Review: Going Rogue by Sarah Palin
From the inside jacket cover of GOING ROGUE by Sarah Palin: One year ago, Sarah Palin burst onto the national political stage like a comet. Yet even now, few Americans know who this remarkable woman really is. On September 3, 2008 Alaska Governor and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin delivered a speech at the Republican National Convention that electrified the nation and instantly made her one of the most recognizable women in the world.
As chief executive of America's largest state, she had built a record as a reformer who cast aside politics-as-usual and pushed through changes other politicians only talked about: Energy independence. Ethics reform. And the biggest private sector infrastructure project in U.S. history. And while revitalizing public school funding and ensuring the state met its responsibilities to seniors and Alaska Native populations, Palin also beat the political "good ol' boys club" at their own game and brought Big Oil to heel.
Like her GOP running mate, John McCain, Palin wasn't a packaged and over-produced candidate. She was a Main Street American woman: a working mom, wife of a blue-collar union man, and mother of five children, the eldest of whom is serving his country in Iraq and the youngest, an infant with special needs. Palin's hometown story touched a populist nerve, rallying hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans to the GOP ticket. But as the campaign unfolded, Palin became a lightning rod for both praise and criticism. Supporters called her "refreshing" and "honest," a kitchen-table public servant they felt would fight for their interests. Opponents derided her as a wide-eyed Pollyanna unprepared for national leadership.
But none of them knew the real Sarah Palin. In this eagerly anticipated memoir, Palin paints an intimate portrait of growing up in the wilds of Alaska; meeting her lifelong love; her decision to enter politics; the importance of faith and family; and the unique joys and trials of life as a high-profile working mother. She also opens up for the first time about the 2008 presidential race, providing a rare, mom's-eye view of high-stakes national politics-from patriots dedicated to "Country First" to slick politicos bent on winning at any cost. GOING ROGUE traces one ordinary citizen's extraordinary journey and imparts Palin's vision of a way forward for America and her unfailing hope in the greatest nation on earth.
Reviewing Sara Palin's memoir about growing up in Alaska, serving as mayor of a small city and governor of the state, then being snatched by John McCain from anonymity to make her famous as his VP running-mate is a high wire act. She's a political lightening rod. And I don't care to review her politics. I want to review the book.
I watched all the pundits for and against her during the 2008 campaign and even read some of the recent jokes about her book:
"This week Sarah Palin's memoir became a bestseller. It's not even out yet. It's been translated in English." --Bill Maher
"Sarah Palin's new autobiography doesn't come out until November, but it is already No. 1 on Amazon. And if you go to the website, it says, 'People who bought this book also bought no other books in their entire life.'"--Jimmy Fallon
"They say she finished the book ahead of schedule so they moved the release date up to November 17th. So, turns out she can finish something." --Jimmy Kimmel
Generally there's some truth in the joke to make it funny. But after reading Going Rogue, I have to say that her book is so much better than the jokes, that it makes the likes of Maher, Fallon and Kimmel look like petty dunces. Mainly because she's able to tell her story in a way that evokes common sense realities to which most Americans relate.
I'd heard time and again that she wasn't very smart. This book is written by an intelligent, articulate and literate woman. I expected rambling and disjointed defensiveness, but what I got was a real story. Sarah enlightened me to the life lived in Alaska, a frontier unlike anywhere known to most Americans. If it had been written by a non-political writer, most readers would agree. But because of who she is, I think the story might get lost in the lingering media sound bites and pundits' attacks.
At times her story lingers too long on her kids and being a working mom. But I believe that women reading the book would appreciate her perspective more than a 57-year-old man, who keeps looking at the cover and saying, "She's too hot to do that!"
The writing is not sparse and elementary; it's intelligent and engaging. I could see Alaska's landscape when she described it, and her introspection and humor helped me understand her perspective on life, family and politics clearly--whether or not I agreed with it. Those who cringe at her lifestyle or politics do so without diminishing the reality of how well she tells her own story and her side of the campaign.
I came away strongly believing that how the Palin children were treated was inexcusable. Trying to sort through the truth and distortions during the campaign was difficult, because we weren't hearing her side. And we learn a whole lot about what it's like to be a part of the "B Team"--the VP candidate and her staff--and I came away disgusted by the packaging, micromanaging and muting of the truth created by the political handlers.
It was refreshing, though, to hear her admit her mistakes, read of her fears and trials. It made Sarah Palin a human being again. The book had substance, not sound bites. If anything, I got a more balanced story; history has been vetted.
How did Going Rogue rate on the Eubanks' Triple-E Meter (1-5; 5 being best):
Entertaining: 3.90
Enlightening: 4.90
Educating: 4.10
You can buy the book almost anywhere. Amazon.com has it priced at $13.50 plus tax and shipping. Published in 2009 by HarperCollins.
Thanks for the review. My wife is reading the book and I will be next. I just love Palin's accent because it reminds me of someone close to me.
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Aw, geez.
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I have no doubt that Sarah Palin and her family did not deserve most of the derision and dishonesty to which the press subjected them. However, to play the devil's advocate, when you say the book is "written by an intelligent, articulate and literate woman," I can't help but picture some poor editor toiling away in obscurity as he or she struggles to transform Palin's chatty down-home language into readable prose that will make her appear to be intelligent, articulate and literate. After all, the woman has her future endeavors to consider.
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She was a journalism major and wrote for a newspaper for a time. I came to my conclusion that she was intelligent, articulate and literate, because it was her voice I heard in the writing. And I hope she had some editor toiling away. Many good writers have professional editors (and agents) work their books, not just chatty, down-home writers.
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Great review, Tom... I actually have two copies, but had already read your mom's copy before I got those two... (I know, I'm blonde now, so I do ramble...) Sarah wrote in a strong and truthful style, and I do believe her intelligent (?) pundits will eventually have to agree!
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Being blonde, you might want to read one of the other copies, just to see if you think the same way about Sarah after you complete the book.
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I love Sarah's style, dude, and not that she looks good in a dead grizzly or a mutilated wolf, she's dynamic, forget that she speaks child, I love her, dude, she could be buying clothes at government expense who cares, her 1950 mindset, so what, she needs to be president because, dude, she's smart like moose, brawny, quitting her job as governor of the smallest population of anywhere but a small island, what's the argument... yes, she has an opinion which, like everyone has an ___hole, and it maybe stinks, what's the problem, dude, we're all like that -- I care about America, that's why I write now, not because I know anything, I don't, I just believe in Sarah, it's a gut thing, dude, so sue me because I care about the political future of the greatest country which will never be killed, that lives because of people like Sarah, that dies like soldiers and so what's the deal with these haters like knockers on the door of self-inflicted worth, God Bless America, dude, that's all I can say.
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So. What do you really think? Never mind.
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