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hinesight's review against another edition
3.0
I put off reading this for a long time, mostly because I was dubious about Simon's motives, other than the obvious. It was ... meh. It was a memoir by Simon of her life, with various friendships and addictions thrown in as local color. Taken as that, it is interesting reading, but no insights into anyone's character were revealed.
bargainsleuth's review against another edition
1.0
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Why do I keep reading celebrity memoirs? All the other reviewers got this right. Shallow book that is rarely about Carly Simon's friendship with Jacqueline Onassis; she talks just as much about her friendship with Mike Nichols. And let's not forget all the other celebrities that spent time in Martha's Vineyard that Carly got to hang out with while there, Carly knows them all and lets us know about it. Next time I'll read the reviews before I waste my time.
Why do I keep reading celebrity memoirs? All the other reviewers got this right. Shallow book that is rarely about Carly Simon's friendship with Jacqueline Onassis; she talks just as much about her friendship with Mike Nichols. And let's not forget all the other celebrities that spent time in Martha's Vineyard that Carly got to hang out with while there, Carly knows them all and lets us know about it. Next time I'll read the reviews before I waste my time.
historybowler's review against another edition
3.0
More like 2 and a half stars. It feels more like a memoir about Carly Simon during her friendship with Jackie Kennedy rather than a memoir about the friendship between Simon and Kennedy. Very disappointed.
milamoo's review against another edition
3.0
This book was kind of hard to finish because it's more emotional than it is plot-driven. It's half about Jackie K and half about Simon. It was a beautiful story about a complicated friendship and I'm more glad that Simon got it off her chest than I am to be able to read it. Wish I knew more about Simon and Jackie K before reading, but it's still good. Enjoyed the personal acecdotes.
missapples's review against another edition
3.0
Some things about Jackie Onassis I took away from this book:
- Jackie didn’t hesitate to tell Carly what kind of men Carly should and shouldn’t be with. Same went for friendships.
- Jackie liked to refuse dinner invitations and then spend hours on the phone listening to Carly talk about who sat where, and said what to whom.
- Jackie knew JFK had affairs, but in her mind he still loved her more than any of those women.
- Aristotle Onassis was a bully who insulted her in front of others.
- Her sister Lee was jealous of her and always tried to outdo Jackie, a gossip which, as it turns out, was true.
- Jackie thought it would take generations for women to become truly equal with men. In the meantime, she believed it was better for a relationship if the man was allowed and expected to take care of the woman.
- Jackie didn’t hesitate to tell Carly what kind of men Carly should and shouldn’t be with. Same went for friendships.
- Jackie liked to refuse dinner invitations and then spend hours on the phone listening to Carly talk about who sat where, and said what to whom.
- Jackie knew JFK had affairs, but in her mind he still loved her more than any of those women.
- Aristotle Onassis was a bully who insulted her in front of others.
- Her sister Lee was jealous of her and always tried to outdo Jackie, a gossip which, as it turns out, was true.
- Jackie thought it would take generations for women to become truly equal with men. In the meantime, she believed it was better for a relationship if the man was allowed and expected to take care of the woman.
hpuphd's review against another edition
5.0
This is a book that uses the word stretch more than once, not as a verb meaning to extend the bodily limbs but as a noun for luxury transportation (“We were waiting for a white stretch”). Carly Simon’s writing is as distinctive as her songs and her singing voice. About her persnickety side: “For the first time, I noticed how absurdly paranoid I was about the sexual history of the hotel bedspreads and throw pillows that remain on the bows and sterns of beds, unlaundered, for months on end, a sexual guest book signed by countless Debbies, Pauls, Judys, and Scotts.” Her friendship with Jackie is interesting to read about, to be sure, but the star of this memoir has to be Carly’s serene and copacetic writing.
robinsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Like others have said, this is more about Carly than Jackie but that was OK with me. I wasn't surprised as Jackie O was known to keep her cards close to her chest and I wouldn't have respected Carly had she spilled all of the tea about Jackie.
That all being said, I did find this fairly interesting as it almost seemed to pick up where Simon's memoir, Boys in the Trees, left off, occasionally talking about her marriage to Jim Hart and also referring to some of her past drug use and her neurotic tendencies. I wish more photos would have been included (surely Carly has some personal snapshots squirreled away somewhere) but I guess that's why Google was invented.
If you are a Carly Simon fan and want to read more about her life, pick this up but don't expect an intimate report about Jackie.
(BTW, I recently learned that Jim Hart wrote a memoir [b:Lucky Jim|32445593|Lucky Jim|James Hart|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1475875907l/32445593._SY75_.jpg|53032372]and I am curious to get his side of the story about his marriage to Simon.)
That all being said, I did find this fairly interesting as it almost seemed to pick up where Simon's memoir, Boys in the Trees, left off, occasionally talking about her marriage to Jim Hart and also referring to some of her past drug use and her neurotic tendencies. I wish more photos would have been included (surely Carly has some personal snapshots squirreled away somewhere) but I guess that's why Google was invented.
If you are a Carly Simon fan and want to read more about her life, pick this up but don't expect an intimate report about Jackie.
(BTW, I recently learned that Jim Hart wrote a memoir [b:Lucky Jim|32445593|Lucky Jim|James Hart|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1475875907l/32445593._SY75_.jpg|53032372]and I am curious to get his side of the story about his marriage to Simon.)