. . . and His Lovely Wife: A Memoir from the Woman Beside the Man (Hardcover)

by Connie Schultz (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Schultz (Life Happens) gives a frank and adoring account of standing by her man, Sherrod Brown, in his run for U.S. Senate from Ohio. Ashtabula-bred Schultz and Democratic Congressman Brown, both middle-aged, longtime divorced single parents, married in 2004, and by the middle of the next year had decided he would quit his congressional seat and oppose two-term Republican Sen. Mike DeWine. While a supportive and loving wife, Schultz is also a feminist, devoted to her work as a journalist (she won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005); she reluctantly gave in to the pressure to take a sabbatical from her Cleveland Plain Dealer column during the course of the campaign. However, she became a valuable tool to her husband's success, from forcing his handlers to give the exhausted candidate time to recoup to trotting out her working-class family's hard-luck story when convenient. There are many funny moments (Brown was criticized for his unruly curls and his cheap suits), and DeWine's negative ads (led by Republican strategist Karl Rove) prompted Brown's team, in Hillary Clinton's words, to deck him with an ad of its own. (Schultz's own newspaper didn't endorse Brown.) Eventually, he won, and Schultz could happily return to her column. Her diary is upbeat, sometimes overly but affably composed. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
In 2005, when her husband, Congressman Sherrod Brown, announced his intention to run for the U.S. Senate, Schultz, columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, suddenly went from Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and commentator to relative obscurity as a politician's wife. When Brown announced his campaign—and attempt to be the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Ohio in 14 years—she was momentarily at a loss about what it would mean for her as she listened to criticism about her decision to keep her job and her name. Finally, on leave from her job as columnist, she settled into observing the campaign from the perspective of a political wife and writing about the experience of a relatively new marriage weathering a campaign. Schultz recounts the stresses and tensions of the campaign: a fund-raiser scheduled on their second anniversary, political operatives rifling through the family's garbage, coping with negative press and her husband's reactions, concerns that her presence would be viewed as her paper's endorsement of Brown's candidacy. A revealing and amusing look at campaigns from a wife's perspective. Bush, Vanessa

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1 edition (June 19, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400065739
• ISBN-13: 978-1400065738
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #463,850 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cynical about politics? Think one person (or two) can't change the world? This book will change your mind., June 21, 2007

By	Kristen Laine (Orange, NH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book came out just in time for me to buy it for my niece, who is graduating from high school and wants to be president. You might think that a book about being a candidate's wife isn't the right present for a young woman who wants to run the country herself. But Connie Schultz isn't just any wife, and she and her husband -- Ohio's junior senator, Sherrod Brown -- aren't who we've come to think of as typical pols. I want my niece to know that you don't have to lose your heart, your humanity, or your sense of humor when you decide to run for office. I want her to care as much about real people, working people, as Schultz and Brown do. I want her to see the realities of politics and see that people can have real fun while trying to make things better. How do I know all this about a book I bought for my niece? Because I started to read it before I wrapped it, and hours later I was still reading, reading even as I went in search of Kleenex to wipe my tears. I got online now to buy half a dozen more copies. Do I have that many relatives who want to be president? Nope. I live in New Hampshire, where the 2008 presidential election has heated up early. I don't know if I'll have the nerve to hand a copy to a candidate, but I know that all of us -- candidates, campaign workers, voters -- need this book's blend of hope and honesty.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honest viewpoint, June 30, 2007

By	Fleka Anderson "Fleka" (Jacksonville, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

So many political memiors are thank you notes to supporters or influential people who can advance a politician's career. But, Ms. Schultz's book provides an outsider a view to the inside of a political campaign as well as to her inner most thoughts (at times) when it came to dealing with her own identity issues. As the book (and campaign) progresses, the reader can see how the humor and energy changes. This is a great read that will take you, from the wife's perspective, through the underbelly of how campaign strategy works and how the opponent's tricks play upon the candidate. It will take you, as well, through the inter mind workings of an intelligent woman who had to change her life and put her career on hold to support someone she loves.

This is not your normal political read. You do not need to be a "political junkie" to enjoy it. Anyone who has ever evaluated their own life, or had to deal with society's stereotypes of how wives and women are to "be"; or just want a good read with humor and insight on life thrown in, will enjoy this book.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A bird's-eye view into the sacrifice needed to make change, June 28, 2007

By	Subodh Chandra (Cleveland, OH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Anyone who had read Pulitzer Prize-winner Connie Schultz's columns knows that she doesn't just have, as the old cliche goes, a "unique voice." She has unique ears and unique eyes. She doesn't just tell us what she thinks--she sees things that others miss; she hears what others tune out, and then uses her voice to help us understand what is important as we face the challenges ahead. And of course, she makes us laugh and cry in the process. With those talents, Ms. Schultz has helped free the wrongfully convicted, see that those being ripped off by their employers received the pay to which they were entitled, and righted countless other injustices large and small.

In this book, Ms. Schultz takes her usual approach to service-oriented journalism one step further. She provides us with an extraordinarily intimate and candid portrait of what it is like to be a woman with an independent professional identity who puts aside her career for a time to undertake a shared journey with her husband as he runs for one of the highest offices in the land. The resulting story is a portrait of love, sacrifice, occasional self doubt, exhaustion, exhilaration, and commitment to the highest ideals of public service.

It is possible for people who come from the humblest of upbringings to retain their values, stand on their parents' shoulders to use their talents, listen to others' voices who are crying out for help, and work tirelessly for the opportunity to serve--even as the daggers are pointed at their backs. (In this respect, C. Tass's review is completely unfair and outrageous--I don't think this person could have even read the book.)

Ms. Schultz holds little back and it is the raw honesty of this book that is the greatest reward. Even though you know the campaign ends in victory, you still won't be able to put this book down, because every obstacle that Ms. Schultz and her husband, now-U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, face provides insight into the drive required to attain power. One leaves the book confident that the power attained will be used to give America's forgotten people--those who work hard and play by the rules--a fighting chance.

Whether you are interested in what makes a strong family relationships work or are just a political junkie, this book is for you.