Reading redux.

The Today Show's website has picked up a story about the book I mentioned yesterday, American Wife. (Check out the article here.) The story points out the remarkably strong parallels between the novel's protagonist and Laura Bush -- a feature of the book that no reader could possibly miss. However, the piece does not point out that, as similar as the lead character is to Ms. Bush, the aim of the book does not appear to be to slander the First Family. Indeed, the article includes a quotation saying that the book will "send the White House into a fury." However, if the book has any deliberate designs on the First Lady or her husband -- which I doubt -- those intentions are not to demonize them but to humanize them. In rendering the quotidian details of their lives, this fictionalization ends up pointing out how Laura and George are really just like the rest of us. They eat, they sleep, they bicker, and yes, they have sex.

Curtis Sittenfeld surely knew that she would be given a hard time because of this book. But she doesn't deserve it. The book delves into the intimate life of the First Couple, sure, but come on, folks: it's fiction! It's not a book of political gravitas. It's a book about powerful and wealthy people who put their pants on one leg at a time. And the bottom line: it's a good read.