The First Lady Builds a Literary Room of Her Own [The NYT: front page praise for Laura Bush]

The New York Times ^ | Oct. 7, 2002 | ELISABETH BUMILLER

[summer]

I meant to post it like this:

She said she was toying with the idea of Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, but was also thinking of Faulkner, Hemingway and Fitzgerald

[vikingchick]

Laura Bush is a much better person that I would be. I wouldn't invite any of these closeminded jerks to the White House.

[summer]

I appreciate literature and am glad to hear that Laura Bush is doing all this. With good literature, I put my political ideology on the shelf. Good reading is good reading, no matter who is writing it.

BTW, if any Freepers appreciate reading, join up with P-J Comix's reading club. PJ's got us reading a new book every month. We discuss George Orwell's "Homage To Catalonia" next Monday night right here on Free Republic.

Sam, A big BTTT to your entire post! :)

[summer]

ROTFLMAO....IMO, it is wonderful to hear of American authors being in the spotlight, instead of Hollywood actors. We see enough promotion for movies without the White House being another channel for them.

[Revolting cat!]

"There once was Patricia Nelson Limerick,
Who liked to..."

Oh, wait, never mind...

[PJ-Comix]

BTW, if any Freepers appreciate reading, join up with P-J Comix's reading club. PJ's got us reading a new book every month. We discuss George Orwell's "Homage To Catalonia" next Monday night right here on Free Republic.

And next month, the assigned book is Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. It's an INCREDIBLE book. Possibly the most true-to-life novel I've ever read. Plus it's FUNNY in a bittersweet sort of way. No self-pity in that book.

p.s. I'm just finishing up re-reading The Great Gatsby today. I last read it in high school and disliked it because of the horrible way it was taught. I've learned that about a lot of books. If you read it as an assignment it is a chore. But to read the same book as relaxation and it's a pleasure....Plus you will UNDERSTAND the book a lot better.

[PJ-Comix]

Mrs. Bush, who is currently rereading the memoirs of Lillian Hellman, said she was already thinking of what writers should be next. She said she was toying with the idea of Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, but was also thinking of Faulkner, Hemingway and Fitzgerald.

Psst! Mrs. Bush! Check out these American writers: James Jones and Ralph Ellison, possibly the best American novelists of the 20th century. I'm re-reading F. Scott Fitzgerald RIGHT NOW because of the HORRIBLE way he was taught to me in school. Now I have learned to appreciate Fitzgerald.

As to Hemingway, I might have to re-read him too. I got prejudiced against Hemingway because my Dad claims to have met him VERY BRIEFLY at one time. As a result my father has talked about Hemingway almost non-stop as the greatest writer who ever lived. I can't tell you how sick I got of his stories about how Hemingway wrote standing up, how Hemingway diagrammed his plotlines on his walls, how Hemingway began writing at 5 AM every morning, about Hemingway in Spain, Key West, and Cuba. HEMINGWAY! HEMINGWAY! HEMINGWAY! That's all I heard from my Dad. And when he saw me writing stories, inevitably he would admonish me because I wasn't writing them the way Hemingway would (i.e. not standing up or writing the plotlines on the walls). So maybe I'll give Hemingway another shot even though I've been sort of innoculated against him from youth.

[what's up]

I love Laura but I read "The Girl With The Pearl Earring" on her recommendation and found it awful.

[SuziQ]

And, I can not imagine Tipper Gore ever rising to the heights already reached by Laura Bush.

I can't imagine Tipper doing ANYTHING that doesn't either raise money for her husband, or to aggrandize herself or him!

[SuziQ]

"I did Mrs. Bush a terrible disservice thinking that maybe she didn't know, that she thought these were all little houses on the prairie," Ms. Limerick said.

Typical liberal attitude! Anyone but them, especially those folks in flyover country, must be real doofuses!

[independentmind]

IMO, it is wonderful to hear of American authors being in the spotlight, instead of Hollywood actors. We see enough promotion for movies without the White House being another channel for them.

I suspect that depends on what the American authors actually have to say.:)

Although I don't usually slaver over pictures of the Bushes, I like what I have seen of Mrs. Bush very much. How anyone could characterize her as a wallflower is beyond me.

[JulieRNR21]

Just came this thread on the article about the First Lady Laura's American literature conferences.

It is a shame that the liberal media hasn't give these literary events wider coverage.....and how refreshing to see 'praise for Laura' on the front page of the NYT!

I wish Laura would start a 'bookclub' (ala Oprah) on American classics....maybe I'll send an email to her suggesting that.

[DKNY]

Our first lady is an incredible woman of style and class.

[ohioWfan]

Just getting to your ping, summer.....thanks!!

I was just thinking about the leftist's silly attempts to portray Laura as June Cleaver or Mamie Eisenhower (because she was a good wife and mother?), or as a country bumpkin married to a stupid cowboy.

They reveal their own ignorance in their 'amazement' that Laura has depth and intelligence, but it sure is fun to see!

Kill 'em with kindness, Laura!!

[Miss Marple]

Thanks for the ping, summer! I am glad to see this program getting some coverage. Not all of the authors would be my choice, but that is exactly the point. Sometimes reading something we wouldn't normally have chosen gives us a new way of looking at things, even if we disagree with the author's point of view.

But no matter what Laura says, I WON'T read Michael Moore! LOL!

[Miss Marple]

Oops! YOU are the one who pinged me! Thanks so much!

[ohioWfan]

LOL! No problem, MM. I thought you'd be interested!

[rintense]

Laura is a class act. Period. But Faulkner???? EW! In my opinion, one of the most over-rated writers in American Lit.

[SkyPilot]

A story circulated in DC back in 2000.

When Laura Bush arrived at the White House, she went around to the staff (the "hired help") and shook hands and introduced herself. People where aghast.

Apparently, their previous "boss" would not allow eye contact. Quite a breath of fresh air she is.

[Wphile]

Thanks for the ping ohio!

Saw Laura on booknotes the other night. She was wonderful and the national book festival is this weekend - to be covered on CSPAN2, I believe.

She is, indeed, a class act!