"Mrs. Nixon: A Novelist Imagines a Life" (Scribner) by Ann Beattie. Nov. 11

Pat Nixon was the "The Good Wife" of the 1960s and '70s -- the smiling, silent woman who stood beside a reviled politician, making the best of things. But what was she thinking? Beattie, a renowned short story writer, makes a thoughtful guess in her new work. The publisher calls the book "literary criticism," but the liner notes state that Beattie made up scenes and dialogue. Sounds like fiction to me.

Pat Nixon was the "The Good Wife" of the 1960s and '70s -- the smiling, silent woman who stood beside a reviled politician, making the best of things. But what was she thinking? Beattie, a renowned short story writer, makes a thoughtful guess in her new work. The publisher calls the book "literary criticism," but the liner notes state that Beattie made up scenes and dialogue. Sounds like fiction to me.

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