The Hopefuls
Rating: 3/5
First time read
Reading this book was like watching Veep, but in literary form. It confirms everything the HBO show says about DC, which is hilarious and terrifying at once. It was clear Close had an up-close and personal encounter with D.C. as an "outsider" and her snarky humor and view on the over-eager, gushing young politicos were nearly as entertaining as Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
I liked seeing our main character, Beth, as your typical jaded New Yorker, at the beginning. Nothing else was ever going to be as good as New York and everyone in D.C. was like a grown-up Debate Club member, but suddenly that's the cool thing to be. Her attempt to reevaluate herself and her spouse, Matt, in their new circles was interesting to read. I think it's how most people feel leaving their hometown, scoping out this new city, but this particular scenario was amplified because the comparisons were two such well-known, famous and infamous at once cities. But then we move to Sugar Land, Texas...and the story just started dragging. This was a tedious section and the whole time I was reading it, I just kept thinking, why are we here?
Reading about the men's achievements while the women floundered or found stereotypical "female" jobs (gossip mag and a Mary Kay type saleswomen) was tired. However, I liked that it wasn't really the women who were having jealousy issues, for once. Overall, we focus on Matt's competition with Jimmy as Jimmy rises higher and higher in their shared industry. I was actually almost insulted we didn't talk as much about Beth's role. She worked at Vanity Fair for years, was fired and then writes for a fluffy D.C. combination of the New York Post and Page Six. Sorry, but that's a big step down and I would be devastated. We occasionally get a look at Beth's frustration, coupled with Matt pushing for a baby (tedious), but I feel her fight to find herself in a new role could've been bigger. Or existent...she wasn't much of a go-getter, our Beth.
I guessed what would happen the first time we were introduced to Ashleigh and Jimmy, but it admittedly was pretty anticlimactic and the tension dragged for so long in the book that I actually felt disappointed by the time it happened. Jimmy was your stereotypical good-looking politician, as in very stereotypical, revolving door of women, you get it. And Ashleigh was a full-on Southern Belle with her 50s look, bowing to her husband's every whim, trunk shows and the giant bows for her daughter (which I admittedly love, I mean, come on, they're adorable). It was a stereotype everywhere you looked in that relationship. Beth and Matt were more interesting, but I really never connected to a character. Beth just let life pass her by and over, Matt was constantly whining and then the aforementioned Ashleigh and Jimmy. I liked Matt's sister-in-laws the most out of all the characters, and a young White House employee who is constantly talked about in references to his youth, none of whose names I remember so...you get the picture.
This was a fun and quick read that I enjoyed during my time with it. It was very well-written and it was only after I'd finished that I questioned whether or not the book was as good as I'd been thinking. You won't regret reading this book, but I don't think you'd regret not reading it either.
