The author of a new book that reveals the inside story of U.S. President Barack Obama family's inside the White House is feeling frustrated by some of the characterizations of her latest work.
"The Obamas" author, Jodi Kantor, says what irritates her about some of the inaccurate portrayals is that it seems that many people have drawn conclusions about the book before it had even been released.
"People started talking about it before they had read it and it got sort of sensationalized," Kantor told CTV's Canada Friday.
"I had fact checked the reporting so carefully, but I would turn on cable TV and see headlines supposedly based on my book and I'd be saying, ‘That's not what happened!'"
Kantor's book is meant to be an intimate portrait of what life has been like for the Obamas during their first term in office. Kantor, who has been covering the Obamas for the New York Times for five years, says her aim was to show the personal side of the Obama presidency.
"I really wrote it to answer a question that I thought that everybody, not just Americans, would have going into the 2012 campaign, which is: What happens when you take two pretty regular people and put them in this extraordinary situation?" Kantor explained.
The book details the behind-the-scenes details of the first family's transition from Chicago to Washington, as they tried to give as normal a life as possible for their girls, while also facing the intense pressures inherent to the U.S. presidency.
It also reveals some of the conflicts the couple has faced with White House staff -- including how Michelle Obama has butted heads with former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and former press secretary and presidential adviser Robert Gibbs.
Though Kantor was able to interview 30 current and former Obama aides for her research, the president and the first lady declined to be interviewed – a point the White House has been quick to point out repeatedly.
Michelle Obama says she hasn't read the book, but in an interview earlier this month with CBS News, she said she's tired of people portraying her as "some kind of angry black woman."
Kantor insists that was not the picture she was trying to paint.
"This is the story of a strong woman who really cares about her husband, who cares about the reasons he ran in the first place. But the book also portrays her as a protective mom, as a loyal spouse… It really is the inside story of her first ladyhood and we see how hard she's working to make this job meaningful," Kantor said.
The White House has offered only a frosty reaction to the book, calling it an "over-dramatization of old news." Kantor says she finds that reaction "interesting."
"You know, I think it's hard for them to have some of the palace intrigue coming out," she said.
In the end, Kantor says her book is meant to be an intimate look at a family trying to live an ordinary life in very extraordinary circumstances.
"I want people to read the book and say, ‘Gee, I never even knew that president or the first lady faced that. What would I do in that situation? How would I handle those pressures?'"
