<![CDATA[American Wife]]>

false <![CDATA[American Wife]]>

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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

2833088

2008

American Wife: A Novel

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3 20 false true Tue Sep 16 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 14 08:16:51 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 17 07:45:57 -0700 2008
For the most part, I enj...more...]]> 3 9 false true Wed Aug 06 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 11 17:57:07 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 18 16:19:39 -0700 2008
Being the recipient of ARCs (Advanced Reading Copies) of books does not automatically shield you from spoilers, does not give you back that Virgin Reader Experience. Especial...more...]]> 4 10 false false Sat Jul 26 07:42:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 26 07:47:42 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 8 true false Sun Jun 08 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 08 11:40:09 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 21 17:08:10 -0700 2008
That's right, I was suckered in by the wedding gown! Bu...more...]]> 5 6 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 12 10:52:04 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 30 12:11:29 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 5 false false Wed Feb 11 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 11 19:35:46 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 06:19:52 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 6 false false Thu Aug 07 10:54:35 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 05 19:00:29 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 4 false false Fri Sep 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 02 09:23:08 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 03 10:47:54 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 5 false false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 17 12:55:57 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 27 10:58:41 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 4 false false Sat Aug 30 13:13:20 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 13 19:57:24 -0700 2008 Just forget what you might have heard about this book being a mirror of the life of Laura Bush (it is, but ...), it's really about the life of one woman, and purely on its own merits as a novel, it’s moving, thoughtful and wonderfully wrought. ...more...]]> 4 4 false false Thu Sep 25 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 14 18:09:09 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 25 10:05:44 -0700 2008
Anyway, this is the engrossing (and somewhat trashy) tale of Alice Lindgren Blackwell, future first lady. Growing up in a small Wisconsin town, A...more...]]> 3 5 false false Mon Jul 14 08:03:48 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 15 09:23:11 -0700 2008
However, when reading the first chunk of the book, I was excited, engaged, engrossed, and believed that Sittenfeld had pulled off something epic here, a truly staggering undertaking.
...more...]]> 4 4 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 12 13:16:41 -0700 2008 Sun Nov 02 18:34:41 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 5 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Dec 24 06:29:52 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 27 06:55:23 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 4 false false Fri Oct 24 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Oct 11 13:23:41 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 24 09:56:27 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 2 false false Wed Aug 20 21:30:38 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 20 21:30:38 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 5 true false Sun Sep 28 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 07 07:51:55 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 30 08:53:49 -0700 2008
9/30: The first chapters are definitely the best, and my biggest problem with this novel is all the TELLING instead of SHOWING. There was so much rumination...more...]]> 2 2 false false Wed Nov 26 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Oct 30 13:49:07 -0700 2008 Wed Nov 26 16:04:31 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 2 false false Mon Dec 01 17:06:12 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 24 06:33:50 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 2 false false Thu Sep 11 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 29 17:36:49 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 11 17:38:35 -0700 2008 more...]]>