American Wife

I finally finished reading American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld.  I've had it checked out from the library for a long time (since before Paul was born!) and kept putting it off for shorter, lighter books.  It has to be returned by Monday, though, so I decided to give it my best effort.  It starts out slow and I didn't know if I'd be able to make it through (its 550 pages).  I found as I tried to write a review on Goodreads* a lot of what I was saying would fit better in a blog post.

Curtis Sittenfeld describes things so well and in so much detail you feel like you're there. The book is amazingly well written. On the other hand, while I loved the detail, it sometimes took so long it made the book move slowly for me. I skimmed a lot of it. Being sleep-deprived with the new baby, the book couldn't keep me awake unless I skipped over a lot of the insignificant details to keep the narrative moving.

I really liked Swistle's review and found as I tried to write the rest of my review I kept circling around what she said and basically trying to re-write it.  I feel like I know Laura Bush better after read it, not because anything in the book was necessarily true, but because the way the main character's mind works seemed to be so plausible.  I especially liked the parts about fame, which weren't specific to her life but how I imagine every famous person must feel sometimes.

I also agree with the last part of Swistle's review. Was it really necessary to include the sex scenes? I found them icky and overly detailed, and not just the ones between "Alice" and "Charlie."

*I think if you follow this link to Goodreads you can friend me if you'd like:)