Becoming Sister Wives

I have a confession to make, one of my guilty pleasures is watching the show  Sister Wives on TLC. (I won't tell you the other one except that it involves someone named Honey Boo Boo) Why am I interested in this unconventional family? I must admit that I truly enjoy learning about other lifestyles and cultures. (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!) What interested me most about this family was how easy going these women appear to be. How on earth do these women share one man and not have major jealousy issues? The show rarely shows that, however the book tells a different story. As I began reading I had my ah-ha moment! Cattiness, jealousy, hurt feelings, manipulation it's all here!

Each “Sister wife” has her own section and tells her own story. Truth be told they don't really live in a true plural marriage sense.(Since moving to Nevada) Each has their own home and live with their own children and Kody(The lone husband) spends his time with each family sometime during the week. Sounds almost like these 4 sister wives are single mothers who have a husband less than 2 days a week.

My impression of the Browns has changed drastically as a result of this book. Their show portrays a whole different family. A family with very few problems and jealousies were kept to a minimum because of their faith in God and the principle of their lifestyle. After reading their story I can see that these women are pretty darn unhappy and that the bad times out number the good times(Which makes me wonder, why on earth did they even invite a 4^th wife in?)

I  must also confess that while watching the show Sister Wives I found Kody Brown to be downright adorable and found myself wishing from time to time that perhaps Kody would add me as a fifth wife. Not so much now that I have read his story. He actually describes himself as a complex man with needs that cannot be met by just one woman. He is quite self centered(should have known that) and not all that loving and understanding. The sister wife I identified most with was Janelle.  She seems to be the smartest tool in the Brown shed. The other 3 could stand some therapy along with their superman of a husband Kody.

After I finished reading their story I came to the conclusion that the purpose of this foursome marriage is to make and keep Kody happy, and whichever wife does it best, wins.

If you love the show I'd recommend you read it. And remember that Reality TV isn't as real as it appears.

It's the middle class Stupid!

When I saw this book come across my desk here at the library I thought two things,  one: It's about time someone addresses the decline of  middle class America and two: I absolutely adore James Carville! How could I resist such a read?

Let me say that I was not disappointed in the least! Carville and Greenberg do an excellent job of covering the continuing destruction of the middle class in America. These fellows believe that while the elite(including dems) shy away from "class warfare" most average people understand(Let's hope anyway) that the rich started the war long ago, and that it is finally time to engage the battle! The issues that are raised in this book are critical for America's well being over the next few decades.

Both Carville and Greenberg are discombobulated(I love that word) by the "Rights" obliviousness to reality. They believe the middle class right clearly vote against their own interests by sending right-wing "reformers" to Washington. They also point out that the simple fact is unless the middle class(majority of the people) can afford to buy 'things', we'll never dig out of the hole that "THEY"(Government) put us in.

What I liked most about this book is that these two political strategists deliver the hard facts with very little if any embellishment(And we have seen so much of that these last few months from both sides) They give us hope that our best years are still ahead and that our children and grandchildren will be able to do better than we have!(Here's hoping)

At the end of the day whether you're Right, Left, Middle,(or alien) you should always remember it's the MIDDLE CLASS, not the big corporations and certainly not the billionaires that keeps America going yet we are the ones who are mostly ignored. So go out there and reclaim your American dream(Whatever that may be)