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Loading... American Wife: A Novel (original 2009; edition 2008)by Curtis Sittenfeld (Author)
Work InformationAmerican Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld (2009)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Fictional biography of Laura Bush. Well written, keeps your interest. I absolutely loved this. It was so interesting and readable that I barely put it down once I started it. Admittedly, I've always been curious about Laura Bush, so this book was as satisfying as a major dish session with a friend who's gone through a lot that you missed. I know it's fiction, but it felt so true (so confessional!) even while I knew it's probably miles and miles from reality. My hat is off to Curtis Sittenfeld. Girl can write. Now I must go read Prep. The idea behind the book is great. I love historical fiction and if this wasn't such recent history it might have been a better read. It's hard to take liberties with a character based on someone still alive and whom everyone remembers. It seemed she was a little obsessed with the First Lady's sex life. I mean really we need to know that many details? I just wasn't sure it added anything. Charlie and Alice are so day and night but each so lovable. It made me want to know more about Laura Bush and at the same time I think I developed a bit of a crush on President Bush because of this book. Not entirely sure that was the intent of the author but it's what I came away with. I agree with others that the ending seemed tacked on and not as rich as the rest of the book but I think that also is a result of writing about history when history is still in the making.
Sittenfeld, author of Prep, has written an intelligent, bighearted novel about a controversial political dynasty. It's also the summer's most delicious read, a book you can guzzle like a cold, creamy milk shake. “American Wife” is most engaging in its early chapters, when Alice Lindgren isn’t yet Alice Blackwell but an insecure young woman, haunted by the memory of the beautiful boy she’d accidentally killed as a girl yet dedicated to teaching and to a life defined by books. After she meets Charlie Blackwell and becomes his helpmeet, her independence swallowed up in his ambition, Alice seems to lose definition and, especially in the novel’s final, weakest section, titled “1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” to become a generic figure of celebrity proffering bromides to an adulatory public. Is contained inAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
On what might become one of the most significant days in her husband's presidency, Alice Blackwell considers the strange and unlikely path that has led her to the White House--and the repercussions of a life lived, as she puts it, "almost in opposition to itself." How can she both love and fundamentally disagree with her husband? How complicit has she been in the trajectory of her own life? What should she do when her private beliefs run against her public persona?--From publisher description. No library descriptions found. |
LibraryThing Early Reviewers AlumCurtis Sittenfeld's book American Wife was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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