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Summary
Author Notes
Nicholas Gage, a native of Greece, lives in North Grafton, Massachusetts.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Arguing that previous books about Maria Callas (1923-1977) and Aristotle Onassis (1904-1975) are full of errors, investigative reporter Gage (Eleni) attempts to set the record straight on the couple's birth dates, where they first met, when they first slept together and many other details of their ill-starred love affair. His most interesting revelation, based on Callas's private papers and statements by her maid and butler, is that instead of the abortion Callas said Onassis forced her to have in 1966, she actually had a "secret son," a baby, conceived at the beginning of their affair in 1959, who died the day he was born. Gage gives an exhaustive account of the infamous three-week cruise on which the much-publicized liaison began, accounting for each meeting between the opera diva and the shipping tycoon, what they said, what they ate and wore, and how the other passengers, including Callas's husband and Onassis's wife, reacted to the developing scandal as they sailed along the Greek and Turkish coasts on Onassis's opulent yacht. The author asserts that the lovers were drawn together in large part by their shared Greek heritage, and he equates their mutual passion with "Greek Fire," the all-consuming incendiary substance used in battle by the warships of the Byzantine empire. Unfortunately, the book, laden with excess detail, fails to emanate the same heat. So much has already been written about the affair that, even though the particulars may change and new facts are found, the story is all too familiar, especially the depressing endingÄthe aging tycoon marrying Jackie Kennedy instead of Callas and immediately regretting it, and the prescription-drug-dependent diva living as a recluse in Paris, still in love with Onassis but refusing to accept him again as a lover. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
The ill-fated, well-publicized love affair between the powerful shipping magnate and the acclaimed opera star is depicted as a modern version of an ancient Greek tragedy--but the details are rather less exalted. Investigative journalist Gage (Eleni, 1983, etc.), who met Onassis just twice (and Callas not at all), claims proudly to have uncovered truths about the romance that have never been presented before. Each fact, he notes, is supported by two independent sources or an original document. He does not attempt full biographies of Onassis and Callas, but he provides enough background to make clear to a younger, unfamiliar generation why their affair made tabloid headlines at the time. Rather fittingly, it would seem, they were introduced by Elsa Maxwell, then queen of the gossip columnists. At the core of Gage's account is a day-by-day report of life aboard Onassis's palatial yacht Christina in the summer of 1959, when the romance began: among the new and presumably noteworthy facts Gage has uncovered are the time and place of Callas's first orgasm. He makes much of demolishing the rumors of an abortion, supposedly forced on Callas by Onassis, by discovering evidence that in March 1960 Callas gave birth to Onassis's baby, a boy who lived only two hours. Though divorced from their respective spouses, the two never married but continued their affair until 1968, when Onassis married Jacqueline Kennedy (reluctantly, according to Gage). He describes how Onassis attempted, but failed, to juggle his new wife and his old mistress and how, before he died, he was planning to end his unhappy marriage. Jackie admirers will not be pleased with the portrait of her as cold and extravagant, nor will Callas fans enjoy seeing her portrayed as mean and tight-fisted. Despite Gage's vision of Onassis as a tragic figure, the man who emerges seems large in wallet but small in moral stature. Plenty of tittle-tattle for those who enjoy getting the dirt on celebrities, dead or alive. (65 photos, not seen) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Lots of ink has been spilled in writing about the great opera diva Maria Callas, whose celebrity extends even beyond opera fans. Gage, author of, among other works, the widely applauded Eleni (1983), takes a slightly different tack than his predecessors by focusing specifically on Callas' relationship with Aristotle Onassis. The result completes the picture of Callas' life on and off the stage. What first brought the incomparable soprano to the public's attention, of course, was her singular voice and unique interpretation of roles, both of which set the opera world afire from 1949 to 1959. But then, after the best years of her voice were behind her, Callas' much-publicized affair with Greek shipping tycoon Onassis thrust her back into the public eye, but as a celebrity rather than a singer. Gage's straightforward dual biography of these two larger-than-life personalities effectively clears up some of the controversies surrounding Callas' and Onassis' lives together. The author also sheds light on the pre-Callas life of Onassis as well as the pre-Ari life of Callas. A great deal of Gage's focus is on the famous voyage of Onassis' yacht, during which he and Callas first consummated their relationship^-right under the respective noses of their spouses. Gage follows the affair in detail, concluding with Onassis' rejection of Callas to marry Jacqueline Kennedy and the devastating effect this action had on Callas. Gage's biography is perhaps the most understanding of La Callas yet to be published, and its appeal will extend beyond opera lovers to anyone with an interest in the lives of the rich and famous. --Brad Hooper
Choice Review
Gage would have the reader find Greek tragedy in the story of the charismatic opera singer Maria Callas and the equally charismatic business genius Aristotle Onassis. Instead, one learns little about what made them great and everything, every little thing, about their astonishingly bad choices--from the cruise during which they fell in love to their deaths and the collapse of their families. The sum of the author's meticulous reportage reduces these two giants and their codependents to characters in a very expensive soap opera. The author's noble goal was to filter through the mass of error repeated about the two, particularly in the material published about Callas, and to set the record straight. In that, he appears to have had considerable success. However, the "evidence" of the couple's love child, who was born and died on the same day, is not perfectly convincing and will be continually questioned. Neither a music book nor a business model, this book belongs in public collections, not academic libraries. M. S. Roy Pennsylvania State University, University Park Campus
Library Journal Review
Investigative reporting on an affair. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.