Read Yes
Length 330
Quick Review From the Corner of the Oval is the story of Beck Dorey-Steins experiences in the White House under the Obama administration as a stenographer.
I wasn’t sure what to think of when I picked up From the Corner of the Oval. The cover is hot pink and blue, but it’s a political memoir. What? Those don’t go together unless you’re the fictional character Elle Woods. Beck Dorey-Stein is definitely not Elle Woods, but she belonged to the political sphere and the bright color wearing crowd.
Dorey-Stein begins From the Corner of the Oval as a tutor at a private school in DC. She had no idea what she was doing or where she was going, but she wanted it to not be in Washington DC. One day, she replied to a Craigslist ad, which ended up being a job as a stenographer in the White House. As a stenographer, she accompanied the president on trips around the country and the globe catching rides on Air Force One.
There is no way you can read Dorey-Stein’s words and not see her honesty. She’s sharing her life in the White House and her personal life as they bleed into one another. She makes mistakes, but she doesn’t try to hide them. She lets her humanity shine through without being apologetic for the choices she made. It’s the clarity that makes it a good and entertaining memoir to read.
The prose is fun to read. There are a ton of quotable moments, but I failed to jot them down. She has a witty way with words. She finds the humor in the unfortunate events that transpire.
It’s a great read. Not at all what I expected from a Capital Hill memoir, but Beck Dorey-Stein explains the color choice on the cover of From the Corner of the Oval through her flamboyant personality on every page.
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Quick Review
“…and as on so many other nights, it’s like I’m not there.”
“The world is what you make it.”
Title: From the Corner of the Oval
Author: Beck Dorey-Stein
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Copyright: 2018
ISBN: 9780525509127
