Post Grad Book #6

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
Finished: February 4, 2011
Page Count: 576
Why I read it:  
It was on the "Buy 2 Get One Free" table at Barnes and Noble (I think, its been a while since I purchased it) and it seemed to be right up my alley of loving all things First Lady.

Publisher's Weekly review:
Sittenfeld tracks, in her uneven third novel, the life of bookish, naïve Alice Lindgren and the trajectory that lands her in the White House as first lady. Charlie Blackwell, her boyishly charming rake of a husband, whose background of Ivy League privilege, penchant for booze and partying, contempt for the news and habit of making flubs when speaking off the cuff, bears more than a passing resemblance to the current president (though the Blackwells hail from Wisconsin, not Texas). Sittenfeld shines early in her portrayal of Alice's coming-of-age in Riley, Wis., living with her parents and her mildly eccentric grandmother. A car accident in her teens results in the death of her first crush, which haunts Alice even as she later falls for Charlie and becomes overwhelmed by his family's private summer compound and exclusive country club membership. Once the author leaves the realm of pure fiction, however, and has the first couple deal with his being ostracized as a president who favors an increasingly unpopular war, the book quickly loses its panache and sputters to a weak conclusion that doesn't live up to the fine storytelling that precedes it.

What I thought:
If ever there was a book written FOR ME, this was it.  I loved every second of this very long book about a woman who was minding her own business one day when a man her best friend claimed expressed interest in her instead.  They fell in love, they had their share of issues, and then he became president (obviously a lot more happened in the 576 pages of this book but that's the basics).  I could not put this book down (and its hard to find a good book like that these days).  This book was separated into 4 parts by addresses at which she lived- CLEVER, especially since the last address is so iconic and well known.  I knew that she and her husband were going to end up in the White House and that it was nearing the present time, I just wasn't sure how it was all going to fit together once they made it there.  Turns out the author was very intrigued by Laura Bush and somehow this book related to her life growing up?  I'm not clear on the details but I found it fascinating that by the time the main character Alice Lindgren Blackwell and her husband President Charlie Blackwell were in the White House, the current events were that of the Bush administration.  It really made me think about Bush in a bit of a different way, I'll say that.  For a girl who wants to be the First Lady someday (that would be me, if you hadn't caught on yet), this book was perfection and made me wish I was Alice Blackwell in the book, despite her many issues throughout the novel.  I give it an eleven on a scale of one to ten it was that good.