Book Fair: Crank on Sittenfeld

I first met my friend The New York Crank, some 50-plus years ago when we were both pretending to be hard-bitten newspaper reporters. Now the Crank weighs in at the Underbelly summer Book Fair. I can't quite tell whether he is kidding or not (and as I write, he is of on vacation and isn't around to explain). Anyway--Crank's choice is American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld, scheduled for publication on September 2. The publisher's blurb says:

A kind, bookish only child born in the 1940s, Alice learned the virtues of politeness early on from her stolid parents and small Wisconsin hometown. ... [W]hen she met boisterous, charismatic Charlie Blackwell, she hardly gave him a second look: She was serious and thoughtful, and he would rather crack a joke than offer a real insight; he was the wealthy son of a bastion family of the Republican party, and she was a school librarian and registered Democrat. Comfortable in her quiet and unassuming life, she felt inured to his charms. And then, much to her surprise ....

Comment: No points at all for concluding that this is another effort to turn the Presidency into a Profit Center. Actually, I think when they say "inured," they mean "immune," but you can't get good help any more. Anyway, feel free to fashion your own book from there. Already a bristling comment thread at Amazon. And FWIW, apptly Sittenfeld is a she. Meanwhile, for your convenience, we will be collecting all the Book Fair posts here.