Stuff
Product Details
Simon & Schuster, July 2009
Hardcover, 352 pages
ISBN-10: 143911563X
ISBN-13: 9781439115633
Read an Excerpt
Chapter 1
Description
From “a master of precision” (The Observer, London) comes an explosive, provocative novel about John F. Kennedy’s years in the White house: his political daring, his brave dedication to human rights, his devotion to his family—and his uncontrollable and unrelenting appetite for sexual adventure.
• Taut, magnificent prose: Mercurio’s premise—to chronicle Kennedy’s exploits, political and sexual, through the President’s own anguished but self-centered perspective—is bold to the point of hubris, but he succeeds in spades. The writing is elegant, spare, and wry; the narrative is exquisitely paced. The book’s ending is emotionally shattering— empathetic, redemptive, and shocking.
• Startlingly revisionist portrait of JFK: We see Kennedy at his best, as a visionary statesman, a former soldier turned moral pacifist, a loving parent and devoted husband. And we see him at his worst, as a compulsive philanderer whose countless conquests—of movie stars, socialites, secretaries, and interns—ruined hundreds of lives.
• Amazing cast of characters: They are all here: Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Angie Dickinson, Judith Campbell, LBJ, Fiddle and Faddle, Eisenhower, and perhaps most memorably, Jacqueline Kennedy.
Read more:
Chapter 1"It seems so obvious that one wonders why no one has done it before -- to take a novel, clinical approach to John F. Kennedy as a case study in philandering and psychosexual pathology...Mercurio presents JFK as a liberal hero, rather than a hypocrite, just the man for those times, a fascinating synthesis of surrogate motive and political vision."
-- Chris Petit, The Guardian (UK)
"[A] remarkable new novel...[American Adulterer] makes the case that Kennedy's vice is worth studying as the tragic flaw in a genuine hero. The man's wit, courtesy, peacemaking vision and cool judgment are all here, vividly re-created, as well as his courage in the face of near-disabling infirmity and pain.... a gripping and thoughtful novel."
-- Hugo Barnacle, The Sunday Times (UK)
"The Cuban missile crisis is brilliantly, claustrophobically handled.... it's hard not to recommend [t]his book to anyone intrigued by the idea of a necessarily small human being caught by the terrible weight of an office of state. Admirably, even in dealing with historical events of such rare import, the author isn't afraid of using his imagination in pursuit of a more poetic kind of truth."
-- Archie Bland, Arts and Book Review, The Independent (UK)
"[Jed Mercurio] writes in brilliantly clinical prose...His real success here is to highlight how JFK moved politics into a culture of celebrity...[finding] a truth in JFK through fiction."
-- Ben East, Metro (UK)
"Jed Mercurio's American Adulterer...is a risky (and risqué) fictional portrait...His reimagining of Kennedy's life in office is as heated and heady as it is human and heartbreaking....gradually delivers a seductive, intimate, and shattering slant on this hugely popular, wildly flawed, tragically fated leader."
-- Lisa Shea, Elle
"Mercurio's third novel is a riveting imagining of the inner life of a satyrlike John F. Kennedy...offering a unique portrait of a powerful yet stricken and conflicted man....Kennedy has figured prominently in hundreds of books, but Mercurio's take on the subject is fresh, bold and provocative."
-- Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
"Historians, tabloid journalists and others have mined the public record to tell the story of John and Jacqueline Kennedy, but Kennedy discretion has kept us in the dark...Mercurio steps into that vacuum to offer a fictional meditation on John Fitzgerald Kennedy, his marriage, health problems, peccadilloes, political achievements and missteps....aficionados of the New Frontier will rejoice in this bracingly candid page-turner....Against all odds, Mercurio has also created the series of plausible private moments we have been craving to supplement the parts of the Kennedy story we already know....the surprise here is the huge amount of soul Mercurio conveys about Kennedy as an inspiring President and Kennedy as a complex and flawed man."
-- John McFarland, Shelf Awareness
"Stylish, intelligent, often persuasive revisionist history."
-- Kirkus
The Scotsman, March 13, 2010
...the blast. Shrapnel wounds are described. It is numbing. You get a sense of real lives being destroyed. JED Mercurio is a former doctor and the author of Bodies. In this novel, he imagines what it would be like to be JFK after he'd been ...
Boston Globe, August 9, 2009
...during the Civil War - still can be found in cupboards across the country. JFK, now in fiction Jed Mercurio, a British writer trained as a doctor, turns his attention to President John F. Kennedy in his new novel, ?American Adulterer?? ...
Boston Globe, August 8, 2009
...during the Civil War - still can be found in cupboards across the country. JFK, now in fiction Jed Mercurio, a British writer trained as a doctor, turns his attention to President John F. Kennedy in his new novel, American Adulterer (Simon & ...
Los Angeles Times, August 6, 2009
...angles; when it fails, the results can range from the merely ridiculous to the frankly distasteful. English writer Jed Mercurio's new novel "American Adulterer" -- a daring attempt to imagine President John F. Kennedy's inner life -- too ...
St. Petersburg Times, July 17, 2009
...Readers could spend a lot of time trying to sort fact from fiction in American Adulterer, but that pursuit might lead them away from the book's truth. British author Jed Mercurio undertakes a challenging task in his third book: writing a ...
Washington Post, July 17, 2009
...AMERICAN ADULTERER By Jed Mercurio Simon & Schuster. 339 pp. $25 'American Adulterer,' a novel based loosely on John Kennedy's days in the White House, purports to examine our former ...
Capital Times, July 7, 2009
...of passion, first love and resilience that makes for arresting summer reading and an impressive debut. HISTORICAL FICTION American Adulterer by Jed Mercurio (Simon & Schuster, $25) Mercurio's background as a physician clearly informs his ...
Dallas Morning News, July 5, 2009
...American Adulterer is a strange, morbidly fascinating novel, one sure to generate a fair amount of negative reaction from people who will not read it. Those who do read it, however ...
Telegraph, May 4, 2009
...Kasia Boddy examine American Adulterer by Jed Mercurio, a novel about J F Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy has served longer as a fictional character than he ever did as president. Norman Mailer and Don ...
Observer, March 31, 2009
...revered and charismatic America president of recent times, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, which it explores in forensic detail. Generically, Jed Mercurio's novel sits alongside the likes of Joe Klein's Primary Colors and Curtis Sittenfeld's ...
The Independent, March 26, 2009
...ten years is Zinedine Zidane... one of those rare individuals who had the skill but also incredible vision. Jed Mercurio's 'American Adulterer' is published by Jonathan Cape ...
Lucianne.com, January 2, 2009
...a new novel as a shameless bed-hopper whose unquenchable libido destroyed numerous lives. Simon & Schuster is trumpeting 'American Adulterer,' by British writer Jed Mercurio, as an 'explosive' retelling of JFK's White House years, during ...
