Sometimes, the things men say can astonish me still. Take this passage, for instance, from Douglas Brinkley’s review of Jodi Kantor’s book, “The Obamas”: “Call it chick nonfiction, if you will. This book is not about politics, it’s about marriage, or at least 
Barack and Michelle Obama on Valentine’s Day.one marriage, and a notably successful one.”
I think what he means to say is that it’s not something he would have written. Perhaps a wise choice, too, as anyone who thinks politics is not about relationships is hard to take seriously on the subject.
And anyone who thinks the president’s most important relationship has no import the non-chicks need to think about obviously doesn’t know his – oh, but Brinkley is a historian, so that can’t be right.
(Nothing to disclose: I’ve never even met Jodi Kantor, though I’ve defended her book before.)
Based on 33 White House sources, Brinkley writes, Kantor “reconstructs a half-dozen or so strange, gossipy moments that hardly hold up as serious journalism, but provide insight nonetheless.” How many White House sources does it take to hold up a moment, Doug?
Melinda Henneberger is a Post political writer and anchors ‘She the People.’ Follow her on Twitter at @MelindaDC.
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