American Wife

I called Amy (my best friend since college who reads even more than I and should have her own blog) a few weeks ago to tell her that somehow technology and my focus on writing have combined to thwart my reading habit. Reading was not a habit that I wanted to kick. I told her that I needed a book to give me a jump-start. I wanted a book that would pick me up, throw me onto the couch and force me to read, kind of like Fieldwork did last year.

Among some other books, Amy recommended American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld (who is female, by the way), so it was off to Quail Ridge Books where I bought it and three or four others which I snuck into the house while my husband was caught up on a conference call and put on my bookshelves like they had been there forever. (To those who are new to Live and Let Di, Quail Ridge Books is the best independent bookstore ever, located in Raleigh, and worth every mile that you drive past every big-box bookstore in the area. At Quail Ridge, you will find employees who are well-read and an owner, Nancy, who might just wander the stacks with you to help you find the perfect book. If you are not local, I strongly recommend subscribing to QRB's newsletter which comes weekly and combines reader recommendations with store events, making you want to read more and more and more.)

It's no secret that American Wife's main character, Alice Lindgren from small town Wisconsin, is slightly more than loosely based on Laura Bush. When I started reading the book, I wanted to know what parts were "true" and what parts were fictionalized. After just a few chapters, I didn't care. Alice grew up in a traditional midwestern small town, living with her parents and her paternal grandmother. She was a typical, bookish teenager whose life was ruled by the manners, respect and discipline that were expected at the time. Her life lies before her, mapped out with the expectations of a career in teaching, marriage and children. Her aspirations go no further.

A tragic turn of events turns her life upside-down when she inadvertently runs a stop sign while predictably, carefully driving the speed limit, and kills a boy on whom she had a crush who happened to be driving the opposite way in the intersection at that time. This is based on a true event in Laura Bush's life. In the wake of this life-changing event, Alice reacts in unexpected ways while still maintaining her focus on family and community expectations and her natural desire to make others feel comfortable.

Alice is the most non-confrontational, frustratingly compliant protagonist you will ever love. Her story is told in a narrative that unfolds based on her address at various points in her life. To some she embodies the caricature of the spinster librarian. But eventually, the meekish librarian (who is, incidentally, a Democrat) meets Charlie Blackwell, the privileged son of a wealthy, politically ambitious family. Charlie is a party guy. He'd rather play golf and tennis than show up at the family business to do his job. He's the life of the inevitable cocktail parties and family gatherings that pepper their lives.

They marry and their lives move them eventually to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Throughout their marriage, Alice is mostly accommodating to Charlie, his habits and underachieving. But she surreptitiously continues to indulge her compassion and liberal leanings through her actions and contributions.

Amy told me, before I read the book, that when she read it she WANTED Laura Bush to BE Alice. And who knows, maybe she is. Maybe the more Mamie than Hillary First Lady has a rebellious side that remained hidden in deference to the office her husband held. Maybe as she waved getting on that helicopter, she was joyously planning her life as a private citizen and mentally shaking off the shackles of her role. Time will tell.

If you want to read a book review of American Wife that puts mine to shame, click here. The New York Times has a habit of having famous writers do book reviews. This one is by Joyce Carol Oates, a favorite author of mine, and is terrific. This is not always a good thing as this review by Jay McInerney, proves. It's nothing more than a plot summary of The Garden of Last Days and McInerney's status as a published author does not make it worth the columns of newsprint it wasted.

Di
***If the New York Times links don't work, I apologize. I have an on-line subscription, so I'm not sure they will work if you don't have that.***

Comments

[a secret admirer]

Wow, your BFF&E has exquisite taste. As I recall, she also recommended Fieldwork to you as well! And didn't she also suggest Carrie Fisher's Postcards From the Edge to you many years ago? That Amy, she knows her some books, does she! And some grammar too. Or maybe that's "grammer to." I'll have to ask hubby about that one.

Anyhoo...glad you enjoyed the book, and I sure hope she finds something else equally compelling to read later in 2009.

BTW, does this make up for that changeling book that you felt less than fondly about (she writes, ending the sentence with a preposition. What can i say--i lost many IQ points breastfeeding my 3 kids)?

[Shirley]

Sounds like a great book- can't wait to read it !

[fudgelady]

Thanks for another great book recommendation -- somehow, I had never heard of that one!

BTW, my friend in Vance County loves Quail Ridge and talks about it all the time. Sounds like a must-see stop on my next trip down!

[ali]

one of my publisher friends sent me a copy of this book.

can't wait to read it!

[joAnn]

In a burst of enthusiasm, I bought an ARC of this book months before its publication. To say that I was underwhelmed after reading it is an understatement!

I think the book was way too wordy. The basic story was interesting and maybe even viable....but all the darn words just cloaked the bones of the story in layers of boring prose.

I also think that JC Oates's review was far more political than the book. How does she (or anyone, really) know if Laura Bush's values are so different than her husband's? ("The mystery of Alice’s life — as it is the prevailing mystery of Laura Bush’s life, seen from the outside — is the wife’s seemingly unquestioned allegiance to a husband with values very different from her own, if not in mockery of her own.")

And Oates quotes: Alice reacts defensively: “The single most astonishing fact of political life to me has been the gullibility of the American people. Even in our cynical age, the percentage of the population who is told something and therefore believes it to be true — it’s staggering.”

I think this could also be written in a "novel" about Michelle Obama. My theme during this whole time has been--->>>if you believe anything any of these politicians are saying, I have a bridge I would like to sell you.

[Casey!]

You spelled Wisconsin wrong.

-Casey :)