AMERICAN WIFE

I recently read American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld which is a "fictional" account of a woman's life from childhood to adulthood where she ends up marrying a man who eventually becomes president. Anyone who reads this book can't help but see the parallels between the book's protagonist and Laura Bush's life. She was a teacher. She married a man who came from a very wealthy family. He had a drinking problem. He recovered and became governor and then president.

With all of these similarities, it was hard to know what was true and what wasn't true, but that didn't stop me from really enjoying the book. I felt like even though it wasn't a biography of the First Lady, I felt like I identified with her and respected her more than ever. This may be a false sense of those things since I don't know what's true and what's not true. But if it is true, then Laura Bush is a strong lady who had been through a lot in her life, even before George Bush ever came in the picture. And then dealing with all of his issues and the pressures of being in the public eye while still keeping her own identity in tact--wow. She just seems so inspiring as a woman who really tried to keep all of her priorities in perspective.

But it did bother me that there are parts to the story that aren't real and therefore I really shouldn't be taking all of it so seriously. I was surprised that Laura Bush didn't sue Sittenfeld for changing her story so much, but I'm also not sure what the law is for public figures who have things written about them.

Does anyone know how that works?

Has anyone else read this book? Have you read Sittenfeld's other book Prep?

Got Faith?

I remember reading Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom when I was 16. Even as a teenager, I found Albom's portrayal of his teacher and mentor Morrie and his life lessons meaningful and inspiring. I found Have a Little Faith: A True Story, Albom's most recent novel, to be equally as inspiring.

After being asked to write and deliver the eulogy for his childhood rabbi "Reb" (Reb makes this request himself of Albom), Albom spends eight years learning about Reb and the meaning of faith. In his recounting of his meetings with Reb, Albom intertwines the story of a Detroit Pastor, Henry. Much like Morrie, Have a Little Faith is full of life lessons. And although the main characters in the novel are a rabbi and a pastor, it is not about religion--it is about faith and what it means to have faith. Albom does not describe himself as religious before his meetings with Reb, and I'm not sure he would describe himself as religious after those meetings.

What do you think about faith? Is it something intricately tied into religion, or is it something that you have have even without religious beliefs?