Memoirs of a Geisha [aka Jackie Kennedy]

Maureen Dowd in The New York Times on the book and audio just released in relation to Jackie Kennedy - Ms Camelot herself. Or is that a geisha woman? as Dowd would have it.

"Not since Saki’s cat Tobermory suddenly began speaking, dismissively skewering a British house party of snobs, has a long silence been so blazingly shattered.

The most mysterious, fascinating — and feline — woman in American political history has at long last spoken up. And Jackie Kennedy has plenty to say in that inimitably breathy little voice.

The former first lady talked to historian and courtier Arthur Schlesinger after J.F.K.’s assassination in taped interviews that were sealed for 47 years. Caroline Kennedy is now releasing them as a book and audio recording, “Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life With John F. Kennedy.”

In the 1964 tapes, the 34-year-old widow can be unsparing and caustic (except about her sometimes imperfect husband, whom she bathes in an impossibly perfect glow).

But she maintains her reputation as J.F.K.’s best image wizard, a novelistic observer of history and the most deliciously original, glamorous and compelling political spouse we’ll ever see."

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Robert Fisk's predictions for the Middle East in 2013

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Mahler's Prodigal Son

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