Title: The House of Kennedy
Author: James Patterson
Narrator: David Pittu
Published: April 2020, Little Brown & Company
Length: 10 hours 25 minutes / 425 pages
Source: Audio – borrowed via Library / Print – Personal copy
Summary:
The Kennedys have always been a family of
charismatic adventurers, raised to take risks and excel, living by the
dual family mottos: “To whom much is given, much is expected” and “Win
at all costs.” And they do – but at a price.
Across decades and
generations, the Kennedys have occupied a unique place in the American
imagination: charmed, cursed, at once familiar and unknowable. The House of Kennedy is a revealing, fascinating account of America’s most storied family, as told by America’s most trusted storyteller.
My thoughts: It’s no surprise that I am a huge Kennedy fan but I am also a fan of James Patterson, so of course when I saw that he had written a book about the Kennedys, I knew I had to read it. While most of the information covered in this book is not new to me, I did find that I learned just a little more and that is why I love reading all these books on this family. With each book I read, I learn just a little more.
What I loved about this book is that it doesn’t just focus on the immediate Kennedy clan, but also on the cousins and even JFK, Jr. It starts with the emigration of the grandparents and moves on down the line and I love that the pace of the book moves along at a pretty good clip.
Having all these stories in one book really does drive home the fact that this family certainly saw more than fair share of tragedies.
Audio thoughts: I tend to find that listening to nonfiction works better than reading it and that was definitely the case here. I did have the book on hand but I mostly listened to this one and the narrator, David Pittu, did a great job narrating it.
