BOOK REVIEW: "The Extraordinary Mrs. R: a Friend Remembers Eleanor Roosevelt"

The Extraordinary Mrs. R: a Friend Remembers Eleanor Roosevelt
By William Turner Levy and Cynthia Eagle Russett
Copyright 1999
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Publishers
Biographical
¼ Bookmark

What an extraordinary waste of a tree! I have never read anything so laced with syrupy-sweet sentimentality and obsession.

Author William Turner Levy (who, by the way, always refers to himself in the third person by his FULL name) is apparently a rather huge fan of the Roosevelt clan. He miraculously finagles an introduction to the former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and amazingly becomes her “friend”.

This book is an exercise in remembering details for Mr. Levy. He talks about each meeting he had with Mrs. Roosevelt, describing in extraordinary detail what the leading lady was wearing, what she was eating, what she said, what she did, how she smiled, how she laughed, how the sheets felt, and so on and so on. “YAWWWWNNN!”

There were a few redeeming moments in the book (thus the ¼ star given), such as when Mr. Levy tells of the picnics Mrs. R gave for the local boy’s home each summer. You almost got to liking Mrs. Roosevelt after that little bit of information.

But the rest of the book was really just a rampant run-on sentence describing a woman who is obviously being stalked by Mr. Levy.

Do you remember the guy on U-Tube after the whole Britney Spears debacle? “Leave Britney Alone! Leave Britney Alone!” That is who Mr. Levy reminded me of frequently as I was reading his interpretation of Mrs. Roosevelt’s private life.

So, obviously, I would not recommend this book to anyone.....ever.