75. Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld

In real life, Bill Clinton asked Hillary Rodham to marry him three times before she finally said yes. The rest is history. But in Sittenfeld’s alternative world, Hillary says no, and their lives diverge from there. Hillary is alone and heartbroken, but she’s also free to pursue her own political ambitions – and free from the humiliating sexual scandals that will plague Bill’s political career. 

Sittenfeld deftly mines the ‘What if?” possibilities of her premise, but does the novel live up to the hype? Or is it just literary fan fiction? An exercise in wishful thinking? 

Journalist Phil Chaffee joins us to give Rodham the full book club treatment. It’s a no holds barred discussion as we try to figure out whether the novel is an ingenious yet plausible glimpse of an alternative reality, or just a writer capitalising on a famous name. 

What is your book club reading next?

At the end of the show, keep listening for our follow-on recommendations, all inspired by Rodham. In this episode, that includes:

• American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
• Becoming by Michelle Obama
• What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton
• ‘Up, Simba’ from Consider the Lobster and Other Essays by David Foster Wallace 
• Political Fictions by Joan Didion
• Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin

Other books mentioned in this episode:

• Prep, Sisterland and You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace