Jackie O: On The Couch

Jackie O: On The Couch by Alma H. Bond

About The Book:

Jackie O: On the Couch is the story of Jackie Kennedy Onassis as she might have written it. This is not just another biography. For the first time, Jackie O: On the Couch highlights Jackie's life from her own perspective, as imagined by author Dr. Alma Bond, a psychoanalyst and long-time student of Jackie lore. The facts are all historically correct, as are the ideas, the Washington intrigue and politics, and the examination of the role of women in society and in the White House. Jackie speaks of her need to record her story truthfully - to replace the hodgepodge of lies published during her lifetime. Speaking as an older woman, she ponders how her points of view have changed from those she held when she was young. The book delves into her childhood and explores how and why Jackie became the person she was. It also explores the Kennedy's, and how John F. Kennedy's background affected his marriage. Jackie's deep love for Jack, his early inattentiveness, their difficulties together, his outrageous womanizing, happy times at the White House, and the tragedy of his assassination - all are viewed through Jackie's eyes. Jackie writes of her need for Aristotle Onassis, debunking the notion that she married him purely for his money, and traces the joyful early years of the marriage through to its dramatic collapse and Ari's difficult death. A different Jackie emerges into the world of publishing. Her new persona allows her to establish her very best relationship with the stout and adoring Maurice Tempelsman, until non-Hodgkin lymphoma takes her life in 1994, at age 64. Jackie O: On the Couch is a unique exploration of the life and loves of a great historical figure. Jackie Kennedy Onassis deeply prized her privacy and, as a result, she was both revered and mysterious. In this book, much of the mystery is shed as Jackie finally emerges as a fully fleshed-out, three-dimensional person - a true human being, with enormous strengths and shortcomings, who all of us can now understand and appreciate, perhaps for the first time.

My Thoughts:

I have read a lot of reviews for this book that are kind of negative, because the "facts" in the book are not correct. Well, I don't know if they are not. What I do know is that this is psycho-biography based on the life of Jackie O, and the imagined things she would say about her life and adventures. Also, the author states her sources in the bibliography at the end of the book. It was an awesome read, and I finished it in one night, because I just could not put it down. Regardless of fact or fiction, I loved this book. It was a great read!

About The Author:

Dr. Alma Halbert Bond was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and received her B.A. from Temple University with Honors in Psychology, and her Ph.D. from Columbia University in Developmental Psychology. She retired from a highly successful Manhattan practice as a psychoanalyst in 1991 to write full time. She belongs to the International Psychoanalytic Association, the American Psychological Association, and is a fellow and former faculty member of the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. She also is a member of the Dramatists Guild, American Society of Journalists and Authors, Florida Freelance Writers Association, and the Writers Guild. Since her “retirement” Dr. Bond has had fifteen books published. Margaret Mahler, a Biography of the Psychoanalyst, was recently published by McFarland Publications and awarded a Finalist in the Biography category of the National Best Books 2008 awards, sponsored by USA Book News. Dr. Bond’s other books include Camille Claudel, a Novel, Old Age is a Terminal Illness, Tales of Psychology: Stories to Make You Wise, The Autobiography of Maria Callas, a Novel, Who Killed Virginia Woolf? A Psycho-biography, On Becoming a Grandparent, Is There Life After Analysis? America’s First Woman Warrior: The Courage of Deborah Sampson (with Lucy Freeman). Her play Maria (about Maria Callas) was presented at Ye Waverly Inn Theater off-off-Broadway a few years ago. It also was a winner of the Southern Appalachian Repertory Theater Festival. Maria was be presented again at the Philharmonic, in Naples, Florida, in February, 2009.

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I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author. All thoughts and opinions are my own.