Both/And; A Life in Many Worlds
Brigitte Lacombe (Jacket photograph) New York: Simon & Schuster, 2021. First Simon & Schuster Hardcover Edition [stated]. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. x, 528, [6] pages. Illustrations (some in color). Index. Huma Mahmood Abedin (born July 28, 1975) is an American political staffer who was vice chair of Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign for President of the United States. Before that, Abedin was deputy chief of staff to Clinton when she was U.S. Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013. She was also the traveling chief of staff and former assistant to Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential election. During Hillary Clinton's tenure at the State Department and her presidential campaign, Abedin became one of Clinton's closest aides. Her high-profile political career has caused her personal life to come under public scrutiny over the years, particularly her marriage to former congressman Anthony Weiner. Abedin wrote a memoir titled Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds. The book covers her childhood in Saudi Arabia, her Muslim faith, her time as an aide to Clinton and her relationship with her estranged husband, former Democratic Representative Anthony Weiner. She has said that writing the book was a therapeutic process, helping her work through a tumultuous time as a result of Weiner's multiple scandals. In the memoir, Abedin also explores the multiple identities that have shaped her, in particular being born in Michigan and then raised in Saudi Arabia by a Pakistani father and an Indian mother. Abedin appeared on the podcast, The Literary City with Ramjee Chandran, to discuss her memoir. She says the title of the book best describes the plurality she feels in her daily life and her career. Derived from a Kirkus review: Hillary Clinton’s chief aide recounts years of being in the spotlight—and the tabloids. Born in Michigan, to intellectual parents from South Asia and raised for much of her life in Saudi Arabia, Abedin grew up in “a family of practicing Muslims whose faith was central to their everyday lives.” This did nothing to detract from her profound sense of American identity. Her sense of patriotism led her to government service and, from there, as an intern, into the halls of federal agencies and then the White House, where she became a low-level assistant working with the first lady. She excelled and was drawn ever closer and higher into Clinton’s orbit, where she found a new role model. “In Hillaryland, I discovered other models for doing important work.” At about the same time, she met New York Congressman Anthony Weiner, who gave off a vibe at once suave and predatory; it marked the beginning of a troubled marriage characterized by his betrayals. In a time of desperate battle during Clinton’s presidential campaign, it robbed Abedin of focus and bandwidth, to say nothing of drawing her into an FBI investigation involving leaked emails. Though much of her story is deeply personal, the author writes with a detached distance from events—yet she retains a battle-wearied optimism and a certainty about the prospects of her former boss. A readable memoir that’s quietly defiant. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: Hillary Clinton, Anthony Weiner, Bill Clinton, Hillaryland, Department of State, Presidential Campaigns, Elections, Islam, Middle East, Muslim, Barack Obama, Phillippe Reines, Saudi Arabia, White House
ISBN: 9781501194801
[Book #87961]
Price: $45.00