Laura Bush

出版者:Broadway

作者:Ronald Kessler

页数:288

出版时间:2007-4

价格:USD 15.99

装帧:Paperback

isbn号码:9780767921916

具体描述

When Laura Bush moved into the White House on January 20, 2001, everyone wanted to know what kind of first lady she would be. Would she be like Mamie Eisenhower? Would she follow in Barbara Bush’s footsteps? Would she be another Hillary Clinton?

“I think I’ll just be Laura Bush,” she would say.

On Saturday, April 30, 2005, the world got a glimpse of what that meant when she pushed aside the leader of the free world and stole the show at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Wearing a shimmering lime green Oscar de la Renta gown, Laura wisecracked that she was a “desperate housewife” married to a president who was always asleep at nine.

Replayed constantly on the air, the stand-up routine with its impeccable comedic timing turned the first lady into a glittering star. But while the performance catapulted her to new status, it did not answer the question of who this former teacher and librarian really is and just what role she plays in influencing her husband and shaping his administration. The Bushes are more effective than the FBI or CIA at keeping secret what goes on behind the scenes at the White House, the ranch, or Camp David.

Now, New York Times bestselling author Ronald Kessler draws back that curtain in the first biography of Laura Bush to be written with White House cooperation. Based on interviews with her closest friends and confidantes from childhood to the present, as well as family members and administration heavyweights like Condoleezza Rice and Andrew Card, Kessler paints a portrait of a woman who, even as she ascended to the heights of political fortune and power, never lost touch with the bedrock American values she absorbed in her youth.

In this unprecedented account, Kessler reveals:

How Laura’s opinions have brought budget changes to a range of federal agencies and have affected her husband’s policies, appointments, and worldview.

Why Laura told her press secretary in May 2001 she did not want to do any more media interviews.

What President Bush said to Laura at the dinner table after giving the “go” for the invasion of Iraq, and what his father, former President George H. W. Bush, wrote him the next day about the war.

What Laura’s own political opinions are and what her relationship with twin daughters Jenna and Barbara is really like.

What Laura says in private about Hillary Clinton, media attacks on her husband, and his victory in the 2004 election.

And why Laura, at the age of seventeen, missed a stop sign and caused a fatal accident that tragically left one of her best friends dead.

LAURA BUSH offers a remarkable look at the private world of this famously reserved woman, as well as the beliefs and attitudes that shape it. The book will surprise readers whose knowledge of the first lady comes from cautious media interviews and speeches.

Laura Bush’s approval rating stands at 85 percent. Since opinion polls first began asking about them, no first lady has received a higher rating. This moving biography is the first to penetrate the secret world of the president’s stealth counselor who is one of our most admired public figures.

用户评价

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我必须坦诚，这本书对我来说是一次情感上的“洗礼”。它避开了所有预设的俗套桥段，将焦点聚焦在了那些最微小、最容易被忽略的情感波动上——比如，一次期待落空后如何迅速调整呼吸，或者在巨大的压力下如何维持表面上的平静。作者的叙事视角转换得非常自然流畅，仿佛我们在同一时间体验着不同角色的内心独白，这种多视角的穿插，极大地增强了故事的立体感和真实性。我特别关注其中关于“记忆的重构”那一部分，它深刻地揭示了我们如何根据当下的需求去重新编织过去的经历，这让我对自己的某些“坚定不移”的信念产生了怀疑，从而进行了一次小小的自我审视。这本书的语言风格是极其优美的，但这种美不是浮于表面的辞藻堆砌，而是源于其思想的深度和对生活本质的洞察力。它用一种近乎诗意的方式，探讨了那些我们通常认为“沉重”或“灰色”的话题，读完后心头反而有一种被净化的感觉。

这是一部需要用“心”去阅读的作品，而不是用眼睛去扫过。它的魅力在于其内在的逻辑和哲学思辨，而非外在的戏剧冲突。书中对于某个特定职业群体在特定历史时期的生存状态描绘，展现了作者扎实的田野调查功底。那些行业术语和工作流程的细节，被融入得浑然天成，丝毫没有生硬的知识灌输感，反而让故事背景变得异常可信。更值得称赞的是，作者在探讨“时代变迁对个人身份认同的冲击”时，采用了非常克制的手法，没有进行任何直接的价值判断，而是让事件本身去发声。读到最后，我意识到，这本书的核心议题并非关于“成功”或“失败”，而是关于“如何诚实地面对自己所处的那个时间切片”。它成功地将宏大的历史背景压缩到一个极小的、个体化的空间里进行观察和解剖，这种“以小见大”的写作技巧，非常高明。这本书会让你放下手机，静静地坐着，思考那些你以为早就解决了的问题。

这本书给我的整体感受是“清澈而有力”。它不像很多同类主题作品那样，充斥着过度的煽情或廉价的鸡汤，它保持着一种近乎学术研究般的严谨态度来剖析人性深处的动机。作者对细节的捕捉能力令人叹服，比如对某个特定历史时期社会风气对个体心理的影响，描述得丝丝入扣，绝非泛泛而谈。我尤其欣赏它在处理复杂人物关系时的那种不动声色的高明。书中没有绝对的好人或坏人，每个人物都在自身环境的挤压下展现出多面性，他们的动机和行为逻辑都建立在坚实可信的背景之上。阅读过程中，我常常会停下来，反复咀嚼某几段对话，它们极其精炼，每一个词语的选择似乎都经过了千锤百炼。这种文字的密度，使得这本书的“信息量”非常大，每次重读都会有新的发现。它不是那种读完就丢在一边的娱乐读物，它更像是一份需要被反复翻阅和标注的参考资料，用以理解我们自身所处的这个复杂世界。

说实话，这本书的叙事节奏一开始有点考验耐心，它不像那些快餐式的畅销书那样上来就抛出惊天大揭秘。它像是在搭建一座精密的钟表，前期的零件摆放和调试需要读者投入相当的专注力。但一旦你适应了这种沉静的、富有韵律感的叙事节奏，你会发现每一个铺垫都是至关重要的。作者对环境和氛围的描绘简直是一绝，文字的质感非常厚重，读起来仿佛能闻到空气中的味道，能感受到光线的温度。最让我震撼的是它对“牺牲”这个概念的解构。它没有用道德审判的语气，而是冷峻地展示了每一次重大取舍背后，那些不为人知的代价和悄无声息的成长。我特别喜欢书中对于“沉默的力量”的探讨，很多关键的转折点都不是通过激烈的对话达成的，而是通过长时间的凝视、一次未出口的叹息或者一个坚定的眼神完成的。这种“留白”的处理方式，极大地拓展了读者的想象空间，让读者自己去填补那些未被言说的情感鸿沟。总而言之，这是一本需要“慢读”的书，它奖励那些愿意沉浸其中、细心体味其文字肌理的读者。