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American adulterer
Mercurio, Jed.
Adult Fiction MERCURI
From Publishers' Weekly:
Mercurio's third novel is a riveting imagining of the inner life of a satyrlike John F. Kennedy, referred to as "the subject," as he beds a steady stream of starlets, interns and prostitutes. Kennedy's well-known insatiable and sometimes comical philandering is juxtaposed against his often cruel relationship with Jacqueline, his brilliance as a statesman (excerpts from his actual speeches are included) and devotion as a father, offering a unique portrait of a powerful yet stricken and conflicted man. The villains are the methamphetamine-prescribing doctors and the bloodthirsty American generals pushing the world to the brink of Armageddon. JFK's contemporaries are also cast in provocative roles, with the coke-sniffing Marilyn Monroe plotting to be first lady, the mobbed-up Frank Sinatra and Kennedy's Soviet counterpart-a peace-seeking Nikita Khrushchev-all making memorable appearances. Kennedy has figured prominently in hundreds of books, but Mercurio's take on the subject is fresh, bold and provocative. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
Mercurio, author of the well-received novels Ascent and Bodies, returns with a novel centered on John F. Kennedy's severe medical problems and apparently equally relentless sex addiction. The story would be a snooze were it not for the all-too-brief moments given to Kennedy's speeches and his effect on policy and world events. Although the author amazes with his ability to describe the same sex acts differently each time, the tensions here derive from Kennedys battles with segregationists in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement and with both Nikita Khrushchev and American generals during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The rest of the book is bloated with Mercurio's bombastic imaginings of Kennedy's search for willing interns to appease his sexual appetite and for experimental injections to ease his physical pain. He helpfully offers a bibliography in case the reader wishes to know where he got this stuff. VERDICT Sex sells, and the Kennedys never lack for a fascinated audience, so perhaps this fiction will prove titillating and popular. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/09.]--Sheila Riley, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, DC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Mercurio, Jed.
Adult Fiction MERCURI
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From Publishers' Weekly:
Mercurio's third novel is a riveting imagining of the inner life of a satyrlike John F. Kennedy, referred to as "the subject," as he beds a steady stream of starlets, interns and prostitutes. Kennedy's well-known insatiable and sometimes comical philandering is juxtaposed against his often cruel relationship with Jacqueline, his brilliance as a statesman (excerpts from his actual speeches are included) and devotion as a father, offering a unique portrait of a powerful yet stricken and conflicted man. The villains are the methamphetamine-prescribing doctors and the bloodthirsty American generals pushing the world to the brink of Armageddon. JFK's contemporaries are also cast in provocative roles, with the coke-sniffing Marilyn Monroe plotting to be first lady, the mobbed-up Frank Sinatra and Kennedy's Soviet counterpart-a peace-seeking Nikita Khrushchev-all making memorable appearances. Kennedy has figured prominently in hundreds of books, but Mercurio's take on the subject is fresh, bold and provocative. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
Mercurio, author of the well-received novels Ascent and Bodies, returns with a novel centered on John F. Kennedy's severe medical problems and apparently equally relentless sex addiction. The story would be a snooze were it not for the all-too-brief moments given to Kennedy's speeches and his effect on policy and world events. Although the author amazes with his ability to describe the same sex acts differently each time, the tensions here derive from Kennedys battles with segregationists in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement and with both Nikita Khrushchev and American generals during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The rest of the book is bloated with Mercurio's bombastic imaginings of Kennedy's search for willing interns to appease his sexual appetite and for experimental injections to ease his physical pain. He helpfully offers a bibliography in case the reader wishes to know where he got this stuff. VERDICT Sex sells, and the Kennedys never lack for a fascinated audience, so perhaps this fiction will prove titillating and popular. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/09.]--Sheila Riley, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, DC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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