(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
Although I didn’t really find myself laughing at any of the letters in this book, I did find it entertaining to listen to; in particular the different voices the two readers were listening to, which was a lot more interesting than just bland reading.
I can appreciate that a lot of work did clearly go into this book and it was interesting to hear all of the different imaginings of things that people might write to their president. Some of the letters seemed fairly nonsense (like the one about the housewife saving money by having one of her children go without dinner each evening); others were a bit sweeter, particularly the ones written by young people.
I found myself rolling my eyes a bit at the letter asking for money. And there were a few that seemed to deal with some very real issues, even while there were others that were clearly written as pure entertainment, such as the one written by an alien. There was also a letter with a lot of ‘redactions’ in it… but was somewhat amusing; not because of what was implied by the redacted statements, but by the observations of a television series and long speeches being viewed as torture. That was one of the more amusing letters, I felt.
Although this book is clearly fiction, I can’t help wondering how many of those might be along the lines of letters Obama would actually receive… even the letters that came across as completely random.
It was amusing to see some running themes through a few of the letters, though a couple kind of brought an eyeroll from me. It was also interesting to see a few letters addressed to Obama’s wife… as well as the brief replies penned by Obama.
This is my second attempt to read an audiobook. Although I did manage to stay listening to the end and the voices the readers used really helped to make this a bit more entertaining, I think I’ll continue reading books myself and at my own pace. It’s a bit easier that way… not to mention faster for me. But it was a good experience to try out.
Ink of Blood 