ONE OF THE TOUGHER DAYS in the life of a book section editor must come when he or she receives a review of a book by one of the paper’s own writers that the reviewer finds not up to par. Thus, it was especially brave of the Washington Post last Sunday to run a review of “The Perfect Wife,” a book about Laura Bush by Post Style writer Ann Gerhart, that gives the book and its author its due. Judith Warner, author of a book about Hillary Clinton, explains that Gerhart comes with a brisk and lively prose style, and a sharp eye for nuance and character. Unfortunately, she also comes equipped with a giant-sized attitude, that turns an ostensible rendition of someone’s life story into a political tract.

Let Warner tell it: