The Family

The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty

By: Kitty Kelley

Narrated by: Susan Denaker

Length: 29 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

They have wielded enormous financial power and dominated world politics for more than half a century. They have been appointed to positions of great power and have been elected as governors, congressmen, senators and presidents. They have shaped our past and, with our country at war under the leadership of their number one son, they are, more critically than ever, shaping our future.

As the Bush family has risen to dominance, so too they have been master orchestrators of their own public image, acting and operating under the shield of privacy their money and status have always afforded them. Until now.

Number one best-selling author and investigative biographer Kitty Kelley has closely examined the lives of Jacqueline Onassis, Nancy Reagan, Frank Sinatra, and the British Royal family. Now the First Lady of unauthorized biography reckons with the first family of the United States - and the result is at once a rich and shocking history and a very human portrait of the world’s most powerful dynasty.

An important work on wealth, power, and class in America, The Family is rich in texture, probing in its psychological insight, revealing in its political and financial detail, and stunning in the patterns that emerge and expose the Bush dynasty as it has never before been exposed. Ms. Kelley takes us back to the origins of the family fortune in the Ohio steel industry at the turn of the last century, through the oil deals and international business associations that have maintained and increased their wealth over the past hundred years. The book leads us through Prescott Bush’s first entrée into government at the state level in 1950s’ Connecticut, to George Herbert Walker Bush’s long and winding road to the White House, to his son’s quick sweep into the same office. Along the way, we see the complex relationships the Bushes have had with the giants of the century - Eisenhower, Nixon, Joseph McCarthy, Kissinger, Reagan, Clinton - as well as the often ruthless methods used to realize their goals.

Perhaps most impressive - and surprising - is the way the book delves behind the obsessively protected public image into the family’s intimate private lives: the matriarchs, the mistresses, the marriages, the divorces, the jealousies, the hypocrisies, the golden children, and the black sheep.

At a crucial point in American history, Kitty Kelley is the one person to finally tell all about the family that has, perhaps more than any other, defined our role in the modern world. This is the book the Bushes don’t want you to hear. This is The Family.

©2004 Kitty Kelley (P)2004 Books on Tape

Well Written and Balanced.

Excellent and well balanced! I find that Ms. Kelly has been careful to research and verify her material and appears to have done a very good job of reporting. Where the record is not clear, she appears to give both sides of the issue and is not afraid to state that there are questions on a particular point. I find the book to be insightful and feel I have gained in my understanding of the Bush family. I recommend this book to both those who support and those who oppose the Bushes.

Fabulous book!

Very well researched and supported! No wonder the Bushs weren't thrilled.... the truth sometimes hurts! Makes me even more concerned about the upcoming elections and the outcome. This world could become a whole lot scarier with Bush in office another four years!

Entertaining and well-researched

I was a bit hesitant to buy this title. I had never read Kitty Kelley before, but my fear was that the book might read like a tabloid. That wasn't the case. The book dealt with both political and personal issues and was well-researched. Most of the information was attributed to a particular source, although some to unnamed sources. Kelley weaves together personal stories from the lives the of the particular family members to paint an enteraining and credible picture of the Bush family's rise to power and wealth over the past three generations. It is true the author sounds a bit snide at times, but the tone seems pretty justified when it comes out. The book does end a bit abruptly, not getting into the controversey of the Iraq war as much as I expected, but there are plenty of other authors more qualified who have addressed that subject.

Deliciously trashy

Kitty Kelley's book is a chatty, trash talking look at the Bush family. It discusses George Prescott Bush who was a senator in the last half of the 50's and first part of the 60's. He was the father of George HW Bush and therefore the grandfather of the GW Bush. She points out that the family has a long history with Yale and the Skull and Bones Club; that Prescott and HW were pretty good students and that W was not -- and that W only got in because of his family legacy. She discusses the fact that the Bushes present themselves as a self made family, but that each generation has stood on the shoulders of the previous generation to get to the top. She points out some rumors, but tells you they are rumors. And the main point is that despite the public presentation, the family has some major cracks -- (and crack pots). One of the most interesting things she said was how difficult it was to get information on the Bushes; Apparently, its easier to find out stuff on the Royals than a family whose patriarch was head of the CIA. I enjoyed it; but I like peeking around the curtain to see who is working the machines. She got a little rough with Barbara Bush, but even with that, I felt that Ms. Kelley admired Mrs. Bush. If you are a big fan of the Bush family, you will think it scandalous; if you are not, you can enjoy it as a guilty pleasure.

Great

Kelley writes with amazing clarity and fact based reporting. She is exact in her research and is quite firm. She does not write to insult the Bush family, but rather to get the facts out there.

Insightful listen.

Kitty Kelley nailed it

If you could sum up The Family in three words, what would they be?

George Bush and Son are crooks

Any additional comments?

I found the book depressing. To see this family use their position for money, and power. They never seem to think about how they can make this country better. It was all about them and there wallet.

Fun, if not gospel

Well, in reviewing this book I'm really torn. On one hand I think that Kitty Kelly is, as always, superbly entertaining, and I think she's probably fairly accurate in her reporting. However, the number of anonymous sources and near-gossip makes this book fall short of something that will be able to convince most "fence-sitters". It's a pity, because much of what she writes about is very convincing, wildly entertaining, and doutbless to the chagrin of the bushes, very embarressing.

Worthwhile to understand Bush Dynasty

Good story telling - gives enough detail without being boring. This book has a good back ground on the history of the Bush family

Fact-filled biography hard to put down...

My wife had no clue when she bought this book for me that it would change my vote. After the 2nd chapter, I was glued to the book. How could these things be true about our President? I listened to the entire book in less than two days. I am now getting the hardback to share with my conservative friends. How could I be so stupid to back a President that used cocaine at Camp David? There are more than 100 unique facts that if any one is true, I'm happy to vote for anyone but Bush.

Informative and interesting

I have never been a fan of politics, and did not vote until the 2000 elections. I think it's unfair to vote if you don't know the facts behind the person you're voting for or against. I couldn't stop listening to "The Family". I never claimed to be a Bush fan, and after hearing many of the perks the Bush family gets simply because of name recognition, it makes me sick that our wonderful nation has to put up with four more years of this. Ms. Kelley has done her homework on this book. I hear facts repeated in her book that I've come across elsewhere in the media, so I know it's not "made up" stuff. The book is organized in a way that keeps the listener's interest. I very highly recommend this book. It's a definite eye-opener.