Touched by the Sun

My Friendship with Jackie

By: Carly Simon

Narrated by: Elizabeth McGovern

Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's Summary

A chance encounter at a summer party on Martha’s Vineyard blossomed into an improbable but enduring friendship. Carly Simon and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis made an unlikely pair - Carly, a free and artistic spirit still reeling from her recent divorce, searching for meaning, new love, and an anchor; and Jackie, one of the most celebrated, meticulous, unknowable women in American history. Nonetheless, over the next decade their lives merged in inextricable and complex ways, and they forged a connection deeper than either could ever have foreseen. The time they spent together - lingering lunches and creative collaborations, nights out on the town and mundane movie dates - brought a welcome lightness and comfort to their days, but their conversations often veered into more profound territory as they helped each other navigate the shifting waters of life lived, publicly, in the wake of great love and great loss.  

An intimate, vulnerable, and insightful portrait of the bond that grew between two iconic and starkly different American women, Carly Simon’s Touched by the Sun is a chronicle, in loving detail, of the late friendship she and Jackie shared. It is a meditation on the ways someone can unexpectedly enter our lives and change its course as well as a celebration of kinship in all its many forms.

©2019 Carly Simon (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

Self absorbed!

A book full of name dropping and self absorption- I do not recommend this- it is not as advertised

Disappointing

Lover her work, but this is less a story of Jackie and more about Carly’s hang ups....

Not fulfilling

Too much name dropping and not enough depth. I wouldn’t recommend unless you’re really bored.

Disappointed, very little about Jaclyn Kennedy and way to much about Carly Simon.

Don't waste your time or money! Such a boring disdapointment! Too much name dropping in Ms. Simons part.

If You Love Carly....

This is the book for you. More about Carly Simon and her experiences than about JO. Jackie is more the foil to Carly than anything else. I found this book to be a lot more revealing in terms of CS’s inner workings than her previous memoir. Being a huge fan of CS since childhood, I really enjoyed the book as I learned a lot about CS and who she is and how she thinks. I loved it. However, if you’re looking for a book on Jacqueline Onassis, this may not be the one.

Beautiful Friendship

At first I thought, I want more Jackie - but then as I continued to read, I fell in love with the friendship between Carly and Jackie; and how Carly was in someways like a foil of Jackie, a bit more wild and bohemian- but how those differences brought them together. It was also nice to hear about their similarities as well- their love for the Vineyard, literature, and Mike Nichols. I love this glimpse into their lives together and of the better understanding I have of Jackie. Carly truly paid her a wonderful tribute here.

Beautifully Written

Elizabeth McGovern is fabulous as the narrator. The writing style was magnificent, and Carly Simon’s wit and personality are the highlight of this book. I’m a fan! If you are wanting details about the life of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, and wanting a glimpse into their friendship, this book does seem to fall short. But, beautifully written.

Really about Carly

This book is more about Carly Simon and her insecurities than about Jackie Kennedy. One must question, why, after all these years, is she profiting from a “personal” friendship of someone so private?

Touched by the Sun

I loved the story and felt privileged to hear about their very special bond. My only wish was that Carly Simon herself narrated it.

The closeness of 2 true friends

An artist that randomly finds friendship in Jackie Kennedy (Onasis), whose on life experienced so many personal tragedies.