Edward Klein
Author of The Kennedy Curse: Why Tragedy Has Haunted America's First Family for 150 Years
About the Author
Edward Klein is a bestselling political figure author who has written about the Kennedys and Hillary Clinton. Klein is the former foreign editor of Newsweek and former editor in chief of The New York Times Magazine. He frequently contributes to Vanity Fair and Parade; he has a weekly column in show more Parade called "Personality Parade" under the pseudonym "Walter Scott". Many of his books have been on The New York Times Bestseller list. He attended Colgate University, graduated from Columbia University, and received an MS degree from the Columbia University school of Journalism. His works include: Just Jackie: Her Private Years, 1999; All Too Human: The Love Story of Jack and Jackie Kennedy, 2003; The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She'll Go to Become President, 2005; and The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House, 2012. In 2014 his title, Blood Feud: The Clinton's vs. The Obamas also made The New York Times Best Seller List. Klein's 2015 title Unlikeable: The Problem with Hillary, has become a bestseller on several major lists. Edward Klein's 2016 title about Hilary Clinton, Guilty as Sin, made the New York Times bestseller list in 2016. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Edward Klein
Works by Edward Klein
The Kennedy Curse: Why Tragedy Has Haunted America's First Family for 150 Years (2003) 430 copies, 4 reviews
The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She'll Go to Become President (2005) 324 copies, 6 reviews
Guilty as Sin: Uncovering New Evidence of Corruption and How Hillary Clinton and the Democrats Derailed the FBI Investigation (2016) 43 copies
A Estrada de São Carlos 1 copy
Klatwa Kennedych 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Scott, Walter
- Birthdate
- 1937
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Columbia University
Colgate University - Occupations
- journalist
editor in chief, New York Times magazine. - Organizations
- The New York Times
Newsweek
Parade - Short biography
- Edward J. Klein (born 1937) is an American author, tabloid writer and gossip columnist who is a former foreign editor of Newsweek, and former editor-in-chief of The New York Times Magazine (1977–1987). He has written about the Kennedys, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and Donald Trump.
Born in Yonkers, New York, Klein attended Colgate University, graduated from Columbia University School of General Studies, and received an MS degree from the Columbia University School of Journalism.
Klein is the former foreign editor of Newsweek and served as the editor-in-chief of The New York Times Magazine from 1977 to 1987. He frequently contributes to Vanity Fair and Parade and writes a weekly celebrity gossip column in Parade called "Personality Parade" under the pseudonym "Walter Scott." (The Walter Scott pseudonym had originally been used by Lloyd Shearer, who wrote the column from 1958 to 1991.) He also writes books, many of which have been on the New York Times Bestseller list. Additionally, he was the principal for the Business Communications School at The Euclid High School Complex. He was photographed by popular Humans of New York photographer Brandon Stanton, on June 12, 2014, which led to his personal website crashing due to a high volume of visitors. Klein is also a contributor for the New York Post.
Klein is the father of two grown children, Karen (former manager of The Four Seasons restaurant in New York City), and Alec (a professor at Northwestern University). He has been divorced twice. He was married to Dolores J. Barrett, senior vice president for Worldwide Public Relations at Polo Ralph Lauren, who died on 24 December 2013 in Manhattan. Klein is the stepfather-in-law of Ruth Shalit. - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Yonkers, New York, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- New York, USA
Members
Reviews
This should be an easy book to rate. People on the right will love it as a factual expose', and people on the left, if any even bother to read it, will dismiss it.
In my case, this book just wasn't what I was looking for. I was really interested in an independent assessment and review of the Obama performance to date. By the title, it was clear that it would be critical of the Obama Presidency, and that was fine with me. There are many valid reasons one can find to be critical of this show more President, whether your political leanings are on the far left, the far right, or anywhere in between.
However, what I was NOT looking for, was the book equivalent of a TV Political campaign add. Everyone claims to be turned off by political campaign adds, which both major Political Parties rely on, and which deliberately take things out of context, distort records, misquote, and mislead to make the opponent as undesirable and unlikeable as possible. As the 2012 election draws near, people on both sides of the political spectrum will be inundated with more and more of these adds. But as annoyed as I and others may be by these political adds, campaign advisors know they're effective, and they will continue to be aired. And while I may be subconsciously influenced by one or more of them, I will never choose to watch the adds, and try to simply avoid them.
In the same light, in retrospect, I would have avoided this book if I had known more about it or the author. Just as I avoided Vincent Bugliosi's book "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder", I would avoid taking time to read ANY book when the author has a known agenda. What I didn't realize when I picked up the book was that Edward Klein has just co-authored a novel titled "The Obama Identity: A Novel (Or Is It?)", which was a self-published compendium of Obama conspiracy theories. I also later found that book reviews from mainstream (now known as "liberal" news outlets) papers dismissed his books. The Boston Globe called him "an author devoid of credibility", the NY Times described him as "sleazy", the LA Times called his work "bio-porn", and the Tucson Citizen referred to it as "the literary equivalent of a backed-up septic tank".
Criticism like that may make the book all the more appealing to some, but I found it too much rhetoric, too many suspicious quotes or opinions, and too much like a campaign add released close to a Presidential election meant more to inflame than enlighten. show less
In my case, this book just wasn't what I was looking for. I was really interested in an independent assessment and review of the Obama performance to date. By the title, it was clear that it would be critical of the Obama Presidency, and that was fine with me. There are many valid reasons one can find to be critical of this show more President, whether your political leanings are on the far left, the far right, or anywhere in between.
However, what I was NOT looking for, was the book equivalent of a TV Political campaign add. Everyone claims to be turned off by political campaign adds, which both major Political Parties rely on, and which deliberately take things out of context, distort records, misquote, and mislead to make the opponent as undesirable and unlikeable as possible. As the 2012 election draws near, people on both sides of the political spectrum will be inundated with more and more of these adds. But as annoyed as I and others may be by these political adds, campaign advisors know they're effective, and they will continue to be aired. And while I may be subconsciously influenced by one or more of them, I will never choose to watch the adds, and try to simply avoid them.
In the same light, in retrospect, I would have avoided this book if I had known more about it or the author. Just as I avoided Vincent Bugliosi's book "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder", I would avoid taking time to read ANY book when the author has a known agenda. What I didn't realize when I picked up the book was that Edward Klein has just co-authored a novel titled "The Obama Identity: A Novel (Or Is It?)", which was a self-published compendium of Obama conspiracy theories. I also later found that book reviews from mainstream (now known as "liberal" news outlets) papers dismissed his books. The Boston Globe called him "an author devoid of credibility", the NY Times described him as "sleazy", the LA Times called his work "bio-porn", and the Tucson Citizen referred to it as "the literary equivalent of a backed-up septic tank".
Criticism like that may make the book all the more appealing to some, but I found it too much rhetoric, too many suspicious quotes or opinions, and too much like a campaign add released close to a Presidential election meant more to inflame than enlighten. show less
Political books, especially those written in election years, have always been somewhat questionable when it comes to their handling of “the truth.” Readers of these things generally come into them with their minds already made up about the subject – and seldom change them – tending to focus on the parts of the books they like and to ignore the parts with which they disagree. That is, of course, exactly the reception that Edward Klein’s bestseller, The Amateur, is receiving. And show more well that it should.
All of that said, a few things about The Amateur particularly strike me:
• In the process of gathering information for the book, Klein interviewed almost 200 people, many of those having known Barack Obama back to his first days in Chicago. Some of these people are officially on record (even on tape); others are not. Some of the book’s direct quotes, because of their sources are a bit shocking, even if upon further thought, they are not surprising. Caroline Kennedy, for instance, after having been snubbed along with the rest of the Kennedys by the Obama White House is quoted as saying, “I can’t stand to hear his voice anymore. He’s a liar and worse.” Initially, this is a rather shocking statement on Kennedy’s part – then, not so much.
• One of the most vocal interviewees, all of it on tape, seems to have been Jeremiah Wright who is understandably bitter about the way he was treated by the president in 2008. If Wright is being honest in what he describes about his longtime relationship with Barack and Michelle Obama, it is understandable why the president’s advisors wanted to keep the details of that relationship hidden – even to the point of offering the preacher a cash pay-off (according to Wright) to go away quietly.
• There seems to have been almost eagerness on the parts of those who are said to know Obama best to share negative facts and observations about the man.
• The personal revelations about Michelle Obama are particularly unflattering because of the petty vindictiveness and jealousy described. For instance, according to Klein, Michelle’s jealousy directly led to her husband’s eventual snubs of ardent supporters Caroline Kennedy and Oprah Winfrey.
• Much of the book, as noted just above, can best be characterized as the spreading of gossip – truth or not, it still has the feel of gossip.
• The president is characterized as an “inept” president “who doesn’t learn from his mistakes, as “a man who blames all his problems on those with whom he disagrees…who discards old friends and supporters when they are no longer useful…who is so think-skinned that he constantly complains about what people say and write about him.” Distasteful as all of this might be, it is hardly the worst of what Klein has to say about him.
• More disturbing is Klein’s contention that Obama naively overestimates his abilities, that he takes even constructive criticism personally, that he only listens to those who already believe exactly as he does, and that he truly believes himself to be a “child of destiny” meant to save America from itself.
Although Klein stresses that some of his sources had positive things to say about Obama, these things are so overwhelmed by the negative case he presents in The Amateur that I do not remember one of those positive things. Perhaps I missed them - and perhaps that is Klein’s intention.
The Amateur is an easy read, a good recap of the current political environment. It definitely has an agenda, however, and that should surprise no one. It is, after all, a political book, and this is a critical election year.
Rated at 3.5 show less
All of that said, a few things about The Amateur particularly strike me:
• In the process of gathering information for the book, Klein interviewed almost 200 people, many of those having known Barack Obama back to his first days in Chicago. Some of these people are officially on record (even on tape); others are not. Some of the book’s direct quotes, because of their sources are a bit shocking, even if upon further thought, they are not surprising. Caroline Kennedy, for instance, after having been snubbed along with the rest of the Kennedys by the Obama White House is quoted as saying, “I can’t stand to hear his voice anymore. He’s a liar and worse.” Initially, this is a rather shocking statement on Kennedy’s part – then, not so much.
• One of the most vocal interviewees, all of it on tape, seems to have been Jeremiah Wright who is understandably bitter about the way he was treated by the president in 2008. If Wright is being honest in what he describes about his longtime relationship with Barack and Michelle Obama, it is understandable why the president’s advisors wanted to keep the details of that relationship hidden – even to the point of offering the preacher a cash pay-off (according to Wright) to go away quietly.
• There seems to have been almost eagerness on the parts of those who are said to know Obama best to share negative facts and observations about the man.
• The personal revelations about Michelle Obama are particularly unflattering because of the petty vindictiveness and jealousy described. For instance, according to Klein, Michelle’s jealousy directly led to her husband’s eventual snubs of ardent supporters Caroline Kennedy and Oprah Winfrey.
• Much of the book, as noted just above, can best be characterized as the spreading of gossip – truth or not, it still has the feel of gossip.
• The president is characterized as an “inept” president “who doesn’t learn from his mistakes, as “a man who blames all his problems on those with whom he disagrees…who discards old friends and supporters when they are no longer useful…who is so think-skinned that he constantly complains about what people say and write about him.” Distasteful as all of this might be, it is hardly the worst of what Klein has to say about him.
• More disturbing is Klein’s contention that Obama naively overestimates his abilities, that he takes even constructive criticism personally, that he only listens to those who already believe exactly as he does, and that he truly believes himself to be a “child of destiny” meant to save America from itself.
Although Klein stresses that some of his sources had positive things to say about Obama, these things are so overwhelmed by the negative case he presents in The Amateur that I do not remember one of those positive things. Perhaps I missed them - and perhaps that is Klein’s intention.
The Amateur is an easy read, a good recap of the current political environment. It definitely has an agenda, however, and that should surprise no one. It is, after all, a political book, and this is a critical election year.
Rated at 3.5 show less
Review timing note: I'd meant to read this for quite some time and it came to the top of my TBR. It fell during the time of the election, but I didn't plan it that way.
This book covers the lead-up to Obama's second term through 2013ish. It reads fast - it's kind of a pageturner as these things go. It does have sort of a gossipy-insidery feel to it, but (IMO) that's delivering exactly what you want in a book like this. I feel like it peels back a little of the veneer from the Clintons and show more Obamas both and observes all four - and some of their advisors - through a more critical lens than we typically see from the media.
Who fares the worst depends on your starting point going in. I felt like I gained insight into the Obamas individually, as well as a couple well beyond their carefully and closely managed press appearances and coverage.
Though many of the sources don't speak on the record because of the closeness to the situations and people involved, this book had the ring of truth to me. Unlike, say, celebrity gossip where the anonymous person quoted is a person who went to the same high school as the celebrity before they were famous, but not at the same time and didn't really know them, this attributes specific quotes to specific people. Only someone in the room at the time and very inner circle could do that, which narrows down the potential sources considerably. Because I assume this book had to have been written in a way to be legally defensible against slander/libel, I presume much of it is, in fact, accurate - or accurate enough.
If you're interested in a less than picture-perfect perspective on the political machinations of the Obamas and Clintons, give it a try. I haven't read any of the author's other books, but I'm now interested and would love to read the backstory of the 2016 campaign if/when the story is told. show less
This book covers the lead-up to Obama's second term through 2013ish. It reads fast - it's kind of a pageturner as these things go. It does have sort of a gossipy-insidery feel to it, but (IMO) that's delivering exactly what you want in a book like this. I feel like it peels back a little of the veneer from the Clintons and show more Obamas both and observes all four - and some of their advisors - through a more critical lens than we typically see from the media.
Who fares the worst depends on your starting point going in. I felt like I gained insight into the Obamas individually, as well as a couple well beyond their carefully and closely managed press appearances and coverage.
Though many of the sources don't speak on the record because of the closeness to the situations and people involved, this book had the ring of truth to me. Unlike, say, celebrity gossip where the anonymous person quoted is a person who went to the same high school as the celebrity before they were famous, but not at the same time and didn't really know them, this attributes specific quotes to specific people. Only someone in the room at the time and very inner circle could do that, which narrows down the potential sources considerably. Because I assume this book had to have been written in a way to be legally defensible against slander/libel, I presume much of it is, in fact, accurate - or accurate enough.
If you're interested in a less than picture-perfect perspective on the political machinations of the Obamas and Clintons, give it a try. I haven't read any of the author's other books, but I'm now interested and would love to read the backstory of the 2016 campaign if/when the story is told. show less
Although the title of this his book implies that there is some malevolent force acting on the affairs of the Kennedy's, which also implies that they can be absolved from any complicity for the misfortunes that befell them, the contents of the book make no such claim.
Rather than a curse what the book strongly suggests is that the Kennedy's seem to have a propensity for "high risk behaviors" many of which are chronicled. It seems evident that their various misadventures strongly suggest, show more first, that they really do not understand the nature of risk, and secondly, that they have no sense of the nature of their behaviors and their impulsivity in approaching risk that seems to underlie them.
Is "cluless" a more appropriate descriptor than say, hubris, or vainglory, or just plain stupidity? In reviewing John Jr's poor decision making and subsequent demise it would certainly seem so. Anyone who has any experience with flying can readily see that what he was attempting to do was virtually suicidal, especially so, with respect to his limited training, or lack of, and experience with, for him, a high performance aircraft.
Putting political orientations aside, if that is possible, it would seem this family characteristic of hubris, or vainglory, or "undue and self destructive risk taking" or however you choose to characterize it, would automatically disqualify any of these people for the responsibilities of high level political offices they spent so much time seeking, and in some cases attaining.
The issues associated with a dynamic, ever changing world require far more circumspecction and other leadership characteristics than the profiles presented here suggest that these people could ever provide. show less
Rather than a curse what the book strongly suggests is that the Kennedy's seem to have a propensity for "high risk behaviors" many of which are chronicled. It seems evident that their various misadventures strongly suggest, show more first, that they really do not understand the nature of risk, and secondly, that they have no sense of the nature of their behaviors and their impulsivity in approaching risk that seems to underlie them.
Is "cluless" a more appropriate descriptor than say, hubris, or vainglory, or just plain stupidity? In reviewing John Jr's poor decision making and subsequent demise it would certainly seem so. Anyone who has any experience with flying can readily see that what he was attempting to do was virtually suicidal, especially so, with respect to his limited training, or lack of, and experience with, for him, a high performance aircraft.
Putting political orientations aside, if that is possible, it would seem this family characteristic of hubris, or vainglory, or "undue and self destructive risk taking" or however you choose to characterize it, would automatically disqualify any of these people for the responsibilities of high level political offices they spent so much time seeking, and in some cases attaining.
The issues associated with a dynamic, ever changing world require far more circumspecction and other leadership characteristics than the profiles presented here suggest that these people could ever provide. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 22
- Members
- 2,058
- Popularity
- #12,498
- Rating
- 3.5
- Reviews
- 36
- ISBNs
- 114
- Languages
- 8