The Senator Next Door is Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar's memoir. The blurb on the book describes its content very well: "One of the U.S. Senate's most candid--and funniest--women tells the story of her life and her unshakable faith in our democracy." She talks a whole heck of a lot about her personal life -- her fathers alcoholism, her parents divorce, the story of her immigrant grandparents, the time she was kicked out of the hospital when her daughter was still in intensive care -- she truly talks about a litany of topics. And with some of those topics comes the policy prescriptions she has. For instance, the aforementioned hospital stay resulted in Klobuchar sponsoring a law that ensured mothers get a 2 day hospital stay no matter what.
Upon release, The Senator Next Door received warm, albeit not exceedingly positive reviews. Reads the Publisher's Weekly review: "This political memoir is not a particularly exciting read, but it does serve as an apt reminder that some decency remains in American politics." The review also called the book "candid." Kirkus Reviews review echoed the sentiments of the Publisher's Weekly review, saying that the book is "A flawed but deeply personal recounting of one woman’s rise through the political ranks." Ultimately, the book was neither a best seller nor was it critically acclaim. It is a solid book to be sure but not one of the better books written by politicians.
