jankp's Full Review: Hillary Rodham Clinton - Living History
Author's Note--Although Dr. Freudine is a psychiatrist I created. Last time Dr. Freudine had a twilight zone experience with a prepaid visitor in my Seconds movie review.
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I am so engrossed in Hillary Rodham Clinton's autobiography, Living History, that I'm startled by a paper sliding under my door. "Hello? Who's there?"
The door quickly opens and a head pops around it. Suddenly the clearest blue eyes I've ever seen fix on me and I just stare, vaguely aware of how rakishly handsome he is, as he saunters in with papers in his hand, keeping the door open. Some kind of solicitor who can't read signs...
"Hi, Dr. Freudine," he drawls, offering a yellow-stained hand. "I thought you might want to..." He then spies my book. "Hey, I've been dyin' to read that, but have zilch time with my job and this on the side. What do you think of it?"
"Oh, well, it's inspiring, especially to a woman, but how do you know me? We haven't met, have we?"
"Irish has said good things about you. I don't think you're a Republican like he is, and if you're enjoyin' that book, you must not be. Would you care to sign this petition to impeach Bush?" He shows me a paper and I take it. "What does Hillary say about him? She probably doesn't hold in her feelin's, right?"
I look up, considering the question. "She doesn't say much about him at all, really. Throughout the book she is a lady, not a b!tch, even with Newt Gingrich, and isn't defamatory. She mentions that Bill, her husband, was disappointed with the election and feared what a return to failed Republican policy would do to the country and that the Supreme Court abused its power when the Republicans feared an honest recount of Florida votes, but it's never b!tchy."
"Good, I'm glad. She lets the facts speak for themselves."
"Pretty much." I wonder if I should say more and he invites himself to the couch behind him. I sneakily check the time, then go on for my captive audience. "Well, she does express her feelings about growing up, as a Republican no less, making her dad proud of his Young Republican..."
"No kiddin'? That's wild. So she broke his heart eventually, I guess," he slips in and starts to take out a cigarette, but notices no ashtray and reconsiders.
"They don't talk for some time when she realizes in college, Wellesley for women, that she's more of a Democrat. Then she brings Bill over who she meets in Yale and her dad comes to love him so much that he even helps with all the campaigning and votes for him. There's a sad chapter where her dad has a stroke and she leaves Washington to be by his hospital bed and the family gathers around to prepare. Hillary's love for her family as well as helping disadvantaged children and women is very moving and inspiring."
"She seems like an intelligent First Lady, but why did she stay with Bill when he lied about Monica? Do they just have a sham marriage now or maybe they did before?"
I shake my head. "It really devastated her and they had marital counseling, but it's his story to tell, why he did it, and they have always loved each other and Chelsea. Her daughter joined her on many trips to promote good relations with the world."
"Hillary's a good mom, I'll grant, but a Senator from New York??"
"Well, New York Senator Moynihan who was retiring and then others I can't think of gave her the idea and encouragement. (I open the book) Here she writes:
Could I be afraid to do something I had urged countless other women to do? Why am I vacillating about taking on this race?...Maybe I should "dare to compete?" (as she and Billie Jean King were encouraging sports women to do in a HBO special) pp. 501
Suddenly there's a knock. I reply and Irish, looking flushed and out of breath, opens the door. He notices my friend with a grin. "Hey, Jack! Don't tell me you've broken down to ask for sex therapy finally. God knows you need it..." He chokes with laughter before sobering up on seeing my serious face. "Doc, since you're busy..."
I cut in. "I want your honest opinion, okay? Does this sound like a woman you could appreciate? (I turn to page 140)
It seemed that people could perceive me only as one thing or the other: either a hardworking professional woman or a conscientious and caring hostess. I was beginning to catch on to what Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a distinguished professor of communications and Dean..., would later term "the double bind." Gender stereotypes, says Jamieson, trap women by categorizing them in ways that don't reflect the true complexities of their lives. It was becoming clear to me that people who wanted me to fit into a certain box, traditionalist or feminist, would never be entirely satisfied with me...
Irish has strolled in while I was reading and I'm surprised by his voice behind me. "Hillary's Living History, I see! Yes, I would appreciate a woman who really meant those words, but Hillary? She's nowhere near being a traditionalist no matter how she paints herself in that book. Some people aren't satisfied with her, not because she confuses them, but she's too untraditional!"
"And maybe some people (I glance at Jack, but mostly glare at Irish) are intimidated by an intelligent woman who has an equally important career and they can't believe she's lovable or able to love as well. Listen:
Finally, I am responsible for the opinions and interpretations expressed in this memoir. These pages reflect how I experienced the events I describe. I'm sure there are many other-even competing-views of the events and people I describe. That's someone else's story to tell. Pp 534
"I respect your career, Doc...Don't I, Jack?" Our friend just grins and excuses himself. "Look, darlin', I don't like her prettified story, but I do like your story. Be inspired by Hill if you want, but be your feisty self, please."
I sigh and close the hefty book of 38 chapters and almost eighteen index pages. "Do you know she's inspired by Eleanor Roosevelt? No? I doubt you've even read the book! She goes into great detail, sometimes too much, about her fears, struggles, losses, lessons. No one's perfect, but she's certainly tried to be the best person-and writer-she can be and I admire her!"
With that I teary-eyed shove the book into his stomach, grab my bag and stride to the door.
One of the most intelligent and influential women in America reflects on her eight years as First Lady of the United States in a revealing book that i...More at Alibris
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