Review of "...And His Lovely Wife"

I just finished reading a new book by Connie Schultz, "...And His Lovely Wife." Connie is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, who also happens to be married to Sherrod Brown, the new U.S. Senator from Ohio. The book is her account of Brown's 2006 Senate race against Mike DeWine, written from the perspective of the candidate's wife (hence the title, a reference to how she was always introduced at campaign events - to her annoyance).

The book is a very fast read, and starts strong. The hook is compelling: Connie had only been married to Brown for two years before having her marriage dropped into one of the most hotly contested Senate races of that election cycle, and she had to wrestle with the effects the race had on her career and her sense of identity. She went from being at the top of her profession as a journalist to having to take a leave of absence to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. More importantly, she faced being just an accessory to her husband rather than her own person (which is another explanation for the title of the book).

Still, the book was ultimately disappointing, despite the strong start. There were no deep insights, only surface-level observations (yes, I understand that politicians are people, too). Moreover, the conversations she reported having with Sherrod strained credibility - do real people angst over "living up" to the "enormous responsibility" of voters' "hopes and dreams"? The book is also filled with cloying anecdotes of meeting people who have fallen on hard times, told with the usual self-righteous liberal tone. I get it already, Connie, outsourcing costs some people their jobs - I understood the previous twenty times you mentioned it! There is no substance to these stories other than "gee, isn't that terrible, look what the Republicans did, we oughta do something about that!"

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Sherrod Brown is in the Senate instead of Mike DeWine. I'm glad to have another vote against the Iraq war, for universal health care, for choice and women's rights and for civil liberties. But while reading this book, it's easy to see what annoys so many people about liberals. When it comes to being "holier than thou", people on the left and people on the right have a lot in common.

Unless you have a crush on Sherrod Brown (or his lovely wife), you can safely skip this book.