Ten Minutes from Normal

�The rule of thumb in any White House is that nobody is indispensable except the president,� said The New York Times, �but Karen Hughes has come as close to that description as any recent presidential aide.� Karen Hughes has worked beside President George W. Bush since, as she says, �the motorcade was only one car and he was sometimes the one driving it.� As counselor to the president, she brought the working mom�s perspective to the White House, often asking of President Bush�s policies, �What does this mean for the average person?� Yet the move from Texas to Washington was hard on her family, and in a controversial, headline-making decision that reverberated across America, she chose to place family first and quit the nation�s capital to return to Austin. There, Hughes continues to advise the president, where the kitchen wall calendar marks the State of the Union message side by side with her son�s orthodontist appointments.In this disarmingly down-to-earth, warm, often funny, and frank book, Hughes looks at her unique career in George W. Bush�s inner circle and the universal concerns of balancing work and family. Ten Minutes from Normal�the title comes from the campaign trail��is a remarkable blend of the story of a �normal� woman who rose to great heights and an insightful look at American politics and America�s forty-third president. This is a book for the legions of women and men everywhere who are seeking new inspiration for how to remember their priorities and achieve balance in their lives. Most important, in a post-9/11 world, Hughes redefines the very notion of what is �normal� as something special and precious, never to be taken for granted in America again.