There is really nothing new to add on the life and death of John F. Kennedy. The only options open to those biographers trailing in the wake of history are repetition and invention; Geoffrey Perret covers both angles seamlessly. Up until the chapter entitled 'JFK Style', which is basically a rehash of all the salacious gossip about JFK's sex life ever printed, Perret's account comes across as accessible and accurate, informal and informed, but anyone who bothers to check the references will quickly realise the truth: Perret has nothing new to say. He must have quoted nigh on every biography of the Kennedys to date, passing off old quotes and anecdotes as his own research. Goodwin, Hamilton, Klein, Taraborrelli, Leamer, Heymann - Perret himself! He includes a book on Joe Kennedy's affair with Gloria Swanson, which even he admits has no 'verifiable documentary sources', and a 'National Enquirer' article about the now infamous affair with Mary Meyer as evidence to support his potted life history. Any self-respecting student of the Kennedys, however, would probably be tipped off long before this point, when JFK Jr. is referred to as 'John John', without the saving grace of quote marks. Tabloid fluff.

Perret did also do some obligatory digging in the archives at the JFK Library, but his 'original' sources are backed up with his own interpretations of Kennedy's motives and personality, sort of psych 101. Despite maintaining an unbiased, fair, even generous tone throughout most of the book, Perret's determination to knock JFK down off history's pedestal cannot be checked for long. He becomes the master of the back-handed compliment - Kennedy was a speed reader but not a deep thinker; he was physically old before his time yet behaved like an adolescent; 'capable of grasping only the obvious in art, but the emotions that informed the artist's visions eluded him', etc. Perret just gets carried away with his role, making personal judgements and snidely criticising JFK for his failings from the lofty vantage point of hindsight. Not even Jackie escapes, although her share of the book is mostly limited to fights, tears and having children: she was 'stylish but not refined', apparently.

Perret accuses Kennedy of being too easily swept up by gathered opinions - reading inspirational books and following those influential figures in his life, from 'Big Joe' Kennedy to McCarthy - and I must confess that this was almost my downfall too. JFK is, and will remain, a legendary figure, no matter how much mud remains to be slung nearly a half century after his death. There are bigger and smarter books out there which reveal Kennedy to be an idol with feet of clay (not to mention Addison's disease and a back problem that nearly crippled him), but this isn't one of them. Read 'An Unfinished Life' by Robert Dallek, or 'Sons and Brothers' by Mahoney instead. Even Klein's 'All Too Human' and Taraborrelli's 'Jackie, Ethel, Joan' are better works, in that they don't pretend to be academic or groundbreaking histories of the Kennedys. ( )