Slick writing by a ghost writer. Doesn't feel like Kennedy speaking or writing. Hagiographic. ( )

I really enjoyed reading this memoir.

I loved the easy prose that really made me feel like Senator Kennedy was just telling his story - it felt intimate and sincere.

I particularly enjoyed the first part of the book that dealt with his family life as the youngest Kennedy. I'm not sure that anyone has ever lived a life so filled with privilege and tragedy at the same time.

I learned a lot about the Kennedys while reading this book and I think I have a greater understand and compassion for all of them for reading it. It is a really wonderful book full of anecdotes and insight. The pictures are wonderful too.

I think anyone who is open to reading this memoir would really enjoy it. ( )

This book is very, very good. So good, in fact, that midway through I became a bit suspicious about who actually wrote this book. I have no doubt Kennedy was an active participant in the writing, but the authorship of such a polished work of 500 pages while sick with cancer and working as a senator seemed improbable. Anyway, I flipped to the back flap and found mention of a collaborator named Ron Powers, almost as an afterthought. This bothered me, and I felt Kennedy was unfair to Powers in not including his name on the front jacket. But then again, maybe Powers was only tangential to the project. I don't know. But it marred the rest of the book for me.

Regarding the content, one of the themes of the book is Kennedy's struggle to find his true identity separate from his gifted brothers. It's unfortunate, then, that the book itself parallels this struggle. The first half, which gives insights into his family and their struggles and successes, is fascinating. The book loses steam for me after Bobby dies and he is 'on his own.' Still, his relationships with Carter and Reagan make for interesting reading, and he does delve into Chappaquiddick honestly. The years in the Senate were a bit of a slog. But there is a lot I learned from this book, and I'm glad I read it. It reminds me of the man himself....gifted, passionate, great story teller... but I was left with some niggling doubts that are hard to shake. ( )

I have always been a fan of the entire Kennedy clan, so it is hard for me to be objective when 'reviewing' this book. It is well written with typical Kennedy lyric prose; it is well-organized into sections that are somewhat different from a typical lineal time-line autobiography; it contains dozens of photographs that are not the standards we're used to seeing; and most important, it gives us an insight into a man who may be the least known of the famous family.

When I say least known, I don't mean not famous or well-known, but more private in terms of sharing his thoughts and inner motivations. The influence of his father, and his older brothers is beautifully explained, as well as his love of sailing and the sea (hence the title.)

We are treated to stories about his relations with his parents, all his siblings and their spouses, his children and grandchildren, both his wives, his dozens of nieces and nephews, and his close friends. In these, his introspection shines, as he opens the door to his feelings and emotions which have often been tucked away from private view.

His respect for the Senate, and his pride in having served there for so long and so well are quite evident, and provide us with some of the most eloquent prose in the book, although here the book could have done with a bit of editing down...there was lots of detailed information about meetings, and phone calls and bargains struck that probably could have been pared a bit.

His love for his family is especially evident, in the chapter where he speaks of being buffeted by the deaths of his mother at age 104, his nephew Michael in a skiing accident, Jackie Onnasis, and his nephew John Kennedy Jr in a plane crash -- all within five years. As the surviving patriarch, he is called upon to eulogize all of them, a feat that requires him to keep his own grief somewhat tucked in.

In the end of this he quotes his father in a letter Joe Kennedy Sr wrote to a grieving friend on the loss of his son:

"There are no words to dispel your feelings at this time, and there is no time that will ever dispel them...I cannot share your grief, because no one could share mine. When one of your children goes out of your life, you think of what he might have done with a few more years, and you wonder what you are going to do with the rest of yours. Then one day, because there is a world to be lived in, you find yourself a part of it again, trying to accomplish something--something that he did not have time enough to do. And, perhaps, that is the reason for it all. I hope so."

Ted Kennedy continues: "I wish that life were simpler. I wish that loved ones didn't have to die too young. I wish that tragedy never haunted a single soul. But to wish all that is to ask for an end to our humanity. God, family, and country sustain us all."

His indomitable spirit, inherited from parents, and nourished by his experiences in this incredible family, have left us all enriched. His memoir provides us with the inspiration to continue his work. ( )