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True Compass: A Memoir |  | Author: Edward M. Kennedy
Publisher: Twelve
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
Buy New: $15.99
as of 11/21/2009 04:07 CST details
You Save: $19.01 (54%)
New (63) Used (15) Collectible (7) from $15.99
Seller: hellenbooks
Rating:  181 reviews
Sales Rank: 60
Format: Deckle Edge
Media: Hardcover
Edition: First Edition, First Printing
Pages: 532
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.9
ISBN: 0446539252
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.92092
EAN: 9780446539258
ASIN: 0446539252
Publication Date: September 14, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In this landmark autobiography, five years in the making, Senator Edward M. Kennedy tells his extraordinary personal story--of his legendary family, politics, and fifty years at the center of national events.
TRUE COMPASS
The youngest of nine children born to Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, he came of age among siblings from whom much was expected. As a young man, he played a key role in the presidential campaign of his brother John F. Kennedy, recounted here in loving detail. In 1962 he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he began a fascinating political education and became a legislator.
In this historic memoir, Ted Kennedy takes us inside his family, re-creating life with his parents and brothers and explaining their profound impact on him. For the first time, he describes his heartbreak and years of struggle in the wake of their deaths. Through it all, he describes his work in the Senate on the major issues of our time--civil rights, Vietnam, Watergate, the quest for peace in Northern Ireland--and the cause of his life: improved health care for all Americans, a fight influenced by his own experiences in hospitals.
His life has been marked by tragedy and perseverance, a love of family, and an abiding faith. There have been controversies, too, and Kennedy addresses them with unprecedented candor. At midlife, embattled and uncertain if he would ever fall in love again, he met the woman who changed his life, Victoria Reggie Kennedy. Facing a tough reelection campaign against an aggressive challenger named Mitt Romney, Kennedy found a new voice and began one of the great third acts in American politics, sponsoring major legislation, standing up for liberal principles, and making the pivotal endorsement of Barack Obama for president.
Hundreds of books have been written about the Kennedys. TRUE COMPASS will endure as the definitive account from a member of America's most heralded family, an inspiring legacy to readers and to history, and a deeply moving story of a life like no other.
A Look at Edward M. Kennedy Through the Years
(Click on each image below to see a larger view)
Ted Kennedy with Bobby Kennedy at the opening of the Royal Children’s Zoo (June 9, 1938) | 
John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Edward M. Kennedy | | 
Ted Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in South Boston | 
Ted and Vicki Kennedy (Photo by Ken Regan) |
Product Description
Edward M. Kennedy is widely regarded as one of the great Senators in the nation's history. He is also the patriarch of America's most heralded family. In this landmark autobiography, five years in the making, Senator Kennedy speaks with unprecedented candor about his extraordinary life.
The youngest of nine children born to Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, he came of age among siblings from whom much was expected. As a young man, he played a key role in the presidential campaign of his brother, John F. Kennedy. In 1962, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he learned how to become an effective legislator.
His life has been marked by tragedy and perseverance, a love for family and an abiding faith. He writes movingly of his brothers and their influence on him; his years of struggle in the wake of their deaths; his marriage to the woman who changed his life, Victoria Reggie Kennedy; his role in the major events of our time (from the civil rights movement to the election of Barack Obama); and how his recent diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor has given even greater urgency to his long crusade for improved health care for all Americans.
Written with warmth, wit, and grace, True Compass is Edward M. Kennedy's inspiring legacy to readers and to history.
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 181
 The first part is great November 20, 2009
S. Spilka
I don't know what kind of an effort was required of the ailing Kennedy to finish the book. It is astonishing that he did. Sadly, however, it is only the first part of the book--Kennedy's childhood and youth--that really zips through with life and rigor. In this early part, the remarkable character of the Kennedy family is illumined from within. According to this book, Kennedy's father was a most impressive person, for he knew how to mix discipline and love in his relationships with his children. Most memorable is his letter to his son Ted that said that if he, Ted, wasn't serious about life, that was fine: his father would continue to love him, but he wouldn't have much time for him. Indeed, Ted Kennedy became serious about life and eventually climbed out of the pit of his own failures and vanity. Furthermore, what is most inspiring in Ted's rendition of his father (especially in view of today's unrestrained greed) is the fact that the father was rich, and the children could have just spent their time drinking and playing tennis, but they were all taught the importance of discipline, commitment, and service. The descriptions of the young Jack, Bobby, and Teddy, their struggles, their good-natured humor, their love of the sea (which, in this book, is described in its multitudinous shapes and sounds) and, particularly, their love and loyalty for each other are detailed, energetic, and lovely. Precious, too, for who but Ted Kennedy could evoke the laughter of Jack, or the studiousness of Bobby? Most members of the family, and their early tragic losses, come to life richly, and this, in my view, is the main value of the book.
Ted Kennedy's adult life, as one of the reviewers has pointed out, is not as captivating. In fact, there are many dull pages and endless lists of senate meetings, bills, parades, and campaigns. These, of course, could be made interesting too, but the writing fails the reader here. Particularly disappointing are Ted's reactions to the assassinations of his brothers. Altogether, it seems that the emotional vibrancy of the earlier chapters has somehow left the book, and that's a great pity.
 Delightful November 19, 2009
Brendan Buschi (Dover, DE USA)
I really enjoyed this book. I wasn't sure what to expect when I ordered it. This is a warm, personal story. If you were an adult during the sixties, you will learn some new things about the Kennedy family. I think you have to have lived through the times to appreciate the book fully.
As the youngest child in a Catholic, immigrant family, I found it easy to identify with Ted. I'm glad I read this.
When I was about a quarter of the way through the book, a few pages started coming out of the binding. I wouldn't mind getting a replacement because I'm sure there are several others who will be reading it. Maybe the folks at Amazon will see this and offer to send me a replacement.
Great! November 18, 2009
Jan (Boston, MA)
I am really enjoying this book. It is an easy reader, educational and provides information not otherwise known. I highly recommend it.
Ted Kennedy Publishes His Final Word November 14, 2009
Ted Marks (Phippsburg, ME, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
When Ted Kennedy died this summer, he had just completed his memoir, titled TRUE COMPASS, and it was published within weeks of his death. It was his final word on a career that spanned nearly 50 years in the U.S. Senate.
Kennedy's memoir is a good book - Kennedy buffs will love it - but not a perfect book. But then Ted Kennedy was not a perfect man, something he freely admits to in this biography. Even if you don't agree with his politics, Sen. Kennedy accomplished a lot, and he made the most of his station in life.
And yet, as Kennedy recounts his life, one senses some of the partisanship that so marked his life in politics. In his public comments on his opponents Kennedy often reverted to a snarl that left his audience uncomfortable.
In his memoir, Kennedy continues that unfortunate tendency. His narrative effectively heaps scorn people like George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon. He settles some old scores in this memoir, and makes his disdain obvious, to say the least.
Kennedy deals with one of the most significant tragedies in his life - the accident on Chappaquiddick and the death of Mary Jo Kopechne -in only a few pages. One might have hoped for a fuller explanation of the events on that summer weekend in 1969, but as Kennedy says, he not only regrets the death of Kopechne, he has thought about her death every day of his life thereafter. Kennedy was wrong, knew he was wrong and accepts full responsibility for the incident. I guess we cannot really expect more than that.
On the other hand, parts of the memoir are quite elegant. His description of his solitary sailing trips after the assassination of his brother Bobby, are very eloquent, even poetic. As the book ends, he talks about four recent deaths in his family and he writes movingly of Jackie Kennedy, his mother Rose, and his nephews John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Michael Kennedy.
The memoir closes with Kennedy's thoughts on the U.S. Senate. Again, he (and his collaborator Ron Powers) writes elegantly on that institution. One has to wonder, though, whether there are times when men in public life serve too long. As Kennedy points out, the Senate is an institution that has spawned lots of "old bulls," as he refers to them, who treat the upper chamber of the Congress as their own private club. One has to wonder whether that was what the founding fathers had in mind when they engineered the Congress. Maybe the proponents of terms limits have a good idea.
Kennedy's posthumous autobiography reads well, and it will be a real boon to fans of the Kennedy dynasty. But overall, it is a self-serving book that is clearly designed to perpetuate a legacy that falls short of either of two brothers who also served in the U.S. Senate -- and had a much greater impact on our nation.
The Passing of an Icon in America November 13, 2009
Terence E. Vayda (Bradenton, FL USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Vividly, I remember shaking Senator Kennedy's hand as a college student after he spoke at Southern Illinois University sometime near 1974. Most striking in his life's portrayal is the fact that he loved people. He proved that point to me after his speech. A friend and I attended because we were both majoring in political science so we felt strongly about meeting him to bring our studies to life. We concocted a plan to do just that. As soon as he concluded speaking, we dashed out of the auditorium, knowing where the exit door was for speakers. As we ran out of the front door of the auditorium, and down the steps and sidewalk, we hastily ran to our right to proceed to the spot we thought we'd have the best chance to shake his hand. Now remember, this is the 70's and we are students: long hair (mine was blonde, stringy and shoulder length, and my friend of Italian descent, had an Afro about the size of two bowling balls put together), torn jeans with patches, looking like we just got off the train tracks as hobos. We spotted him leaving and so did the secret service (at least we assumed it was the secret service). They stopped us dead in our tracks and we thought the moment would escape us. As this happened, Senator Kennedy saw us and his protective entourage, walked immediately in our direction, saying words to the effect, "It's okay fellas", introduced himself, shook our hands, exchanged a few words, making our day and a memory for our lifetime.
This may seem small for many, and yet, his desire to reach out as he did, to even two motley looking college students, is the measure of his connection with us all and to the American spirit as a true believer in our republic.
Today, so many of my friends and acquaintances are angry with the state of our country and our politicians. Some of the reviews of his book find it shallow and self serving. I find the opposite. In an era where bipartisianship is necessary and where little seems to be found, Senator Kennedy demonstrated his humanity with his perspective of his uplifting historical accounts, statements of life's lessons from many sources and teaching us to enjoy the time we have here by remembering to enjoy the beauty and blessings around us.
His book is a tremendous contemporary gift to us all as we face a new era of unrest in our country and the world. If you want to renew your spirit as a citizen, and realize how fortunate we are to have such as an icon as Senator Kennedy share his thoughts and personal feelings, as a man, and servant of the people, read this book. I do believe you will find it uplifting, if not spiritually invigorating.
Thank you Senator Kennedy for all you did for our country!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 181
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