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Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption Kindle Edition
At last, the first memoir from a Kennedy family member—an inspirational, candid, and explosive personal story sure to be one of the most sensational bestsellers of the year
Christopher Kennedy Lawson was born to enormous privilege. But with fame, money, and power came tragedy and heartbreak. In this clear-eyed, sensitive, and compulsively readable autobiography, he breaks his family’s long-held silence to a rare glimpse into the exclusive worlds of both Washington politicos and the Hollywood elite during the socially turbulent 1960s and 1970s.
As the first born child of famed Rat Pack actor, Peter Lawford, and John F. Kennedy’s sister, Patricia, Christopher Lawford was raised in Malibu and Martha’s Vineyard with movie stars and presidents as close family members and friends. But this little boy who learned the twist thanks to private lessons from Marilyn Monroe would grow up to become a spoiled adolescent with a near-fatal jones for heroin and alcohol. With deep sincerity, Kennedy sets the record straight, sharing many never-before-told stories about the good, the bad, and the ugly in his life, including the deaths of his uncles, his parents’ divorce and its effect, his hard-fought struggle to overcome addiction, his long-lasting sobriety, his acting career, and his relationships with his famous cousins and his own children. Surprisingly frank, Kennedy pulls no punches as he tells us what it’s really like to be a member of America’s first family.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarperCollins e-books
- Publication dateOctober 13, 2009
- File size2068 KB
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From the Back Cover
The firstborn child of famed Rat Pack actor Peter Lawford and Patricia Kennedy, sister to John F. Kennedy, Christopher Kennedy Lawford grew up with presidents, senators, and movie stars as close relatives and personal friends. When he was a toddler, Marilyn Monroe taught him how to dance the twist. He recalls being awakened late at night to hear his uncle Jack announce his candidacy for president. His early life was marked by the traumatic assassinations of two beloved uncles—and during his teen years, he succumbed to the tragic allure of the 1970s drug scene.
Symptoms of Withdrawal is Lawford's unflinchingly honest portrayal of his life as a Kennedy—a journey overflowing with hilarious insider anecdotes, heartbreaking accounts of his addictions to narcotics as well as to celebrity, and, ultimately, the redemption he found by asserting his own independence.
About the Author
Christopher Kennedy Lawford is the New York Times bestselling author of Symptoms of Withdrawal. He has worked extensively in Hollywood as an actor, lawyer, executive, and producer. He has three children and lives in Marina Del Rey, California.
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Product details
- ASIN : B000FCKES6
- Publisher : HarperCollins e-books; Illustrated edition (October 13, 2009)
- Publication date : October 13, 2009
- Language : English
- File size : 2068 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 418 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #872,979 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #708 in Theatre Biographies
- #1,094 in Biographies of Actors & Actresses
- #1,356 in Biographies of the Rich & Famous
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Despite all the toys and attention afforded him as a Kennedy, no one seems to truly care for him or, for that matter, for anyone else, unless of course they are direct blood members of the first family. Those who have married into the clan are all willing participants in some sort of game or pageant, whose purpose is to celebrate the family name, and to bring it glory. The rules are clear, Grandpa Joe has set them and Grandma Rose is there (or occasion) to remind the players about them, and even when tragedy hits, as it famously does, they all somehow instantly know what the next act is and how to play their parts perfectly.
And yet, at least in the beginning chapters, essential pieces of the saga we know seem to be missing. When the royal court is introduced, and Prince Jack the prominent player, Chris never once mentions ever seeing Jackie--is it possible that she never came to California, or that he never saw her when the family went back east?--and when he first deals with the dramatic moment of his mother's decision to leave his actor father, we are never told why she does what she does.
It's understandable that a child, the child who was Christopher, would not comprehend the reason, but the author of this book was an adult when he wrote it. Why is it then that at first the grownup telling us a story cannot confront his father's otherwise legendary womanizing and pimping for the Kennedy brothers? This blindness to reality adds a strange and totally unexpected Kafkaesque tone to the narrative, intended or not. In the beginning, we are only permitted to see the world as a child would, and yet, as all the world knows, the Kennedy saga is no children's story.
As the book progresses, we begin to understand why it is told in such an odd fashion. This is meant to be a tale of redemption, and we are asked to understand as Chris understands. Slowly. In the very last chapter, he leaves us with some aphorisms about life and its meaning, one of which is "Never believe the myth." How much more powerful this book would be if he had told us what that myth really was.
Special apology to the late Jack "Lemon" [sic], as well as Jimmy Van "Husen," and Dominick "Dunn." (Well, Lawford doesn't have much use for Dunne, so maybe that one is intentional.)
In its favor, the book is absorbing; however, though it purports to be about Chris Lawford and his journey through the hell of addiction and toward the "sunlit" days of sobriety, the fact remains that there is still plenty of "Kennedyiana" and Hollywood gossip in which Peter Lawford comes off poorly. One seems to be asked to admire Christopher for loving his father anyway, and granted, that cannot have been easy to do. The inescapable fact remains that if Chris were the son of Peter Lawford--a second-rate, all-but-forgotten actor and world-class substance abuser--and "Patricia Smith," there would have been no interest in this book. But I'm sure he knows that, and thanks to his hardwon sobriety, no doubt accepts it, as well.
One final note to the author: Chris, a lot of men who weren't breast fed get on with women just fine. Get over it!