Everything Is Perfect

By: Kate Nason

Narrated by: Kate Nason

Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Seven years into her second marriage, Kate Nason discovered her husband was cheating on her. Then, the unimaginable happened. Kate woke to the news that one of her husband’s “other women” was involved with an American president. It was January of 1998. The press surrounded her home, clamoring for details and transformed Kate’s private heartbreak into public humiliation.

Nason’s memoir uncovers the little-known side of a well-known story, unveiling a cautionary tale about the ways we deceive ourselves when we allow ourselves to be deceived by those we love. Everything Is Perfect is an intimate reveal of infidelity, gaslighting, and the silent wife at the press conference. Nason explores the roles women inhabit throughout their lives, how they carry trauma, and the lengths they’ll go to protect their children and save themselves. It's a fierce and often funny self-reckoning, a meditation on learning to trust one’s intuition, and a case study of how one woman undid a bad “I do.”

In the tradition of Lisa Brennan Jobs' Small Fry or Chanel Miller’s Know My Name, Everything Is Perfect is a beautifully written, deeply personal, unsparing self-portrait that goes deeper than the familiar news story within.

©2021 Kate Nason (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC.

Powerful story, beautifully told

From the start, I was impressed by the sensitivity, care and complex moral discernment Kate Nason brought to this explosive story. The most private aspects of Kate's life — the kind of betrayal one can't help but want to hide — became entangled with the biggest public scandal of the decade, something no breathing American adult would fail to have an opinion about, then or now. But today, listening to the final product, I realize the story was actually much bigger than I realized. The context Kate creates by fleshing out her life in the decade prior to the "breaking news" give us reader a different way into the story, inviting us to think about the interaction of choice and fate, of good luck and bad, and how the experiences we have make us the people we are.

Wow, holy cow!

This was a great listen. I really enjoy listening to true stories. Not boring at all! Who's life is 100% exciting?! Hers was a nightmare for so many years. So brave of her to tell her story!

Loved everything about this one

It got me hooked from the beginning but once I found out who the story was really about, I was enthralled!!! Loved it!!! Highly recommend!!
The narrator was great too.

Everything is Perfect

I've never read a book by Kate Nason. This may be her debut as an author. If so, brave! I wasn't sure what to expect as there were only two reviews, and only one is written.

With the element of truth in the real-life affair of a young woman famously having a liaison with the most important man in the world, you do wonder how much of the other parts of the story are based on the protagonist's personal account.

I found it engaging and challenging to stop listening when I needed to be asleep. This is told entirely from the main character's view. She made it plausible that it's based on her actual life events. A good mother caught in bad marriages. The plot gets exciting once the second husband's secrets begin unwinding. He turns her life inside out, and eventually, you understand how the world's most infamous affair intertwines with the wife and mother, and she can barely keep all of the betrayals from crushing her.

Caution: I've personally never divorced, but I believe that this could be a trigger for wives whose husbands were cunning, deceitful, and ultimately, a betrayal of everything the wife thought she knew of him.

Surprisingly Engaging

I enjoyed this book. The plot held together and the characters were interesting. I'd read more by this author.

Multiple 4’s

Multiple 4’s, something to learn. Very honest and good listen. Recommend this to all women.

Riveting!

My first time on Audible and it was a spectacular success. I wasn’t sure if I would take to an audible book; however a friend told me I would enjoy the story, and that turned out to be an understatement. The author is an amazing writer, I enjoyed every word she imparted. Normally I am a skimmer and a speed reader, but I hung on to every sentence in this remarkable narrative. I related to many aspects of Kate Nason‘s story, which made it more authentic. A nine-hour story was devoured in two days, which placed me in the category of “marathoner.” I hope someday this story will appear in a “real” book, because this is one I would definitely re-read. Thank you to Kate Nason for sharing your triumph over difficult circumstances.

Super Good!

I loved listening to Kate’s book. I’ve been watching Impeachment and didn’t know about the “Oregon teacher” until reading this book.

An amazing story

Nason tells an amazing memoir in Everything Is Perfect. I haven't heard or read work from this author before, and I really enjoyed it. This book gives a lot of information about her life, especially around her husband, who was a cheater. She was married to a man who had a lot of "other women" and one day, because of one woman, her heartbreak went public. I like that Nason narrates her own story. She is a strong woman, and find out how to keep herself together. I like how she dives into the roles of women and their roles. I really liked how she told the story, and was able to bring the story together. Her story and commentary, and how at first she ignored her own intuition. Nason has a bravery and courage that can't be measured by not just sharing the story, but telling it in her own voice, which makes it so real, and compelling. It's also about survival, and overcoming obstacles, especially by her husband. I recommend listening to it from beginning to end, including the author note, and epilogue. It's a long listen, but it is definitely worth it. Everything Is Perfect is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I look forward to reading or listening many more stories by this author.

Couldn't stop listening - so beautifully written

I knew this book was about a woman whose husband had an affair with Monica Lewinsky and that it turned her and her family's life upside down.

Amazingly, that all took a back seat to the way Kate tells her story. A story told in a calm and sometimes animated voice of loving her children, processing hurts and trauma, and carving out a life in Portland, Oregon. Once I started listening, I couldn't stop. I brought her with me as I made dinner, gardened, ran and sipped coffee. I already miss her and am wishing her well.