Log in or link your magazine subscription. Account Profile. Sign Out. Photo: Thomas Allen. She was reportedly unhappy when her husband ran for public office, didn't aim to influence his policy, and quit her job upon marrying him. She adopted the least partisan causes imaginable: literacy, breast cancer.
She seemed like the sort of mild, polite, ordinary woman who might go to church with your mother, or organize suburban potlucks. Her approval ratings stayed high while her husband's tanked; no matter how disastrous his administration became, it was hard to dislike her. She never said enough to offend anyone; the worst you could call her was boring. That's likely to change, now. Laura Bush—the quiet one, the boring one, the woman too nice to offend—sat down with Larry King Tuesday night to promote her new memoir, Spoken from the Heart.
With just a few words, she dismantled much of what we thought we knew. Laura Bush, on same-sex marriage: "When couples are committed to each other, and love each other, they ought to have, I think, the same sort of rights that everyone else has. For a split second, it was possible to believe not only that George W. Just as Prep combines a maturity of narratorial tone and a jittery teenage protagonist, so Sittenfeld is an intriguing mix of self-deprecation and self-confidence.
Even after three books, she talks about how she is currently working on another novel in audibly ironic quotation marks, as though she still feels, as she puts it when it is pointed out to her, "something of a fake". Yet the occasional nerviness belies some steely self-belief.
We met the week of the so-called Franzenfreude debate, when writer Jennifer Weiner claimed a book by a woman would never attract the kind of attention Jonathan Franzen's novel Freedom has received. Sittenfeld shifts a little uncomfortably when I bring it up. But only at first: "I think sometimes books are taken a bit less seriously if they have a more female — um, you know what I mean?
And," she says, palpably beginning to warm up and calm down, "I think in general, novels by men tend to be taken more seriously than novels by women. But I also think that novels being taken seriously is kind of a nebulous concept. I mean, what does that mean? Getting multiple reviews in the New York Times?
Personally, I have never wished I were a male novelist. Sittenfeld was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. Even though the families in Sittenfeld's books are generally fraught or distant, she herself is very close to both her three siblings and her parents, who would often read books to their children when they were growing up, such as the Laura Ingalls Wilder series.
Sittenfeld is already looking forward to doing the same with her daughter, and has been saving the Harry Potter books for when she can read them with her children.
Dec 29, Travis rated it did not like it. Bush a clef. Then it turned uglier with each further insight into GW's pretend sex life. Such as "I held his penis.
It had a nice weight" or somehting like that. You have to be a sick fuck to want to think about GWs penis. Plus this is one of those books whose back covers calls it "brave" and that pisses me off. Usually it means it's some milquetoast bullshit that tries to use wow, my foray into new fiction turned ugly with the first of many sex scenes between a Laura Bush a clef and a George W. Usually it means it's some milquetoast bullshit that tries to use little words to great effect, little sound, little fury, little signifying.
And that's what this is, a scurillous little romp with lame dialogue which adds up to 0 insight into how 2 private persons become intensely powerful, and how they inhabit their power or their poewr inhabits them. That's really why I read this book, because of my interest in the everyday of the great, in contrast to the past many decades of democratic fiction you might call it with its obsessive attention to the ephemera of little lives, down to the brands that occur in them and their faintest especially their faintest sensoria.
So this is a peculiar hybrid, an entry that hustles itself into the slaughterhouse of fiction, as Moretti calls it, but which is so interesting for that reason: an effort to tell big stories as if they were the same as little stories, but with a different adress. A new entry in the venerable tradition of political pornography, in which the pornography, rather than discrediting "a great one" un grand , burnishes his title to normalcy.
Oh, plus I love how the word "zaftig" stands out like an SAT word in the pallid writing. That's what the SAT has done to us. Divided words into regular words and SAT words, and when you encounter SAT words in the middle of a book like this you say to yourself or you are supposed to --ooh, nice SAT word.
Aug 07, Liz rated it it was ok Recommended to Liz by: slate book club. Shelves: rich-folks , female , novels. The main character is very compelling and I love the grandmother.
More soon There was so much rumination, explanation, summary, etc. It needed more scenes, action, dialogue. Also, how did the fairly interesting young Alice become this country club Junior League person? It was creepy to have to imagine George W. Bush having sex, too, for sure.
I wonder if this would be a better book if it were completely fictional? The grandmother was still my favorite character. And maybe Snowflake. View all 6 comments. Aug 07, Lisa rated it really liked it. I loved Curtis Sittenfeld's debut novel, Prep.
And while I wasn't thrilled when I discovered that the main character of this book was based upon Laura Bush, I remembered how brilliantly Ms. Sittenfeld crafted the coming of age story of her young protagonist in Prep.
I suspected that her treatment of Laura Bush masquerading as Alice Lindgren Blackwell would be equally engaging. For the greater part of the book, I was not disappointed. An American Wife proved to be a refreshingly modern rendition of a classic American coming of age. However, the book's final chapter proved to be a bit of a let down. It seems that the author lost her focus after the main characters moved into The White House.
I could barely endure the main character's laundry list of complaints and regrets about her role as First Lady. It was distracting and it almost ruined a perfectly lovely book. The life of former First Lady Laura Bush might not sound like promising material, but this fictional autobiography delights.
The well-drawn characters defy caricatures of a conniving presidential idiot and his meek, silent The life of former First Lady Laura Bush might not sound like promising material, but this fictional autobiography delights. The well-drawn characters defy caricatures of a conniving presidential idiot and his meek, silent wife. Imagining the rich inner story that resides in every unassuming introvert, Sittenfeld has created a masterpiece from an ordinary life.
It was one of my first attempts at book reviewing! Oct 02, Kecia rated it really liked it Shelves: fiction. It was like being brought up short: "Oh yeah On reading some of the bad reviews "here" as well as "there" I wonder whether people are allowing their antipathy for the Bush administration to color their opinions.
I understand this to an extent but I also understand how Sittenfeld can take a premise see Salon article and turn it into something that's not a memoir or a biography but a mostly unique work of fiction that is loosely inspired by real people and events. Aug 02, Elyse Walters rated it it was amazing. I enjoyed "American Wife". Curtis Sittenfeld is a wonderful writer. I liked her first book "Prep" years back, too.
When is this great author going to write another book?? View all 7 comments. Sep 17, Jenny rated it it was amazing. This is one of the most thought-provoking and absorbing books I have read in a while.
I'm pretty sure I thought about it in my sleep. First, there's the fact that it's loosely based on the life of Laura Bush; second, there's the fact that Curtis Sittenfeld has a staggering talent for making characters absolutely real even when they aren't real already; see PREP.
Sittenfeld gives so much insight into Alice Blackwell, and when you, as the reader, understand in such a close and detailed way wha This is one of the most thought-provoking and absorbing books I have read in a while. Sittenfeld gives so much insight into Alice Blackwell, and when you, as the reader, understand in such a close and detailed way what "Alice" is thinking and how she is feeling, it's nearly impossible not to be as sympathetic as the author.
It's really, truly, mind-opening thinking, of course, of Laura Bush. The book is set around four distinct phases in Alice's life; it skips over the time when Charlie Blackwell is governor, before he becomes president. I would have gladly read another or pages describing this period - and, except for cases where I feel the end has been rushed, I rarely feel that books should be longer than they are.
Aug 12, Candy rated it it was amazing. You never know what goes on behind closed doors. When the subject is married to a good-time Charlie Charlie Blackwell in this case from a prominent political family, who purchased a Major League baseball team, served as a Republican governor, then won a contested election to become a two-term President.
The mix of truth and f You never know what goes on behind closed doors. The mix of truth and fiction grabs your attention and throttles up the curiosity factor. Shelves: fiction. This thinly veiled fictional account of Laura Bush was absolutely fantastic.
I'm sure the First Lady will be embarrassed by certain juicy, fabricated events, but all in all, I found this to be a love letter to her from the author, who claims to be a huge Laura Bush groupie. Sittenfeld is a true master of character development and this is some of the best fiction I've read in awhile--I couldn't put it down and stayed up way too late reading it.
Sep 29, Amy added it Shelves: dnf. Hard pass on the George W. Bush smut, dude. God damn book club books Shelves: advanced-reader-copy. Doh, did it to myself again!! After a couple real duds from ARC programs, I was so excited to find the characters and plot entrancing and thoughtful in the first couple hundred pages.
I was feeling very grateful to Random House for such a juicy, engaging, character-rich read. I was completely convinced when I started the book and saw the internal dialogue from the perspective of a First Lady that this was a completely postulated presidency in a parallel time. And as the central character, Alice, began to grow into a hugely likeable and deeply flawed friend, I became even more sure that Alice could not possibly have anything to do with any living or former First Lady.
Now, when I pick this book back up, despite the roaringly good head start I had with it, every time the male central character has dialogue, I am tortured by hearing it as the weaselly George Bush would say it.
I may have wrecked this for myself. But I should keep plugging through and give my new friend Alice the benefit of the doubt. I find myself working hard to replace the George Bush image with some very strong other player, like maybe a younger James Garner.
Maybe that will take hold, sure would be better. Sep 14, Sara rated it it was ok. I loved Prep. I thought Sittenfeld was a master of nuance and capturing the excruciating sensitivity to every social nuance that is being a high school student.
However, this book's main character, based on Laura Bush, is extremely uninteresting. I just never liked being inside her head, but I stubbornly kept reading. Also, the sex scenes were difficult to read because I kept having to imagine George W and Laura, and it was just too much for me.
And all the Wisconsin details bugged me. I kept wanting to transport the book to Midland and Dallas, Texas. I think the novel is flawed because it is too close and then again, not close enough, to a true story. This is really not my usual kind of book, but it was brought to Book Club by our more literary participant, who has now left citing inadequate time - but I suspect the real reason is our tastes are too commercial for her.
Thirty years later, towards the end of his presidency, which has been overshadowed by war in the Middle East, she reflects back on their relationship, as a long buried secret threatens her status as one of the most popular First Ladies. So anyway, the problem with a book like this is working out which bits were true.
Despite the masculine sounding name, the author is female - I had not previously heard of her and doubt I would choose to read more of her work. The writing is fine if unremarkable, but I found the frequent mentions of bodily functions unpleasant and unnecessary - why do we need to read about her various toilet escapades - urination, defecation, vomiting My biggest problem with the book, however, was having no respect for Alice, despite all the anecdotes designed to show how kind, liberal and thoughtful she is.
Her marriage begins in the 80s but she behaves like a typical 50s housewife, then expects the reader to sympathise. Charlie is , of course, awful - she knows he is, but falls for him anyway. I thought that at least in one way, I had not been wrong when I agreed to marry him: He had made my life more colourful. View 1 comment. Jul 22, Sheryl Sorrentino rated it it was amazing. American Wife is the best thing I have read in a very long time.
I picked this book up from my local library in a moment of desperation when I had nothing else to read. American Wife offers an intimate fictional peek into the marriage of George W.
Full disclosure: I am in the camp that considers George W. Bush to be among the worst American Wife is the best thing I have read in a very long time.
0コメント