| 1. | Korda, Michael Immortals
William Morrow & Company, Inc. 1993 Mass Market Paperback
ABOUT THE BOOK Immortals ANNOTATION From the bestselling author of Queenie and The Fortune comes a "glamorous, intelligent and provocative" work of fiction that "takes us right in the heart of the sexiest and most secret love affair in American history--JFK and Marilyn" (Jackie Collins). Movie rights sold to Dino DeLaurentis. FROM THE PUBLISHER Jack Kennedy - the American hero. Marilyn Monroe - the love goddess. Their affair has been whispered about for thirty years. Now, at last, the story we have only been able to imagine is brought to vibrant, stunning life - a passionate, tragic romance played out against a background of deadly intrigue, power politics, and Hollywood glamour on a grand scale. Only Michael Korda, best-selling author of Queenie and The Fortune could so convincingly portray characters already larger than life, and a story more complex, more resonantly true than any rumor or speculation. At the center of this extraordinary novel is Marilyn - not the "dumb blonde" of Hollywood legend, but a woman who explodes from the page with great strength - deeply passionate, funny, outrageous, often life-loving, but with a fatal inability to hold on to happiness even when it is within her grasp. When she meets the young Senator John F. Kennedy at a Beverly Hills party, it is, for both of them, love at first sight - the beginning of an affair that will become political dynamite in the hands of a rogues' gallery of politicians and criminals. The cast of characters is dazzling, fascinating, audaciously imagined. Jack Kennedy, charming, fatally ambitious, capable at once of great passion and cold political calculation; Bobby Kennedy, whose reputation for ruthlessness conceals a sensitive and tender nature, and who finally (and with fatal consequences) replaces his brother in Marilyn's life; J. Edgar Hoover, who uses his knowledge of the affair for his own purposes; Jimmy Hoffa, the Teamster leader, whose taping of the lovers' most intimate erotic moments sets off a chain of events that ends in Marilyn's death and Jack Kennedy's assassination; crime bosses Santo Trafficante, Carlos Marcello, and Sam Giancana, all of them in on the secret.... Michael Korda has written the story behind the myth that has become the fabric of our national imagination, holding nothing back, revealing at last the missing ele FROM THE CRITICS Publishers Weekly Once again Korda ( Queenie ; The Fortune ) glibly but engagingly dramatizes historical events: this time, the love affairs between Marilyn Monroe and Jack and Bobby Kennedy. (Anxious to establish his assiduous research, he expresses his indebtedness to 17 books about the Kennedys, Monroe, J. Edgar Hoover, Jimmy Hoffa and others.) A fictional public relations expert, David Lehman, narrates much of the tale. Fast-moving, with lively if superficial and overly familiar characters, the plot portentously rehashes Monroe's various marriages and innumerable affairs, career swings and problems with drugs and alcohol. Korda also chronicles the Kennedy brothers' rise to power, their father's heavy hand in shaping their careers and their friendship with Frank Sinatra, meanwhile suggesting the machinations of the FBI, the mob and the Teamsters. (Jackie Kennedy is absent for the most part.) Except for the dialogue, which generally rings true, and the invented sex scenes, Korda adds nothing new or surprising; the book will further relegate Marilyn and Jack to pop-culture history. Though it's good commercial ``faction,'' however, even hardy readers will find the novel about 100 pages too long. 150,000 first printing; $150,000 ad/promo; first serial rights to Cosmopolitan; movie rights to Dino De Laurentiis; ok Literary Guild main selection. (Sept.) AudioFile - Robert Berlinger Michael Korda's The Immortals concocts an inside look at the relationships between Marilyn Monroe, Robert Kennedy and President John Kennedy through the narration of a fictional press associate. Jerry Orbach demonstrates an uncanny knack for bringing a rich panoply of celebrities to life. Though his skill is undeniable, h
Price: 6.88 USD |
