In a ten-page interview with GQ, John Edwards’ mistress Rielle Hunter finally told her side of the story. Interestingly enough, she spends most of her time defending herself against books–a literary review embedded inside a political conversation.
Hunter first commented on her relationship with novelist Jay McInerney during the 1980s, a relationship that inspired a fictional role in his novel Story of My Life. “I love Jay. Jay is a great guy, a lovely man. To date? That time in my life was a nightmare.”
Next she disputed how Edwards’ wife Elizabeth portrayed the discovery of the Hunter affair in her memoir. Here’s Hunter’s story, blaming an unexpected phone call from Elizabeth: “And I answered the phone and said, ‘Hey, baby.’ And, click … And then she confronted him and confronted him, and he finally confessed. He didn’t confess like she claims in her book.”
Next she disputed Edwards aide Andrew Young portrayed her in his memoir: “I’ll say this about Andrew’s book: If his grand-jury testimony matches his book, I would suspect that they will be looking at him for many, many counts of perjury.”
Finally, she fact-checked a quote by Edwards aide Josh Brumberger from the political bestseller, Game Change. “Because from Josh’s perspective, I seemed weird and wacky. In reality, I was wearing a black TSE cashmere sweater, a Kenneth Cole suede jacket, and jeans. But in his mind, I’m dressed to go to a Grateful Dead concert. Total projection!”