Product Description

On September 3, 2008 Alaska Governor Sarah Palin gave 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. 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 was serving his country in a yearlong deployment 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," "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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #197 in Books
• Published on: 2009-11-17
• Released on: 2009-11-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 432 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780061939891
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

From The Washington Post
From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Reviewed by by Matthew Continetti Like a lot of people, as soon as I got my copy of Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue," I immediately thought of the German literary critic Hans Robert Jauss. Jauss is known as the father of critical reception theory. According to Jauss, every book is read in a social context. In his view, the reader's attitudes, beliefs, values and judgments are just as important as the text. Sometimes more. Palin probably didn't set out to write a book that tested Jauss's thesis. But, in so many ways, the reaction to "Going Rogue" is as interesting as its content. Palin's memoir is everything you'd expect from a politician who has no intention of leaving the national scene. With the aid of Lynn Vincent as her ghostwriter, she tells homespun stories, cracks a few jokes, provides juicy campaign gossip and lets the reader know where she stands on issues such as the right to life, government taxes and spending, health care and climate change. Like a good Republican, she invokes Ronald Reagan's name at every opportunity. The book is so packed with facts, history and encomiums about her state, she's practically a one-woman Alaska Division of Tourism: "We have the highest number of pilots per capita in the United States." Palin tells her side of a story that's usually told by her opponents. It's the tale of how she rose from small-town mayor to the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee to her current status as global celebrity and one of the most polarizing figures in American politics. She writes in the warm, casual, occasionally corny voice that has made her so lovable to some and revolting to others. I'll go out on a limb and predict that if you like Palin, you'll like "Going Rogue" -- and if you don't like Palin, well, I hear the new Stephen King is pretty good. What's unusual is that "Going Rogue" has ignited such a media firestorm. After all, politicians write books like this all the time. Nobody pays any attention. Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Bill Frist, John Ashcroft, Mike Huckabee, Joe Biden, Henry Waxman -- and many, many more -- have all put pen to paper (often with help from collaborators) in order to record the authorized accounts of their political and personal lives. But they don't often go on "Oprah." For the typical pol, a book serves as the news peg for a media tour. He gets to go on "The Daily Show," comment on public affairs and remind his constituents and campaign donors that his opinions matter. Then the book disappears. The pol returns to other business. Palin is different. Her book has become the occasion to re-litigate the 2008 presidential campaign. All the raw cultural battles over abortion, feminism and populism that erupted when she strode into the limelight have sprung up again. All the stand-up comics who had a blast last year reducing this conservative reformer to a cartoon are ridiculing her once more. The press and established powers in Washington consistently hold Palin to a higher standard. The AP assigned a team of 11 reporters to "fact-check" Palin's book. I don't remember Harry Reid's "The Good Fight" getting that treatment, but then, hardly anybody remembers "The Good Fight." Among the AP's discoveries was the fact that -- I am not making this up -- Palin is ambitious. One critic described Palin as being "ungrateful" to the McCain campaign. Why? Because in her book Palin returns fire on the anonymous campaign strategists who called her a "diva" and "whackjob" to eager reporters. What was she supposed to do? Play the role of the orphan Oliver Twist and ask, "Please, sir, I want some more"? Through no fault of her own, Sarah Palin has become a sort of political lens, refracting the different ways conservatives and liberals see the world. To her supporters, she is, as she puts it, a "common-sense conservative" who isn't afraid to make moral judgments. To her detractors, she's a moronic zealot who has no place in American public life. The two interpretations are concrete. "Going Rogue" won't do much to change any minds. But for what it reveals about our current political culture, Hans Robert Jauss would say it can't be beat. bookworld@washpost.com
Copyright 2009, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

Review
Truly one of the most substantive policy books I’ve ever read (Rush Limbaugh )

From the Back Cover
On September 2, 2008 Alaska Governor Sarah Palin gave 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: Toward 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 oldest 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,' '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, revealing Palin's vision of a way forward for America and her unfailing hope in the greatest nation on earth.

Customer Reviews

A British perspective on a controversial American
Prior to reading this book, I knew little about either Sarah Palin or Alaska and I was interested to learn more about both, especially the book's author. Although famous in America, Sarah Palin could go just about anywhere in Britain completely anonymously as long as she didn't meet any Americans along the way. Frankly, Brits normally only take any notice of American politicians if they become president. There are exceptions such as Al Gore and Hillary Clinton, but they are rare. Contrast the number of reviews of this book posted in Amazon USA with the number posted in Amazon UK for confirmation of the lack of British interest.

I realized early on in this book that I was going to enjoy reading it because Mrs Palin's story is both interesting and well-written. She makes summer in Alaska sound wonderful, although acknowledging that the winters are long and harsh. She discusses many aspects of her life and it is clear that she has strong views on a number of issues.

Although not directly relevant to her political career, perhaps the most intriguing question about her beliefs concerns her stance on the origin of species. At first glance, Mrs Palin appears to be a full-blooded creationist, but she denies this. Apparently, she accepts what she calls microevolution, in which species change and evolve over time, but not that people are related to apes or monkeys. Her stance is interesting, but I prefer to accept Darwin's theory, despite the proof of it still being incomplete.

Not having studied the American political scene closely, I'll leave others to judge the accuracy of the main story, but the politics as described here is explosive stuff. Corruption in Alaska, tales of in-fighting within the Republican party and dirty tricks played by some Democrats - all rather sad, but I'll say straight away that similar things happen elsewhere in the world including Britain. Hey, the summer of 2009 was dominated by the expenses scandal at Westminster, while all British political parties of any significance have had their internal fights at one time or another, in between playing dirty tricks on each other. So in one form or another, most of the political stuff here doesn't surprise me, but some of it is shocking nevertheless.

An unconventional politician in many ways, Mrs Palin nevertheless appears to have brought about significant changes in a number of areas in her home state of Alaska, which may seem to many people (especially in my country) like a frozen wasteland, but which is rich in natural resources and occupies a vast land area, approximately equivalent to France, Spain, Italy and the UK combined. So being governor of Alaska is not equivalent to running a small local council in Britain even though it is sparsely populated (fewer people live there than in the county of Leicestershire in which I live). I suspect that the position of state governor may be equivalent to being leader of the Welsh assembly. The biggest Alaskan story by far in my adult lifetime was the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, which Mrs Palin covers briefly; she later had plenty of political fights with the oil companies (including BP as well as ExxonMobil and others) in her time as state governor.

Mrs Palin has drawn plenty of criticism from a variety of sources and uses the opportunity that this book affords to hit back at those critics, often explaining how things have been distorted by the media. Having had my own relatively minor experience of being in British national newspapers, I have sympathy with victims of media distortion, so I don't blame Mrs Palin for hitting back via this book, but I can see that others will react badly. At least my story was a one-day wonder with no lasting consequences, but things are different for those who go into politics, sport or showbiz.

Mrs Palin clearly isn't impressed by the way the Republican presidential campaign was handled, and clearly feels that she wasn't able to contribute effectively to the campaign, but the aftermath was even worse. While some Republicans were happy to cast her as the scapegoat, some Democrats launched a sustained campaign against her that exploited freedom of information laws. Ultimately, this created problems for the legislative process as well as personal difficulties for the Palin family, all described in detail, causing Mrs Palin to decide that she had to quit as governor with a year still to run, even though she was never found guilty of anything. As she acknowledges, that decision to quit may kill her political career, but Mrs Palin says that she did what she felt was right for Alaska. Inevitably in such situations, people will believe whatever they choose to.

I expect Mrs Palin will return to public life in some capacity eventually. That might be as a presidential candidate, but it might alternatively be as champion of a cause dear to her heart. Her vice-presidential campaign generated enormous hope among disabled people, while her love of Alaska makes her passionate about environmental issues. So there's two obvious issues, but I'm sure there are others.

Would I vote for Mrs Palin, given the chance? I don't know because I'd need to know more about issues not discussed in this book, but I'd like the option.

I can see why this book - and the author - are so controversial. Fans of Mrs Palin will love this book, while critics will be furious. Both are likely to have their opinions reinforced by reading this book. Coming from a position of ignorance, I'll just say that I found this book to be compulsive reading.

Worth reading

I just finished reading the book and it's interesting to find out fact from fiction, there was so much controversy with her candidacy, much of it made up. For ex. a co worker told me that Sarah Palin liked to shoot wolfs from helicopters in Alaska, portraying her as some blood thirsty monster. However,in the book that is explained, and what do you know, the picture was "photo-shopped." There are many other falsehoods you'll find out about and if you're a fair minded person you'll be outraged, especially how the media attacks her children. What ever happened to the children of candidates being off limits, or is that something that only applies to the politicians who happen to have a "D" after their name? It was an enjoyable read, I really liked her descriptions of the State of Alaska, her family, snow machine races, the politics of Alaska. It was very telling to find out how she ousted a corrupt Republican machine when she became governor, and how much the Democrats in her state applauded and supported her in this, only to turn on her simply because she became the John McCain's pick for Vice President. And of course the main stream media who pretend to be non partisan, what a joke, they went after her like no other candidate in modern history. My question to these so called reporters, how can you spread rumors, how is it that you don't check your sources, and how in your right mind can you take what some blogger writes on the internet as fact? No wonder more and more Americans are tuning out the nightly news. Lastly, I think you'll be impressed not only with Sarah Palin, but her husband, family, her parents, her husband's parents, the children, it's a close nit family that should never had to put up with what they did, but they to their credit never complained much. A well written book, it will be interesting to see if she decides to throw her hat into the ring and run for President. I'm sure her experience as a Vice Presidential candidate will make her a much more formidable candidate if that were to happen.

A review of the book, not the person.
I'll admit to being a fan of Sarah Palin, but that does not compel me to write a glowing review of this book. So, here's a try at a quick review of the book without venting my personal politics.

Reading this book is like having Sarah Palin over for coffee and having her tell you stories from her life, starting with her childhood and through her resignation from the governorship of Alaska.

That might be a pleasant and fun experience, but with a book you can't ask follow-up questions and get more information about a subject that particularly interests you, and with a conversation you can't expect it to be tightly organized.

So, I found myself wanting some more detail about some parts of her life, like what it was like during the campaign (although I got a good idea of why McCain's campaign failed, and I think he deserved to.) And, I wanted a bit more organization. I wanted the material divided into smaller, more focused chapters with a tighter chronology. And I wanted an index, so I find that exact page where she wrote about holding still-warm moose eyeballs in her hands.

The most revealing chapter to me was at the end where she described the use of what I can best describe as "terrorism by lawsuit" to bankrupt her personally and keep her from doing her job as governor. I got the impression that she had been rendered incapable of doing her job as governor before she actually resigned, so what her resignation accomplished was to free her up to do what she thought was important, and it got the state of Alaska a functioning governor again. And finally, this chapter made me glad I bought this book if just a bit of my money went to pay off her legal bills.

Somehow I doubt this will be the last biography of Sarah Palin.