VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass. — In the first full day of a Martha’s Vineyard vacation, President Barack Obama set aside some of the cares of office Friday to work on his summer reading list.
Obama, wearing a polo shirt and ball cap, emerged from the Bunch of Grapes bookstore in this upscale New England resort carrying a brown paper bag and preceded by daughters Sasha, 9, and Malia, 12.
Inside the bag was “Freedom” by Jonathan Franzen, aides reported. The novel portrays a family of urban homesteaders in St. Paul, Minn., who decamp to the nation’s capital. It is not on sale yet, but the store gave him an advance copy. For the girls, the president bought two volumes: “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee and “The Red Pony” by John Steinbeck, a cashier said.
The bookstore visit set the tone for the Obamas’ 10-day sojourn on the island: learned, laid back and family-oriented. The president was hoping for a stay dominated by drowsing at the beach to stops at ice-cream shops. And plenty of golf. The Associated Press
