Ten Minutes from Normal

From Publishers Weekly
Hughes, who surprised the political world by leaving her post as counselor to President Bush in July 2002, to pursue a more normal family life in Texas, here offers a relentlessly upbeat account of life as Bush’s chief communications strategist. Hughes begins by detailing her upbringing as an army brat, her career as a TV reporter in Texas and her entry into politics as a press officer for the 1984 Reagan presidential campaign. The heart of the story is her relationship with Bush ("my boss"), whom she has served since his 1994 campaign for governor of Texas. Hughes praises Bush’s "laser-like" mind, humble spirit and moral courage; she also praises almost everyone else in the administration, including political strategist Karl Rove, with whom she was reported to have frequently sparred. And not surprisingly for a famously disciplined, on-message spokesperson, she directs her most pointed barbs at those who leak information to the press. While Hughes doesn’t offer a balanced take on Bush and company, then, she does offer something equally tantalizing—a deep insider’s take on what it is like to work at the side of the most powerful man in the world. She also provides Bush fans with a well-crafted, robust paean to the president. And both these reasons are why this book has found a place on major national bestseller lists.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From AudioFile
Hughes describes the juggling she had to do in her demanding roles as counselor to President Bush, wife, mother, and active church member. A dynamo of energy, she has a natural ability to spin facts that made her invaluable to the Bush White House. Eventually, however, the call of family responsibilities resulted in her resignation and return to Texas with her husband and son. There she keeps in daily touch with the White House via a special telephone line and frequent visits to Washington. Her account of the horror of 9/11 is particularly effective, as are her conversations with women friends who face the same career/family conflicts she does. Production shortcomings include dialogue repetition, hurried chapter introductions, and bland theme music. L.C. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


Book Description
Karen Hughes has worked beside President George W. Bush since, as she says, "the motorcade was only one car and he was sometimes the one driving it." As counselor to the president, she brought the working mom’s perspective to the White House, often asking of President Bush’s policies, "What does this mean for the average person?" Yet the move from Texas to Washington was hard on her family, and in a controversial, headline-making decision that reverberated across America, she chose to place family first and quit the nation’s capital to return to Austin. There, Hughes continues to advise the president, where the kitchen wall calendar marks the State of the Union message side by side with her son’s orthodontist appointments. In this disarmingly down-to-earth, warm, often funny, and frank book, Hughes looks at her unique career in George W. Bush’s inner circle and the universal concerns of balancing work and family. Ten Minutes from Normal—the title comes from the campaign trail––is a remarkable blend of the story of a "normal" woman who rose to great heights and an insightful look at American politics and America’s forty-third president. This is a book for the legions of women and men everywhere who are seeking new inspiration for how to remember their priorities and achieve balance in their lives. Most important, in a post-9/11 world, Hughes redefines the very notion of what is "normal" as something special and precious, never to be taken for granted in America again.


Download Description
"Counselor to the President. Wife and mother. The woman who left the White House to put family first, and moved back to Texas. Karen Hughes has been described as "the most powerful woman ever to serve in the White House" (Dallas Morning News) and President George W. Bush's "most essential advisor" (ABC News). "The rule of thumb in any White House is that nobody is indispensable except the president," said The New York Times, "But Karen Hughes has come as close to that description as any recent presidential aide." Ten Minutes from Normal is her often humorous, disarmingly down-to-earth and politically fascinating journey of her time in President Bush's inner circle. As Counselor to The President for his first eighteen months in the White House and as his communications director since he first ran for Governor of Texas in 1994, Hughes has been a crucial influence. When he first moved to Washington, President Bush told members of the White House staff that he wanted Karen in the room whenever any major decisions were made.


About the Author
Karen Hughes served as counselor to the president, was one of the three people who ran his presidential campaign, and served as his communications director during his six years as governor of Texas. She is an elder and longtime Sunday schoolteacher in the Presbyterian Church.


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Hughes describes the juggling she had to do in her demanding roles as counselor to President Bush, wife, mother, and active church member. A dynamo of energy, she has a natural ability to spin facts that made her invaluable to the Bush White House. Eventually, however, the call of family responsibilities resulted in her resignation and return to Texas with her husband and son. There she keeps in daily touch with the White House via a special telephone line and frequent visits to Washington. Her account of the horror of 9/11 is particularly effective, as are her conversations with women friends who face the same career/family conflicts she does. Production shortcomings include dialogue repetition, hurried chapter introductions, and bland theme music. L.C. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine


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