Page 72
He and Jackie were voracious readers. For her, books had been an escape from her parent's troubled marriage; for him, an escape during his many illnesses and hospitalizations. His reading had a determined and remorseless quality, and he read at meals, in the bathtub, and even propped a book up on his bureau as he dressed. He told his friend Larry Newman, "I feel better when there are books around. That's really where my education comes from." Exchanging books had become a form of communication for them - a way of expressing feelings they had difficulty voicing.....
Page 73
Kennedy was a fast reader and could have finished the biography that weekend (of Marshall of France: The life and Times of Maurice de Saxe.
******
CT editor : Jackie may have given this book to her husband because Maurice de Saxe, the man it profiled, was much like him. Witty, elegant, a philanderer. Even the Count's mother may have reminded her of Rose Kennedy, growing increasingly eccentric as she aged. Also, the Count's father may have reminded her of JFK's father, Joe Kennedy, who was a "notorious satyr." There were other similarities. Jackie's first child Arabella, had been miscarried. Maurice de Saxe's wife's first born lived only a few days, as had their son Patrick. I wonder if Jackie believed in reincarnation. I know from reading around her that she was a bit of a fatalist.
JFK'S LAST HUNDRED DAYS by THURSTON CLARKE C 2013
The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President.
Penguin Press New York 2013 Publisher
