Mrs. Nixon: A Novelist Imagines a Life Read Online Free PDF

back to the point at which the lovers met, after which some inevitable force (perhaps only the writer) began to determine their story for them. At story’s end, we have much information, but not all: that lurks just outside, and foggily infiltrates the reader’s own life. The reader does a double take, imagining not the characters’ futures, as Dmitri’s question suggests we should, but the characters’ past, which we
saw
yet perhaps did not really understand.
    We can easily imagine Nixon, and even Mrs. Nixon, in the days before the resignation, head in hand, muttering How? How?How?, not obsessing about how to handle their future but projecting themselves back to the source, real or imagined, of their self-created tragedy. Certainly the appearance of Mr. Nixon became that point in Pat Ryan’s life, the mystery to which every question returned.

Approximately Twenty Milk Shakes
    A s the gals know, drinking a milk shake every now and then isn’t a bad idea, if you’ve dropped a little too much weight. Rushing around, traveling, volunteering, caring for our children . . . it can be a bit stressful, and sometimes you forget good nutrition. There’s just too much to do, and you forget about the importance of keeping up your strength. If you find yourself altering your dresses, it might be time to get on the scale, acknowledge how much weight you’ve lost, and try to do better.
    A milk shake is easy to make. All you do is take down your cocktail shaker and put in a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or whatever your favorite flavor is, and fill the shaker half full of milk, then add a tablespoon of flavoring, such as Hershey’s chocolate syrup. Then shake away, and pour your milk shake right into a big glass and enjoy it. It’s festive, pretty, and full of calories.
    We girls aren’t the only ones who can benefit from a “milk shake boost.” My husband has recently been running for political office, and the television—which is rumored to add weight to your image—turned out not to be his friend! Also, he’d let the makeup person use “shave stick” on his beard, which only made it worse.He was debating a robust-looking and, some would say, handsome man, John F. Kennedy. Mr. Kennedy has a full face to begin with, and his makeup person seemed to do the right thing—and also he doesn’t have the heavy beard Dick has. In any event, our physician, Dr. John C. Lungren, took me aside. “Pat,” he said, “Dick looked rather puny on television. You can see his hectic schedule has taken a toll. I think he’d do well to drink a milk shake now and then.” I agreed with him, and then I found out exactly how many milk shakes he wanted me to prepare for Dick. It was four a day! We had from October 8 until October 13 to put some weight on Dick, and I began my milk shake making right away. A man doesn’t mind a chocolate milk shake, let me tell you! No sooner had I hung up the phone than I interrupted Dick, letting him know the doctor’s plan. Then I went out and got the ingredients and came home and scooped and shook. I think Hershey’s makes a lovely, rich chocolate sauce, so I punched the can in two places (which makes it flow more easily) and put in a little more than a tablespoon, and I shook the shaker until I felt everything was blended, and then I got a large glass and poured in the thick mixture, then carried it in to Dick. He was still fretting about the debate the night before, Mr. Kennedy saying that we should apologize to the Russians for the U-2 spy plane incident. Dick feels we should never apologize when we’re doing the right thing to defend our country. I agreed with him again and handed him his milk shake. I didn’t tell him that he should be drinking four a day, because then it might have seemed like a chore rather than a treat. Several hours later, when he was on the phone, I just put another milk shake in front of him, and though he looked surprised, when I passed by his door later, I saw he’d taken