Thank you, berlet98, for including your IQ in your handle. That is so helpful! By the way, people don't have secret religions -- unfortunately.

Meanwhile, re the actual article at hand (ahem), they say Eva Braun made a very nice apple strudel.

To be honest, I've never thought of Laura in 3D, she's always been Laura Lobotomy, with 2 dimensions at best. That was cruel of me and I will try to mend my ways.

Then again, the author just invented the character so whose to say Laura Bush really has a 3rd dimension?

Unlike the previous contributors, I actually spent the past week reading "American Wife" and found it a compulisive page turner, very readable and very intriging. Sittenfeld is to be commended at how she seems to really get on paper a plausible dynamic between the George and Laura characters. I think she nails the imaginary dialog. You can hear the President in every page. It's uncanny. This book stands on its own merits as a portrait of America in the 1970's and 1980's and is a thoughtful journey into almost accidental political power. One thing that is not addressed is the fact that George W.'s father was President before him- in the novel the father character was a Governor- and how the experience of being around the White House would have influenced George and Laura in their decision making. This is a good read- much more emotionally rich than Sittenfeld's previous efforts which I admired but left me cold emotionally- which will provoke great conversations. I think it will be a bookclub favorite in 2009 and beyond.

Large market out there for those who think that Al Gore is a selfless, intellectual crusader for truth ,justice and the European way, and George W, Bush is a dope.

Funny, every time some crime is committed by a man, other men are reminded that they need to maintain a justice system to place those evildoers behind bars.

But that seems to stop at gender.

Do women have an obligation to oversee what other women are doing too?

I would say "yes". People like Barbara Bush spawn and train future criminals, as audacious and talented and above the law at they may make themselves out to be.

Other women glom onto the crime families and BENEFIT from the association.

So yes, unless women truly ARE lobotomized children (I imagine mindless sperm sized leeches attached to the bodies of these men) women DO have to answer and should have to answer to, at least, other women.

as it stands now, being female means not having any responsibities in the world yet having all the benefits and glory.

Hardly a recipe for EQUALITY and, agruably, the single BIGGEST reason why men cannot take women seriously.

Will it change? Doubtful. Not enough men press the issue. YET.

Much as I loathe the entire Bush families, I have to award Laura the Gold Medal for remaining with that twit of a husband. I wonder if she'll remain with him after his term ends in January. The rest of us left him about, ohhhh, seven years ago?

This article reminds me of a news piece done right after W was elected in 2000. People from Laura Bush's home town were interviewed. Though the public view was that she married really well and was now living this amazing life thanks to that marriage, the local view was that W. was the one who actually got the better deal-

People will comment endlessly on this book, but you have to read it to understand it. This is not a political book, it's a character study of a very human woman. It stands alone without Laura Bush comparison, but that does add an interesting level.

I agree with almost all RainBirdReader said. It's a page-turner with rich characters that will definitely provoke thought and discussion. You won't know until the last page whether you find Alice Lindgren Blackwell or Laura Bush a sympathetic character or not. I've already talked my bookgroup into reading it!

I'm thinking of writing a similar story myself...It's about a bi-racial candidate for president who overcomes his early years of excessive drug use...He changes religion to enhance his standing as a community organizer...Falls in love with a militant black woman who uses his new found status to advance her career as a schill for a hugely profitable "non profit"...His wife secretly yearns to be married to a "real" black man and decides to always be in a position of power (especially in the bedroom where she insists that she's always on top)...I know it sounds ridiculous but this shit really sells!!!

Now that the daughters seem to be growing up a bit, away from their party girl ways, I do wonder about them more. On the surface, they both seem like fairly vacuous socialites, but in interviews you start to think they may have minds of their own. There might even been a bit of social consciousness there. My opinion of them rises a bit, until I realize again that if they'd used any of their influence with their father that even minor investments on his part could have greatly improved the lives of so many people. My opinion of them falls again. Go ahead girls and write those books, carry that Feed bag, but you could have made a difference and you didn't.

to think that Bush as a person is really a nice guy. There is plenty of evidence to the contrary. He bragged about branding frat brothers' behinds with cigarettes. When his daughter had to have an emergency appendectomy and subsequently had to miss the family Thanksgiving he made a flippant remark about how she could clean her room - as he flew off to play golf with dad. His is known for having a mean streak a mile wide and clearly lacks empathy which is a hallmark of a pathological narcissist. These kinds of people are able to act like they care when it suits them and can be very charming (think OJ) but they are dangerous, nasty people underneath.

As for Laura, I would love to read a non-fiction book that explains this cipher of a woman. I still cannot figure out how she wound up with such a loser, although they barely knew each other when they got married (only about 3 months!). I believe George was in a big hurry to have a wife to help his run for Congress (he lost). I watched a TV biography about Laura once which said her mother opposed the marriage because she thought Bush married her just for this reason. Their wedding looked like it was at a Justice of the Peace, which I find very strange since she comes from a fairly affluent family, and he is wealthy. Her plain suit and seemingly few guests seems really weird to me.