Ted Joans is a writer like few out and about today. He is real, true, honest and blows your mind with everything he serves us up on his poetic platter. More people out there--writers included--could use a little Teducation!!!

from personal views on various strugles through observation on society, this highly educational gift brings us to closer understanding of afro-american existence in usa. for someone like me who comes from southern europe it is very important to come close to the knowledge about presented topics. it deffinetly gives different light to my own personal experiences of war and divisions. pieces like: Let's play something, Dead Serious, The Truth, A Few Blue Words..., may for some only share the obvious but for me it represents often unspoken and taken for granted.

to watch Ted go through 50 years of his work and see the changes in his persona is individualy rewarding. he may not be the mainstream, yet he is the shaman of our time.

as a guru he says: "...you HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR FROM THE POET BUT THE TRUTH".

as a prophet he predicts: "All your automobiles will die of thirst Pedestrians shall inherit the streets"

No matter how much you read about the Kennedy's, you have to admit that they continue to be fascinating and compelling-- probably because they are REAL and not fiction. Taraborrelli does an admirable job of presenting the relationships between Ethel, Jackie and Joan within the backdrop of the times in a succinct and easy to read way. There wasn't a lot of extra verbage in the book- sentences were short and digestable. Yet the reader won't be insulted by the easy to read style. In fact, one can often be critical of historical writers because they get too wordy--trying to cram in all the relevant dates and times. This book was written from an emotional/relational point of view and used history as a backdrop. I truly enjoyed the intimate glimpses of each of these women that Taraborrelli gives us and he was able to weave it altogether into a simple, yet complex, tapestry of important and strong lives. Great read for the summer.

I don't understand how anyone can call this book a complete re-hash when the subject of the three wives and their relationship to each other has never before been written about. Re-hashed from what? Everything in this book was new to me, and I have read at least 50 Kennedy books. I enjoyed the author's take on this subject and the way he presented each woman with such great affection. Joan is the real star of this book. When have you ever read anything about Joan Kennedy? I believe there was a book written by her secretary maybe ten years ago, but Jackie, Ethel, Joan really tells the story of how she overcame a bad marriage and alcohol problem to become the strong and amazing woman she is today. Rehash? If it is, then I must have missed all of the other books about the Kennedy wives. I only know of one related subject, the Kennedy Women, and that book was about all of the Kennedy women throughout history and devoted maybe three pages to Joan. So, I highly recommend this book, Jackie, Ethel, Joan, to anyone who wants an informative and fair read about these three powerful ladies.

I was so excited about reading this book it didn't even take me two days to finish. I'm 15, and I absolutely love reading about the Kennedy's, especially about Jacqueline "Jackie". So when I started reading this, I was expecting a lot from it. And it totally met my expectations! I enjoyed every page of this book, so much that I re-read most of the sections two or three times. I've only read one other book about Jackie (Which also mentioned Ethel, but oddly enough-it did not include Joan) so I was really excited about getting to "know" them better. I often have to remind myself that these are real women...which I'm sure so many of us have to do. Their lives seem so out of this world. Also the fact that I am a soap opera watcher, may contribute to my curiosity with their lives. Anyone who is interested in reading about the Kennedy women will most def. enjoy reading this book. I'm so glad that I bought it. I'm sure that before this year is over, I will have read it atleast two more times, lol:)