BuzzSugar

Author Curtis Sittenfeld Talks About Using Laura Bush as Muse

LibertySugar — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:00:53 -0700

Author Curtis Sittenfeld's new book American Wife - a novel about a quiet librarian and wife of a bumbling American president - hits the stands this week. Buzz and I put our heads together to come up with a few politically-oriented questions before she chatted with Sittenfeld. Here's what the author had to say:

Do you think readers will forget that the book is based on Laura Bush? Do you hope they will forget?
I do think if a person didn’t know anything about this book she could read three quarters of it and NEVER think of Laura Bush. And then in the fourth section, then it might sort of be like, “Oh!” But . . . I don’t think that it totally hinges on familiarly with the Bushes. I would like to think that it stands on its own just as a story.

Are you at all as intrigued by the Bush twins as you were by Laura?
No. I know that’s kind of strange because I’m much closer in age to them. When Jenna Bush had that book, I read some articles about it and I saw her a little bit on TV . . . I don’t know, for some reason they aren’t super interesting to me! (laughs)

Alice is decidedly pretty, which is different than your other characters who were fretting about what they looked like.
Laura Bush is very attractive. If you look at pictures of her from her adolescence or from her 20s or 30s I mean – and I’m definitely a Democrat – she and George Bush were a good looking couple. . . I think they’re still attractive but you know there was something very cute about them when they were in their 30s and I think Alice Blackwell, like Laura Bush, is pretty . . . If the character is not really guided by her insecurities then it’s sort of there just (as) a distraction.

To find out why Curtis decided to set the book in the Midwest instead of Texas, and what she thinks of readers who may feel sorry for the Bushes, read more.

Why isn't the book set in Texas?
The Midwest is more familiar to me I felt like I could write about it better as a native. . . Of course I could have made the characters have the same birthdays that Laura and George Bush have, but I just felt like what’s interesting is this sort of big dramatic episodes in their lives and not the kind of back story.

It's funny because you write that Charlie has a little bit of a drawl, is he just trying to prepare for running for office?
People say, about George Bush, (that) . . . you wouldn’t have guessed he’d become president. . . if you met him decades before he did. . . Where, as you know, a lot of politicians are laying the ground work literally from adolescence on.

The funny part is that I’ve started to sympathize with Charlie and feel sort of bad for the pressure that comes with these dynasty families which is surprising!
Again I'm a Democrat but I like and admire Laura Bush, you know some readers have said to me – I like the book but I was frustrated because I found the Charlie character endearing and it made me feel like George Bush is more endearing and I don’t want to see him that way. I want to dislike him!

I was going to say, I think you’re going to mess with a lot of left-leaning minds with this book. Especially during an election period.
(laughs) I know! Believe me the last thing I want to do is convince anyone to vote for Bush.

Source

Buzz Interview: Curtis Sittenfeld, Author of American Wife

BuzzSugar — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 06:30:44 -0700

This week, author Curtis Sittenfeld's new book American Wife hits book stores near you. The book is inspired by the life of Laura Bush, and a few weeks ago, when I was about halfway through American Wife, I chatted with Sittenfeld about the controversial aspects of the book, how this epic American tale is a departure from her previous two books, and what's going on with the movie version of Prep!

Buzz: This character, Alice Blackwell, is intriguing and sexy, and generally those terms are considered mutually exclusive from the first lady. How did you work around people's ideas of what it means to be the first lady?
Curtis Sittenfeld: I think that all people are complicated and all people have inner lives. I think that a lot of times our view of first ladies is that they’re very stiff or proper or formal but I think they’re people like anyone else. When they’re not in public they probably can relax a lot more.

I know that these characters are based on the lives of George and Laura Bush, and when I read some of the sex scenes, I wondered if you had a hard time going there?
Laura Bush was a starting point for this novel, but there’s so much that we don’t know about her even though she’s a very public figure. And so what I did was invent a character who’s loosely inspired by her but isn’t her. I do not see Alice Blackwell as just, you know, Laura Bush is her name change. I see Alice Blackwell as a distinct person. I know that some readers might feel differently but I don't feel like I wrote sex scenes between George and Laura Bush [laughs].

To learn more about her new book and why she might still write about weird, neurotic girls, read more!

My experience reading the book so far has been to forget it’s Laura, and Alice is her own person to me except when I bump into events that I recognize from Laura’s life. It’s a unique reading experience to say the least. Is that the experience you think people will have? Hope they’ll have?
Well, the way that I conceived of the book, there are four major events in in Laura Bush’s life that I included - you know, one in each of the four sections of the book that are real - and then pretty much everything else is made up. So I would say 85 percent of the book is made up. The characters, the situations, the conversations - and I trust the sophistication and intelligence of my readers and I like when I read a book that assumes my intelligence. So I know that it's a kind of weird hybrid book, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

When it comes to women married to men who do things that we don’t agree with, there’s this tendency to implicate them by association. Did you find yourself more sympathetic to a woman like that? This book has made me rethink my ideas of those women’s responsibilities, etc.
Yeah, that is definitely a question that’s really interesting to me, which is: How much is one spouse responsible for another spouse? Or how much does one spouse represent another spouse? And I think it’s an incredibly complicated question and the answer varies a lot from marriage to marriage. But I actually just got married, like, three months ago. So I do think the subject of marriage is probably interesting to me during the time I was writing this. You know, I’m about to turn 33 and you know there are marriages . . . like of course the ideal is to marry for a long time but then sometimes you look at, you know, marriages that have lasted, you know, 30 or 40 years and you think, "Well it lasted long, but I don’t know if I’d want to be in it." But I think it’s a worthy goal for people to try to stay together, but I also think that you have to make compromises.

Yeah, it's such an intriguing question and so far I find myself feeling very sympathetic toward this character who I know will become the first lady and judged by people for her husband. I keep thinking, "Aw, but she's young and falling in love."
Right, well, it’s so hard to guess how anyone’s life will turn out I mean even with, you know people I knew in high school or people I knew in graduate school. Their lives . . . some have taken much different turns than I would have guessed, but you know, that’s what makes life interesting.

Unlike Lee in Prep, or Hannah in The Man of My Dreams, Alice is a grown woman and more mature than either of those young women. Are your characters going to grow up as you continue to grow?
Well, by the end of the book Alice is 61, so she obviously gets to be much older than I am in real life. I think that I don’t feel like I’ll never write about teenage girls or young women again. I mean, I still think that there’s so much material there, so I don’t think my characters will only get older as I get older, although to some extent that will probably happen. I do feel like one of my core readers is probably like the 22- or 23-year-old young woman, and I do hope she does not feel abandoned by this book. You know, like, "What happened?!"

Right! You hit on my initial reaction when the book was in my hands. Which was, "Oh my. This is a big epic book . . . It’s so different from the others."
This is a story and a personality that really captured my imagination, but I’m not determined to only write epics from here on out, you know? I still have room in my heart for neurotic, you know, weirdo girls [laughs].

Oh good - I feel like I can speak for many when I say that’s somewhat of a relief!
Yeah - I promise, I promise!

Finally, are there plans for any of your books to become movies? Do you want that?
Prep was optioned by Paramount, and the option has been renewed, and actually a screenplay exists, which was written by Noah Baumbach - he did Squid and the Whale. I think, you know, it seems like with movies all the stars have to align - every thing has to correspond perfectly for a movie to be made. But I think things are a little bit murky, but I would be delighted if it got made. He is attached as a writer/director. I would be delighted if he were the one who made it. I don’t know, Man of My Dreams was not optioned and this one I think they just started sort of sending it out in Hollywood. I don’t know. It’s not an area where I feel like I have any control, which is kind of liberating.

Source and Source

The Sittenfeld Book Debate: Should Laura Bush Be Off-Limits?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:32:32 -0700

My friend Citizen sparked a lively conversation yesterday around an upcoming book by Prep author Curtis Sittenfeld titled American Wife. The novel follows a character named Alice Blackwell who is based on Laura Bush, and many of the first lady's real-life experiences are included.

I was intrigued by the strong reactions that spread across the Web yesterday, especially after Radar posted several sex scenes from the book that earned the unpublished novel descriptors like "steamy" and "tawdry."

Some folks feel strongly that this was disrespectful to Laura Bush, and that Sittenfeld should have left her alone. The assumption there is that the main character will be trashed in the book, but actually, there is reason to suspect the opposite. In 2004, Sittenfeld wrote an article ("Why I Love Laura Bush") explaining how much she admires Laura, calling her "such an easy heroine to root for - smart and nice but just flawed enough (she still sneaks cigarettes!) to remain likable." There doesn't appear to be malice in Sittenfeld's intentions.

Many fictional characters are based on real people - some famous, some not - but do you think Laura Bush should be off-limits? Or is any public figure fair game for novelists?

Source and Source

Bookmobile: Lewd American Wife Based on Laura Bush?

LibertySugar — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:00:48 -0700

Best-selling author Curtis Sittenfeld has written American Wife - a novel about a quiet librarian, and wife of a bumbling American president. The main character "Alice" might as well be called "Laura," as the story meshes snippets from Mrs. Bush's life with the stories of Sittenfeld's imagination.

Radar has provided some arousing excerpts from the book. Details of the presidential sex life are chronicled, as well as the realization that "Alice" had an abortion, and that her grandmother is a lesbian. The book graphs details from Laura Bush's pre-White House days, including a fatal car accident she was a part of when she was 16. But, Sittenfeld amplifies the drama by writing that "Alice" proceeded to have sex with the brother of the boyfriend she killed with her car.

Do fascinating public figures make for good literary muses? Would you indulge in a good read even if it bothered you that the author treated the First Lady disrespectfully to sell books?

Source

Sugar Bits - Michael Jackson's Burial Date Comfirmed

PopSugarUK — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:15:00 -0700

Twilight Leads the People's Choice Awards Nominations

BuzzSugar — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:43:12 -0800

The 36th annual People's Choice Awards nominees are here, and last year's Twilight is leading the charge! American Idol's Kris Allen was among the announcers this morning for the nominees, which also include lots of nods for The Proposal - but of course, everyone's favorite bloodsucking love story landed in many categories, including favorite on-screen movie team.

Why didn't they look to 2009's New Moon? Because last year's nominations debuted before the first movie in the Twilight saga.

To see the full list of nominees, just read more.

MOVIES

FAVORITE MOVIE
Twilight
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Star Trek
The Hangover
The Proposal

FAMILY MOVIE
Hannah Montana: The Movie
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Up
Where the Wild Things Are

COMEDY MOVIE
17 Again
Bride Wars
He's Just Not That Into You
The Hangover
The Proposal

INDEPENDENT MOVIE
(500) Days of Summer
District 9
Inglourious Basterds
Paranormal Activity
Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail

FAVORITE MOVIE FRANCHISE
Twilight
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Star Trek
Transformers
X-Men

FAVORITE MOVIE ACTOR
Brad Pitt
Hugh Jackman
Johnny Depp
Robert Pattinson
Ryan Reynolds

FAVORITE MOVIE ACTRESS
Anna Hathaway
Drew Barrymore
Jennifer Aniston
Kristen Stewart
Sandra Bullock

FAVORITE ACTION STAR
Christian Bale
Gerard Butler
Hugh Jackman
Shia LaBeouf
Vin Diesel

FAVORITE COMEDIC STAR
Adam Sandler
Ben Stiller
Jim Carrey
Ryan Reynolds
Vince Vaughn

FAVORITE BREAKOUT MOVIE ACTRESS:
Anna Kendrick
Emily Osment
Ginnifer Goodwin
Miley Cyrus
Zoe Saldana

FAVORITE BREAKOUT MOVIE ACTOR
Chris Pine
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Sam Worthington
Taylor Lautner
Zachary Quinto

FAVORITE ONSCREEN TEAM
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, The Proposal
Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, Twilight
Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, will.i.am, Dominic Monaghan and Daniel Henney, X-Men Origins: Wolverine

TELEVISION

FAVORITE TV DRAMA
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Grey's Anatomy
House
Lost
NCIS

FAVORITE TV COMEDY
Desperate Housewives
How I Met Your Mother
The Big Bang Theory
The Office
Two and a Half Men

FAVORITE TV DRAMA ACTOR
Hugh Laurie
Kiefer Sutherland
Mark Harmon
Matthew Fox
Patrick Dempsey

FAVORITE TV DRAMA ACTRESS
Anna Paquin
Blake Lively
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Katherine Heigl
Mariska Hargitay

FAVORITE TV COMEDY ACTOR
Alex Baldwin
Charlie Sheen
Jim Parsons
Neil Patrick Harris
Steve Carell

FAVORITE TV COMEDY ACTRESS
Alyson Hannigan
America Ferrera
Amy Poehler
Eva Longoria Parker
Tina Fey

FAVORITE TV OBSESSION
Dexter
Gossip Girl
The Hills
The Secret Life of the American Teenager
True Blood

FAVORITE TV TALK SHOW
Chelsea Lately
Live with Regis & Kelly
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Tyra Banks Show

FAVORITE TV SCI-FI/FANTASY
Heroes
Lost
Supernatural
The Vampire Diaries
True Blood

FAVORITE TV COMPETITION SHOW
American Idol
Dancing With the Stars
Project Runway
So You Think You Can Dance
Survivor: Samoa

FAVORITE ANIMAL SHOW
Animal Cops
DogTown
Dog Whisperer
It's Me or the Dog
Rescue Ink

FAVORITE NEW TV DRAMA
Eastwick
FlashForward
Melrose Place
Mercy
The Forgotten
The Good Wife
The Vampire Diaries,
Three Rivers
NCIS: Los Angeles
V

FAVORITE NEW TV COMEDY
Accidentally on Purpose
Brothers
Community
Cougar Town
Glee
Hank
The Cleveland Show
The Middle
Modern Family

MUSIC

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST
Eminem
Jason Mraz
John Mayer
Keith Urban
Tim McGraw

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST
Beyonce
Britney Spears
Carrie Underwood
Pink
Taylor Swift

FAVORITE COUNTRY ARTIST
Brad Paisley
Carrie Underwood
Keith Urban
Rascal Flatts
Taylor Swift

FAVORITE BREAKOUT MUSIC ARTIST
Adam Lambert
Demi Lovato
Kris Allen
Lady Gaga
Susan Boyle

FAVORITE HIP-HOP ARTIST
Eminem
Flo Rida
Jay-Z
Lil' Wayne
T.I.

FAVORITE ROCK BAND
Daughtry
Green Day
Kings of Leon
Muse
Paramore

FAVORITE MUSIC COLLABORATION
Cobra Starship & Leighton Meester, "Good Girls Go Bad"
Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat, "Lucky"
Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West, "Run This Town"
T.I. & Rihanna, "Live Your Life"
The Lonely Island & T-Pain, "I'm on a Boat."

FAVORITE R&B ARTIST
Alicia Keys
Beyonce
Jennifer Hudson
Mariah Carey
Usher

FAVORITE POP ARTIST
Britney Spears
Katy Perry
Lady Gaga
Taylor Swift
The Black Eyed Peas

FAVORITE WEB CELEB
Andy Samberg
Ashton Kutcher
Miley Cyrus
P. Diddy
Will Ferrell

Berlusconi Insults Women Again - And They're Fighting Back

TresSugar — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0700

Feminism is back in vogue in Italy. Some say it lay dormant in spite of a vibrant '70s feminist movement, but thanks to raging misogynist Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, largely silent Italian women have had enough and are speaking up.

"[T]he scandals surrounding the prime minister have been like a violent slap in the face for millions of women who are just now waking up from a state of passivity," said political scientist Francesca Izzo.

A favorite tactic of the 73-year-old Berlusconi is to disparage the looks of his female political opponents. In a heated debate with 58-year-old opposition party member Rosy Bindi, he said, "You're more beautiful than you are intelligent," to which the annoyed politician shot back, "I am not a woman at your disposal." (Perhaps she was referring to his multiple girlfriends, which finally led his wife to file for a divorce.)

Many American women claim they aren't feminists, but I wonder if they'd change their tune if the president were speaking this way every day! To find out how Italian women are fighting back and to see a clip of a documentary about how women are represented on Italian television, read more

After Berlusconi's nasty comment to Rosy Bindi, pissed off women drafted a petition saying that his sexism was an insult both to women and to democracy. 11 days later, more than 100,000 women had signed it, claiming that Berlusconi participated in the "cretinization of women."

It took long enough for more women to speak up, but it's great they finally did it. Alas, Italian feminists have more than Berlusconi and his rhetoric to fight. In the following clip from filmmaker Lorella Zanardo's documentary Women's Bodies, you'll see that almost all the representations of women on Italian television depict them as sex objects.

January Jones and Diane Kruger Looking For an Unknown White Male

BuzzSugar — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:30:07 -0700

January Jones is everywhere right now: This week's Mad Men was exceptionally stellar, her scandalous GQ issue is currently on stands - and the latest news this morning is that she will be appearing on the big screen soon, as well. (Much like some of the other Mad Men ladies.) Jones has been cast along with Diane Kruger in the thriller Unknown White Male. The film follows a man (Liam Neeson) who awakes from a coma to find that his identity has been stolen. Jones will be playing his wife who doesn't believe him, and Kruger stars as a cab driver who helps him seek out the truth.

Hmm, playing the spouse of a guy with identity issues? This shouldn't exactly be a stretch for Betty Draper's alter-ego.

I'm excited about this female pairing. I've always liked Diane Kruger (especially in Inglourious Basterds), and I'm curious to see if Jones can ride her current wave of success into full-fledged movie star status. (And Unknown White Male sounds like a more challenging part for her than say, American Wedding or Love Actually.)

What do you think of Jones and Kruger's new roles? Do you have a hard time picturing Jones as anyone but Betty?

Front Page: The Public Wants a Public Healthcare Option

TresSugar — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:00:12 -0700

A majority of Americans want a public option for health insurance according to the latest poll. - WSJ
George W. Bush will be giving talks as a motivational speaker. - Talking Points Memo
After drug traffickers shot down a police helicopter this weekend, Rio de Janeiro says it has a long way to go before it's safe enough for the 2016 Olympics. - New York Times
The Heene's episode of Wife Swap has been pulled out of the rerun rotation following the balloon-boy incident. - CNN
Iran, the US, France, and Russia have drafted a deal that should ease concerns about Iran's nuclear program. - BBC News

Would You Kidnap Your Children?

LilSugar — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:00:33 -0700

The tie between parent and child runs deep, but would you be willing to break the law or even live underground to keep your offspring? Custody battles or spousal suspicions can lead moms and dads to make rash decisions - some take their kids and run. We've seen that breaks in the system can occur; recent news headlines have showcased one father's tireless efforts to get his son back from Brazil after his mother fled there and died. Another American dad is fighting the Italian foster system after his ex took their boy to her native land before being declared unfit to care for him. Now, Christopher Savoie sits in a Japanese jail after going there to pick up his two kids who were illegally taken there by his ex-wife. Just the thought of this happening is enough to leave a lump in any mom or dad's throat. If you were in a situation and despite the law knew you might not see your children again, would you consider kidnapping?