrative begins with this mythologyof blessing and curse, I couldn't help but keep in mind that it continued even beyond the recentpublication in the past few months.There is some preliminary stuff on Patrick Sr.'s generation, but the real force is the personalityof Joe Sr. He was a man of deep flaws but great ambition, going to New York and Hollywood.The great dreams he had for his family led to its tremendous success but also the pressurethat may have worsened the various cases of emotional and mental illness, including addictions.Patterson's narrative is not all that sympathetic to Joe Sr., with views that are bigoted by today'sstandards. With regard to womanizing, it seems like more or less all of them were into it.The names of the chapters show Patterson's emphasis, with the two Roses, the second onebeing the daughter Rosemary, and the "favorites", Joe Jr. and "Kick" or Kathleen. I hadn't knownmuch about Rosemary, who inspired her sister Eunice with the Special Olympics. For people of myGeneration X, the Shrivers are basically Maria's parents. Jack of course is "the President", while Bobbyis "the Prophet". Much of this story will be familiar to political people. The curse may have been due tothe influence of Frank Sinatra. With regard to Marilyn Monroe, the connection was not so much withJack as Bob. The portrayal of Jackie is interesting, with her very devoted to Jack after his death,and certainly attached to the kids John and Caroline, but fairly detached about his behaviors. Bob isbasically interpreted as moving from "bad Bobby" to "good Bobby", but of course that depends on one'spolitics as he moved from right to left. Then there's "the Senator", Teddy, who was believed not to be assmart, but was all heart to Jack's head. Although he died of cancer, he was one of the few to make it toan old age.In the next generation, it is easy to get lost among all the grandchildren. Bobby and Ethel had 11,so many of them are from that part of the family, and apparently they considered themselves the"most Kennedy". There are explorations of the troubles of Billy, Joe, Michael and others. The tragediesare portrayed as tragic and inspiring pathos, as the price of the life of privilege and the attitudesit fosters. Finally, there is JFK Jr. who was a figure of interest in the 90s. He married Carolyn andstarted the magazine George. The main part of the story closes with their death along with hersister in the plane crash. He had loved planes since he was a toddler.There's a great mystique to the Kennedy family, with their sticking together and addictions,ODs, murders, coverups and obviously lots of sex. The storyteller is able to weave all thismaterial into a narrative that brings some sense of unity and meaning to the story.

If you have read James Patterson before, you know that he is really good at making a page turning book. This is no different and does a fantastic job of being neutral and going thru some amazing stories about the Kennedys. I read this book in a week as I couldnt put it down. It was an easy read but had some cool historical moments

Liked the book. Lots of information not previously known. I was 10 yrs old at the time of President Kennedy's assassination and still remember where I was at the time. It was a horrible day in our history. I also remember MLK and Bobby Kennedy's assassinations. Sad days as well. So much in the book and as I was reading I felt my heart racing knowing what was coming. But I agree with Eunice Kennedy. It isn't so much a curse as it is that their lives played out in public so they've never had the privacy they needed. Even today they still bring intrigue because of their family name. I recommend this book so you can learn how they came into such prominence and how they still pay the price for it.

I do love history, especially history about intriguing people. So going with The Kennedys is a No-Brainer. Patterson tells the story around family members. First Joe, then Joe Jr., then Jack, etc. and with this style there is a lot of going over the same ground twice, but not in a way that flows. My preference is to tell the story as it unfolds. I was often confused about who was related to whom in this history. A clear flow would have helped me keep them straight. But that’s my preference, clearly it was not Patterson’s. So while interesting and forthcoming, I gave it only 3 stars.

Great book a lot of things I didn’t know about the family a lot of tragedy I loved it

Because of my age, I remember the history of the Kennedy family. I was in middle school when JFK was assassinated and in high school when Bobby was killed. Like many people, I cried and felt that both were the end of an era. This book stirred up all of those memories. I didn't have as much knowledge of the next two generations of the family so I found much of that information to be interesting and a bit like national enquirer in the way it was presented. Overall, this would be an interesting book for someone who knew very little about the Kennedy family - if there is anyone like that. For me, it was a trip down memory lane with very little information. Much of this book read like fiction and in my opinion, James Patterson should stick to fiction where he excels.

I grew up in Massachusetts so the Kennedys were like distant wealthy family. Always being talked about and I’m the news. I was 9 when JFK was was killed and we were sent home from school. I was in the 9th grade when Bobby was killed and how strange it felt to try to understand and again we were sent home...the book was well written and I believe that they did a great job with the facts. I learned a lot about the Kennedys from this book. I was flying home to Florida from Massachusetts when John Jr died in the plane crash. It was announced on the plane. So much devastation for one family to go through...