About the Author

Margaret Truman has won faithful readers with her works of biography and fiction, including her ongoing series of Capital Crimes mysteries. Her previous bestselling biographies are Harry S Truman, Bess W. Truman, and First Ladies. She lives in Manhattan.

Reviews

“Teens will enjoy the lively history and stories.”
–Booklist

“Always riveting...the book beguiles; it provokes laughter and the occasional deep emotion."
–Richmond Times-Dispatch

“Colorful stories and vignettes . . . {feels] like a personal behind-the-scenes tour.”
–Orlando Sentinel

Adult/High School-Truman shares personal insights as she takes readers on a historical tour of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. She vividly describes the building's evolution into the magnificent structure it is today. In addition, stories about staff, brides, children who grew up in the White House, and the care and feeding of guests make this much more than a dry examination of plaster and wood. Black-and-white and color photos are included. The book's readability makes this a painless history lesson, especially for reluctant readers.-Peggy Bercher, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Bestselling novelist and first daughter Truman brings readers inside the White House, taking them on a notably reverential tour of its storied history, its well-known architecture and its intricate behind-the-scenes workings. There's a lighthearted jaunt through the White House kitchen, where one strong-willed housemaid kept serving President Truman brussels sprouts, though he hated them. The tour then goes to the White House garden, where Lincoln's gardener offered the first lady tips on hiding her excessive shopping expenses. Much of Truman's narrative is history lite aimed at the Martha Stewart set. Yet it contains just enough interesting anecdotes and stirring pageantry to be of interest to the general reader who's curious about how the White House functions. Truman dishes the gossip, especially about the White House as a social setting. For example, she describes Madame Chiang Kai-shek (wife of the Chinese general) as one of the most insufferable houseguests ever. Truman devotes separate chapters to the household staff, the political staff, the press corps, the security staff, White House weddings, first ladies, first children and even first pets: after the Clinton-era rivalry between Socks the cat and Buddy the dog, Socks ended up with a staffer while Buddy stayed with the Clintons. Despite the breeziness of this account, Truman does a fine job of evoking America's most famous residence as a place with "a unique combination of history, tragedy, comedy, melodrama and the ups and downs of ordinary living." 75 color and b&w photos. (Nov.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

"Teens will enjoy the lively history and stories."
-Booklist

"Always riveting...the book beguiles; it provokes laughter and the occasional deep emotion."
-Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Colorful stories and vignettes . . . {feels] like a personal behind-the-scenes tour."
-Orlando Sentinel