The Kennedy Obsession

The American Myth of JFK

By: John Hellmann

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Paperback | 19 March 1999 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
224 Pages

Age
22+

Dimensions(cm)
2.28 x 1.66 x 0.15

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Examines John F. Kennedy's power, tracing a tale of survival and conquest from its origins in his childhood. The text is an exploration of JFK's self-creation as the ideal American hero, embodying a legend, the author claims, that both mirrored and shaped the collective passage of Americans through the later part of the 20th century. The text considers how the often ill Kennedy found solace in stories of knights and maidens in British literature. It examines how he went on to craft his persona like those of his real-life heroes, from Lord Byron and Ernest Hemingway to Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart and to locate the origins of his own heroic myth in John Hersey's "Survival", an account of JFK's courage as a young naval officer during World War II.

Industry Reviews

Hellmann understands that reading involves more than the consumption of ideas--it is a theater of the mind, in which the reader imaginatively tests a range of roles, voices, identities. Hellmann shows how Kennedy's own early reading (in combination with family lore) provided him with the language of myth, his sense of identity and role. He then analyzes the complex ways in which this private myth-making interacted with the process of social myth-making (in mass media and politics) to shape 'The Kennedy Obsession.' -- Richard Slotkin American University

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction History Regional & National History History of the Americas Politics & Government Political Structure & Processes Political Leaders & Leadership Society & Culture Cultural Studies Biographies & True Stories Biographies Historical, Political and Military Biographies

Earliest Times to Present Day 20th Century History from 1900 to 2000 Central Government

Prologue: A Bedside Visit
How Kennedy Awoke: Jack's Reading and Why England Slept
John Hersey's "Survival": A Literary Experiment and Its Political Adaptation
The Old Man and the Boy: Papa Hemingway and Profiles in Courage
The Hollywood Screen and Kennedy's Televised Showdown with Truman
The Erotics of a Presidency
An Assassination and Its Fictions
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

The Kennedy Obsession

The American Myth of JFK

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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