Ask Not, Maureen Callahan
Ask Not, Maureen Callahan
4 Rating(s)
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Ask Not
The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed

Bestseller

Author: Maureen Callahan

Narrator: Gabra Zackman

Unabridged: 11 hr 18 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/02/2024


Synopsis

From New York Times bestseller Maureen Callahan, a fierce, character-driven exposé of the real Kennedy Curse—the family’s generations-long legacy of misogyny, murder, and mayhem.

The Kennedy name has long been synonymous with wealth, power, glamor, and—above all else—integrity. But this carefully constructed veneer hides a dark truth: the pattern of Kennedy men physically and psychologically abusing women and girls, leaving a trail of ruin and death in each generation’s wake. Through decades of scandal after scandal—from sexual assaults to reputational slander, suicides to manslaughter—the family and their defenders have kept the Kennedy brand intact. Now, in Ask Not, bestselling author and journalist Maureen Callahan reveals the Kennedys’ hidden history of violence and exploitation, laying bare their unrepentant sexism and rampant depravity while also restoring these women and girls to their rightful place at the center of the dynasty’s story: from Jacqueline Onassis and Marilyn Monroe to Carolyn Bessette, Martha Moxley, Mary Jo Kopechne, Rosemary Kennedy, and many others whose names aren’t nearly as well known but should be.

Drawing on years of explosive reportage and written in electric prose, Ask Not is a long-overdue reckoning with this fabled family and a consequential part of American history that is still very much with us. At long last, Callahan redirects the spotlight to the women in the Kennedys’ orbit, paying homage to those who freed themselves and giving voice to those who, through no fault of their own, could not.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Brendan on June 27, 2024

If JFK wasn't already dead, Maureen Callahan might have killed him with this book. Do I mean metaphorically, like he would have a heart attack? Or do I mean literally, in that she might have bludgeoned him with a copy of Ask Not to avenge all the women destroyed by the Kennedy clan? Honestly, I don'......more

Goodreads review by SheMac on July 03, 2024

In desperate need of an editor. For example, Callahan asserts that RFK Jr., born in 1954, was 9 when his father was murdered in 1968. Joe II paralyzed Pamela Kelly in 1973 but 1980 was two years after the accident. Jackie O. remarried in 1968 but her fourth wedding anniversary was in 1973. Rose Kenn......more

Goodreads review by *TUDOR^QUEEN* on June 25, 2024

This was an interesting and informative offering regarding the Kennedy men and how they've mistreated their women throughout history. Some of the women who were the collateral damage in their lives were: Jackie Kennedy Joan Kennedy Rosemary Kennedy Mary Richardson Kennedy Carolyn Bessette Kennedy Mary Jo......more

Goodreads review by Evelyn on December 07, 2024

I have long had a fascination with the Kennedys, but I hold no illusions about them. I can recognize that they did great things, suffered great tragedies and also engaged in reprehensible behavior. So when I saw that Maureen Callahan, author of American Predator, had a new book coming out about them......more

Goodreads review by Melia on July 20, 2024

Warning: I'm going to use some foul language in this review I cannot remember the last time a book made me this viscerally angry. The Kennedy men are vile, disgusting, lecherous, careless monsters. What's worse than them acting out of malice or hatred, they seem to simply not care in the slightest wh......more


Quotes

"Bold, brave and original, Ask Not takes a sledgehammer to the myth of Camelot. This is an unforgettable book—a necessary reckoning that will forever change the way I view modern American history."—Susannah Cahalan, author of The Great Pretender and the #1 New York Times bestseller Brain on Fire

“A harrowing, incendiary swirl of tragedy, true crime, and reconsidered history, Ask Not sets a match to the glamour and mystique of America’s most famous family. With incisive wit and wisdom, Callahan exposes the individuals and the celebrity culture that aided and abetted so many Kennedy men.”—Karen Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of The Ghosts of Eden Park and Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy