In Rough Country: Essays and Reviews Book

I won a copy of this book through First Reads and I enjoyed Oates' insights into authors and their works. Her reviews are both unique and well thought out.
I wasn't at all sure how I would like the book because I tried to read We Were the Mulvaneys years ago and gave up because it was so awful. In essay form, at least, Oates is a good writer and I now have hope that I might like some of her fiction.
She had me with her through most of In Rough Country. That is, up until she praised poet Sharon Olds to the skies and called her rather offensive letter to Laura Bush (rejecting an invitation to the National Book Festival) "a model of tact and integrity". It was around this point that Oates' unfortunate political and social views, America-bashing, and description of God as "imaginary" became too much for me. I had to push myself to finish the last section of the book. This was something I has not been able to make myself do with We Were the Mulvaneys, so that's progress, I suppose. But I suspect the progress is mine rather than hers. Years ago, I was probably unable to finish the novel in large part because I was only in high school and I hadn't yet learned to slog through a book I didn't like. The last section of In Rough Country--the only one I didn't enjoy reading--is mostly about Oates' personal experiences and lack of a literary mentor. It has nothing of the zest of the previous reviews and essays.