AMERICAN WIFE by Curtis Sittenfeld is fictional account of a wife much like Laura Bush. Sittenfeld had always been interested in Mrs. Bush and she does a bang-up job of capturing her. Laura/Alice grows up in a Wisconsin town, a typical midwestern girl. You have trouble understanding what she sees in George/Charlie beyond money and charm. But love is strange and Sittenfeld is good at giving him just enough charm to persuade you a nice girl might marry him. The Bush family is even less likable. It's all here: the car accident when she was a teen, the drinking, the combination of ambition as an entitlement more than something you work for with little feeling for the people he will serve. In light of our current president, he doesn't seem that bad but like Will Ferrel reminded us on SNL, he was. And there are some striking similarities.
I am an admirer of Sittenfeld's writing and this is some of her best although the last third is far too ruminative. And no, he never comes off well.
Brian Busby, Margaret Millar
Martin Edwards, MOTIVE FOR MURDER, Charles Barling
Richard Horton, Two of Ursula Leguin's Lesser Known Novels
Jerry House, MARCIA OF THE DOORSTEP, Edgar Rice Burroughs
Kate, THE ASKING PRICE, Henry Cecil
George Kelley, STRANGE ISLAND STORIES, Jonathan E. Lewis
Margot Kinberg, SOLD, Blair Denholm
B.V. Lawson, THE NOTTINGHILL MYSTERY, ?
Evan Lewis, MANASSAS, James Reasoner
Steve Lewis, HARD CASE FOR HIRE, Clay Randall
Todd Mason, Books Drawn from Fantastic and the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
J.F. Norris, MONEY ON THE BLACK, Allan McKinnon
Brian Busby, Margaret Millar
Martin Edwards, MOTIVE FOR MURDER, Charles Barling
Richard Horton, Two of Ursula Leguin's Lesser Known Novels
Jerry House, MARCIA OF THE DOORSTEP, Edgar Rice Burroughs
Kate, THE ASKING PRICE, Henry Cecil
George Kelley, STRANGE ISLAND STORIES, Jonathan E. Lewis
Margot Kinberg, SOLD, Blair Denholm
B.V. Lawson, THE NOTTINGHILL MYSTERY, ?
Evan Lewis, MANASSAS, James Reasoner
Steve Lewis, HARD CASE FOR HIRE, Clay Randall
Todd Mason, Books Drawn from Fantastic and the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
J.F. Norris, MONEY ON THE BLACK, Allan McKinnon
Matt Paust, THE CROSSING PLACE, Elly Griffiths
James Reasoner, THE ODDS AGAINST CIRCLE L, Lewis B. Patten
Gerard Saylor. SWITCH, Elmore Leonard
Kevin Tipple/Barry Ergang, SARATOGA BACKTALK, Stephen Dobyns
TomCat, THE CLUNY PROBLEM, A.E. Fielding; THE MURDERED SCHOOLGIRL, John Russell Fearns
TracyK, THE PUZZLE OF THE PEPPER TREE, Stuart Palmer
James Reasoner, THE ODDS AGAINST CIRCLE L, Lewis B. Patten
Gerard Saylor. SWITCH, Elmore Leonard
Kevin Tipple/Barry Ergang, SARATOGA BACKTALK, Stephen Dobyns
TomCat, THE CLUNY PROBLEM, A.E. Fielding; THE MURDERED SCHOOLGIRL, John Russell Fearns
TracyK, THE PUZZLE OF THE PEPPER TREE, Stuart Palmer
9 comments:
Interesting to focus on the first wife in that one, Patti. I'm sure there are a lot of great stories among their real-life experiences. Thanks for including my post here. :-)
I have to say that book doesn't sound all that interesting to me. But good thing there are many different types of books out there for all us different types of readers
Nothing from me this week, Patti, I'm taking a break. :)
Here's mine:
Money on the Black by Allan MacKinnon
Hi, This is my first time participating in this meme. Hope it is okay to join. Here is the link to my review of Henry Cecil's The Asking Price (1966):
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress.com/2018/02/02/fridays-forgotten-book-the-asking-price-1966-by-henry-cecil/
Welcome, Kate. Love to have you anytime
As always, Patti, thanks for putting these links together and thanks for including mine. I look forward to checking them out every week.
And thank you, Tracy for your participation!
And since I'm subbing for Patti in gathering links next Friday, I'll be checking your blog, Kate, along with all of this week's participants...but anyone who thinks I might miss your new entry, please let me know at my blog or at foxbrick@gmail.com
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