#97 American Wife

I know earlier I said The Story of Edgar Sawtelle would be book #97 but since I had to finish American Wife first to return it to the library on time, I have switched them up a bit. I hope you'll forgive me for being confusing, as that is how I am most of the time:)

So, American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld (who is a girl by the way). I really enjoyed this book. I have always liked Laura Bush in an abstract kinda way because, to tell you the truth, I really don't know much about her. I knew she was a librarian and that education and literacy are important to her(me too, being a former teacher and mother of 2). I remember something about a car accident when she was younger being in the news at one point as well. So having these things in my head before I even started reading the book made the first few chapters very interesting to me. It seemed to jump too quickly from life before being the governor's wife to the president's wife. I wanted more details, more stories, but at 555 pages already I'm not sure how that would have been possible.

I am very intrigued now though and want to read a real biography of Laura Bush. I would like to know how much of this fictionalized story mirrors her life. I like reading books like this. I have long been reading historical fiction books about the women of the Bible and then going to the Bible to get the "real" story. Of course, the fictionalized books are so interesting with the imagined details that make it all come together and illustrate what it was like to live at that time.

But back to American Wife, I found the last 100 pages kinda disorganized and distracting, jumping from one point in time to another. I found the character of Charlie Blackwell to be an interesting take on what W. might really be like. I am not the Bush hater that many people are these days and I do think he must have an interesting story to tell as well. Alice was a normal, insecure child. She grew into a reserved and competent woman. Her attraction to Charlie is obvious, but at the same time inconceivable. What could she possible see in him? His sense of humor and the fact that he does not take himself so seriously, like she does all the time must have felt like a welcome relief. Alice Lingren Blackwell was much more interesting before Charlie became governor but she explains all that with stories from her past and why her political views are almost unknown. To be able to keep all her views away from the general public is impressive. I liked when Maj finally tells Alice she married down but then I felt really sorry for Charlie that no one in his own family values him. I liked that Dena and Alice made up and they weren't responsible for leaking information to the press. Dr. Wycomb turned out to be less than honorable. I enjoyed reading the book and will feel obligated to read a biography of Laura Bush even though I really don't like biographies.

Has anyone read about Laura Bush? Tell me about it, recommend the best book to go with next. So, that's my take on this one, I can't wait to hear from you.