American Wife: A Novel

Author - Curtis Sittenfeld ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Hardcover Book item from Random House was reviewed on 11-Oct-2008.

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1) Hardcover Book American Wife: A Novel by Random House. I loved this book. Ms. Sittenfeld is an excellent writer. Her writing was lyrical as she traveled through the lives of Alice and Charlie Blackwell (Laura Bush and George W) although many situations are fictional and pure entertainment. However, I believe she grasped the essence of Alice´s prosaic family and Charlie´s rich family. I have known families similar to Chas´, the WASP rich group who, with their false humor, live their lives and attain goals for status and money. Charles Blackwell was caught up with his legacy.He never had to "pound the pavement" to look for a job. I never believed or felt for one minute that this man was dedicated to public service. He never really cared about the electorate. As an alcoholic, inferior student and businessman, he shot for the moon, for his own ego.

His wife, more intelligent with a simpler background, had some depth to her but she gave away her intellect and sense of service to become a rather vapid, Stepford-like wife. The author gave her credibility, especially at the end.

I was not sympathetic to the spoiled daughter, Ella. Alice seemed to idolize her own daughter and defended her no matter the circumstance. One of the best scenes took place when Alice was berated by a working young person who wouldn´t accept that Ella couldn´t "just sign" for her ice cream cone. She actually was supposed to pay for it, poor Ella had no experience of an actual purchase. How spoiled and isolated. It seemed hard to accept that people raised in that atmosphere could relate to the other 95% of the population.

I do believe this book reflects the essence of the Bush family: anti-Semitic (especially Barbara (aka Priscilla) and the lack of moral fiber. The first President Bush showed some empathy and understanding and if any of that is close to the truth, Charlie (aka W) should have looked to his father for a good role model.¤

2) Hardcover Book American Wife: A Novel by Random House. I wasn´t quite sure what to expect from this book or its characters given that it was "loosely" based on Laura Bush, but I really enjoyed following Alice´s road to the White House. Despite my best efforts, I even took to Charlie´s character --- mainly because the way the Sittenfeld writes Alice as being so in love and accepting of him. The first two parts of the books were better than the last, but, overall, a good read.¤

3) Hardcover Book American Wife: A Novel by Random House. The writing was very good and I had trouble putting the book down. The evolution of the main character (from teenager to First Lady) was very natural and very believable. I felt I got to know and accept her.

I would give the book five stars except I was distracted throughout the book by trying to decide what was based on Laura and George W. Bush and what was the author´s imagination. There are very obvious similarities -the President comes from a wealthy family of politicians, the First Lady was a librarian, the President had a substance abuse problem and he went to an Ivy League college. Throughout the book, I found myself mentally cataloguing what could be based on the Bushes and what might be fiction - which took away from my appreciation of the story-telling.

I will definitely check out the author´s earlier works of fiction, including Prep and the Man of My Dreams. I have high expectations for them.¤

4) Hardcover Book American Wife: A Novel by Random House. I was very excited to get this book, and start reading. I have read thousands of books in my life. Some authors that moved me inside, and I bought everything they wrote. Some I never finished. I lived in the WELL WRITTEN books, LOVED the characters, and HATED to have them end.

I QUIT THIS TRASHY BOOK ON PAGE 81. Why ? ( Don´t roll your eyes yet ! LOL )

I quit because what COULD be a very enjoyable read, was shockingly TRASH. At first, I was angry. I encountered the first SHOCK of what she did after the accidental acident. For those who have read it, you know what I am talking about. Here is this sweet girl, why woujld she do that, and then come back for more and more ? It goes on from there. I began to dislike the girl, the main character, more than I cared to see what happened to her.

I just cannot understand WHY we have to go that way. Many authors throughout the years have written great novels without the blatent raunchy sex. Do people, mostly women who woujld read this book, NEED that THRILL ? Shame on the author. And I don´t care if there is some great REASON why she does these things...it is warped. I will not read this author again. This was money wasted. But according to the Reviews already on this page....I am in the minority. I really feel sorry for the younger readers, who haven´t had the privilege of reading quality literature. I guess in 2008, if you don´t have RAW scenes, you are not going to be published. ( Or how it seems to me )

I guess I would rather read a novel written with heart, that takes you into the book and walks you through the lives of the characters, and you care for them, than have to SLAM INTO BLATENT SEX without any reason. The sad part is, my saying it won´t change anything. But if you are reading this, and know what I am talking about, be warned.

This is NOT the GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL.¤

5) Hardcover Book American Wife: A Novel by Random House. The first lady presented in this novel is smart, engaging and beautiful. The parallels between the fictional heroine and the current first lady are interesting because they demonstrate how romantic choices are not always predictable, and how two seemingly different individuals can find enduring connection with each other. The author skillfully weaves the important relationships of the main character into a coherent story that is sometimes so unbelievable that it seems more truth than fiction. The benefits and shortcomings in marriage, the endurance of friendship, and the internal negotiation that color every life are here in myriad detail. Like a Russian novel, the characters appear over time, influencing the considered personal decisions and becoming caught in the random acts of kindness and disaster that affect them all. The rich and famous really aren´t so different from us, and finding that someone of modest means can become one them is always fascinating. (Caution to sensitive readers, this book describes some sexual activities in detail.)¤

6) Hardcover Book American Wife: A Novel by Random House. 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.”

A kind, bookish only child born in the 1940s, Alice learned the virtues of politeness early on from her stolid parents and small Wisconsin hometown. But a tragic accident when she was seventeen shattered her identity and made her understand the fragility of life and the tenuousness of luck. So more than a decade later, when she met boisterous, charismatic Charlie Blackwell, she hardly gave him a second look: She was serious and thoughtful, and he would rather crack a joke than offer a real insight; he was the wealthy son of a bastion family of the Republican party, and she was a school librarian and registered Democrat. Comfortable in her quiet and unassuming life, she felt inured to his charms. And then, much to her surprise, Alice fell for Charlie.

As Alice learns to make her way amid the clannish energy and smug confidence of the Blackwell family, navigating the strange rituals of their country club and summer estate, she remains uneasy with her newfound good fortune. And when Charlie eventually becomes President, Alice is thrust into a position she did not seek–one of power and influence, privilege and responsibility. As Charlie’s tumultuous and controversial second term in the White House wears on, Alice must face contradictions years in the making: 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?

In Alice Blackwell, New York Times bestselling author Curtis Sittenfeld has created her most dynamic and complex heroine yet. American Wife is a gorgeously written novel that weaves class, wealth, race, and the exigencies of fate into a brilliant tapestry–a novel in which the unexpected becomes inevitable, and the pleasures and pain of intimacy and love are laid bare.


Praise for American Wife

“Curtis Sittenfeld is an amazing writer, and American Wife is a brave and moving novel about the intersection of private and public life in America. Ambitious and humble at the same time, Sittenfeld refuses to trivialize or simplify people, whether real or imagined.”
–Richard Russo

“What a remarkable (and brave) thing: a compassionate, illuminating, and beautifully rendered portrait of a fictional Republican first lady with a life and husband very much like our actual Republican first lady’s. Curtis Sittenfeld has written a novel as impressive as it is improbable.”
–Kurt Andersen¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 8-Nov-2008, 14000647599781400064755, 650-520-900-560-731-591-141-8

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