Readers will be fascinated by the relationship between Senator Ted Kennedy and members of the third generation, stories about matriarch Ethel, and life inside the family compound ... Kennedy followers will be intrigued by this absorbing narrative of the dynasty's continuing hold on American life.
... Taraborrelli has created yet another solid offering focusing on the famous Kennedy family ... Taraborrelli’s somber examination of a cursed clan was the product of some years of interviewing and ceaseless study into the family that has become the journalistic quarry of his writer’s aspirations.
Taraborrelli’s depictions of Caroline’s therapy as a child and the family’s expectation that Bobby Jr., who made drug runs to Harlem, would run for president, are unsettling. All of this is recounted against the glitz, wealth, and historical role of the family, the ever present paparazzi, the family pressure to excel, and the children’s careers in politics and other fields. No scandal or luxurious dining room goes overlooked ... A doorstop of a melodrama. Kennedy die-hards will love it.
... [a] dishy group portrait ... Taraborrelli styles the children of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Ted Kennedy, and their cousins, as sensitive souls shadowed by their elders’ assassinations and other misfortunes that 'caus[e] our hearts to ache unbearably for them.' The narrative, however, depicts a clan of overentitled mediocrities with unimportant careers whose only interesting characteristic is bad judgment ... Padding out the chapters is much tabloid-grade gossip about small-bore marital squabbles, infidelities, and catfights sourced to servants and anonymous friends. Some readers may find this material unengaging, but Kennedy worshippers—and haters—will feast on the juicy details in Taraborrelli’s soap opera.
