Show notes
Give over, Gatsby.Zip it, Zuckerman.Away with you, Angstrom.There’s a new hero in the Great American Novel…And she goes by the name Alice Blackwell.But wait… there’s another twist. Turns out Alice isn’t an Alice at all. She’s a Laura. Laura Bush. And wait, her husband ain’t no Charlie… it’s George damn Dubya.What the hell is going on? Why am I imagining Blair’s old buddy having sex? Has someone slipped a Rumsfeld in my Dick Cheney?No. When it comes to American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld, it’s all true. Well, some of it is—and the other bits… it’s hard to know. Thankfully, I’m joined by a wonderful guest in the form of the brilliant writer and journalist, Hattie Crisell, to help us unpick fact from fiction and unpack one hell of a novel.Indeed, welcome to The Library of Lazy Thinking Podcast, with me, your host, Glenn Fisher.As you may well know by now, in each episode, I'm joined by a guest from the world of books and culture to talk about a specific book they'd like to put in the library.There's no plan and no agenda, just two people lazily thinking about literature.If you enjoy the show and would like to help us (and get your hands on a coveted Library of Lazy Thinking bookmark, sticker, and pin badge), you can become a supporter of the library by upgrading your subscription.But either way, please do like and share the show—it all helps.In this episode, as I say, my very special guest is the excellent writer, journalist, and podcaster, Hattie Crisell. We discuss her pick for the library, the 2008 novel American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld.About HattieHattie Crisell is a writer, journalist, and podcaster. Alongside stints as acting fashion editor of The Times and acting features director of Grazia, she has also written for The Guardian, The Telegraph, Elle, Vogue, and The New York Times. In 2019 she created the podcast In Writing with Hattie Crisell, on which she interviews writers of all kinds about how and where they write, and what they've learned about doing it well. Her first book, inspired by the podcast, In Writing: Conversations on Inspiration, Perspiration, and Creative Desperation was published in 2024 by Granta Books.About CurtisCurtis Sittenfeld is the bestselling author of seven novels: Prep, The Man of My Dreams, American Wife, Sisterland, Eligible, Rodham, and Romantic Comedy, which was picked for Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club. Her first story collection, You Think It, I’ll Say It, was published in 2018 and also picked for Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club. Her books have been selected by The New York Times, Time, Entertainment Weekly, and People for their “Ten Best Books of the Year” lists, optioned for television and film, and translated into thirty languages. Her short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and Esquire, and in the Best American Short Stories anthology, of which she was the 2020 guest editor. Her non-fiction has appeared in The New York Times, Time, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, Slate, and on “This American Life.”Links to obscure (and not so obscure) things mentioned in this episode* Order American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld from my local independent bookshop in Sheffield here.* And you can order Hattie’s book In Writing: Conversations on Inspiration, Perspiration, and Creative Desperation here.* Listen to Hattie's interview with Curtis Sittenfeld here.* See some of George W. Bush’s paintings here. (I have no clue if they’re all real, but some of them are.)* Find Hattie on Instagram here.* Find Glenn on Instagram here.* Find The Library of Lazy Thinking on Instagram here.About the LibraryThe Library of Lazy Thinking is a place to hang out and learn more about books. The library is free—like all libraries should be. But if you’d like to support the library, you can make a small monthly donation by becoming a paid member (and get an exclusive The Library of Lazy Thinking bookmark, sticker, and pin badge). All donations go back into the library, helping to organize live events, exclusive merchandise, and more podcasts.About GlennGlenn Fisher is a writer—wait, Glenn Fisher is me. I’m the one writing this. Let’s drop the third-person act. My writing has been published in online literary journals Lunate, The Paris Bitter Hearts Pit, 3am Magazine, Dogmatika, and Litro Magazine. I write about books and interview other writers and artists here in The Library of Lazy Thinking. I live in Sheffield and work as a freelance copywriter. I have had a best-selling non-fiction book published on the subject called The Art of the Click. It was published by Harriman House and shortlisted for Business Book of the Year. It has been translated into Simplified Chinese and Korean. I also have a dog called Pablo. He is harder to translate. Indeed, most of my life revolves around trying to understand his often unreasonable demands. Meanwhile, I am currently working on my first novel. Get full access to The Library of Lazy Thinking at lazythinking.substack.com/subscribe