Product Description

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 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" 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.

Product Details

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

About the Author

Sarah Palin grew up in Alaska towns, from Skagway to Wasilla to Anchorage, while her dad taught science and coached high school sports. She and her future husband, Todd Palin, graduated from Wasilla High School in 1982, and she went on to earn her college degree from the School of Journalism at the University of Idaho. Palin served two terms on the Wasilla City Council, then two terms as the city's mayor and manager, and was elected by her peers as president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors. She then chaired the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. Palin was elected Alaska's youngest, and first female, governor, serving from 2006 to 2009. While serving her state she was tapped as Senator John McCain's running mate in 2008, becoming the first female Republican vice presidential candidate in our nation's history.

The Palins reside in Wasilla with their five children, including a son in the U.S. Army, and one grandson. They enjoy an extended family throughout Alaska and the Lower 48.

Customer Reviews

Ain't afraid of no Vietcong king
There are many kinds of truth. There are truths based on facts, truths based on faith, and truths based on something that sounds as if it should be true (truthiness). Then there's the kind of truth we find in Sarah's book: stories and concepts that become truths simply because she states them. She's a lot like our Lord and Savior, Glen Beck, in that respect.

Sometimes, she states truths that would be considered ludicrous if uttered by someone else. Her claim that the McCain campaign forced her to spend $150,000 in RNC funds to dress her family in designer clothes is one example of that. Although it might be easier to believe that she acted like a trailer park Zsa Zsa who'd found a credit card left behind at a possum feed, she blames McCain staffers. That's good enough for us, because we have faith; we want to believe her truths.

But the book isn't perfect. As much as I enjoyed the few short paragraphs in which Mrs Palin laid out her policy objectives, she could have condensed it all into one sentence: "I'm going to grab an Oxo Good Grips Stainless Serving Spatula and go all mavericky on your non-white, non-Christian and non-heterosexual butts."

The book also fails to expose Mrs. Palin's intellectual brilliance and keen grasp of foreign policy issues. Why wasn't the text of her recent speech in Hong Kong included? Although it remains secret, it's rumored that she viciously rebuked the Vietcong king for his assault on the Empire State Building. That's a speech we've been waiting for nearly 75 years to hear. It's big news and should have been included.

As you read other reviews of this book, please remember that Mrs. Palin has many enemies who are eager to pan her work. The Palin family's most potent nemesis, Levi's johnston, is no dpubt fully erect and ready to spew globs of misfortune upon them for a third time. And reason-adoring intellectuals are certain to point out that an interview on Good Morning Topeka doesn't qualify as a policy summit in the Far East.

But a few bad reviews won't stop her. She's seen much worse from her kitchen window. It can't be pleasant to gaze upon Antichristograd every morning as you brew your coffee.

My review isn't complete, but I think I'll quit anyway, because writing reviews, like governing, is just too darned hard to finish.

If You Don't Like Her, Don't buy the book!
Sarah Palin's long awaited book is truly a memoir about her life. The first chapter is long about seventy pages features about her upbringing, her parents background, and her life from Idaho to Alaska. She writes a lot about Alaska particularly her love for the state's natural beauty and resources. She's truly dedicated to her adoptive state. She write about her relationship with Todd Palin whose wedding ceremony was quick and their dinner was drive-thru takeout food from Wendy's restaurant. Sarah writes a lot about her earlier memories and how she was recruited for politics which wasn't her first love. She wanted to be a sports journalist. I felt the book was honest, candid, and raw regarding Sarah Palin who I thought was misunderstood by the press. Yes, she's a different kind of woman. She's conservative, right to life, wife, and mother, daughter, sister, and in-law. I don't think her attacks or criticisms are malicious or malevolent. I think she's speaking her truth from her own point of view. Everybody else had a point of view about the McCain-Palin campaign.

I don't why there is so much animosity in the reviews here regarding Palin's book. This book is really for Palin fans. It's not that political! She doesn't write too much about public or foreign policies. Her interview with Katie Couric was a disaster and she knew about it. Couric's motives are pretty clear. She was still trying to prove herself in a man's world of journalism by pounding at Palin while Couric's interview with Biden goes largely un-noticed. I don't think badly of Palin. I'm a liberal and I voted for the McCain-Palin ticket. For the most part, I still like Palin and hope to see her around in the political world. She's a breath of fresh Alaskan air who tells it like it is and makes difficult decisions.

Okay, there are some issues that I don't agree with her but I bought the book to know more about her and I'm not disappointed. She has a charisma, charm, a sense of humor, and style that is truly her own.

Never Expect Gratitude
I've lived in Alaska for 55 years. I'm a registered independent. I've attended meetings with Governor Palin. I know the lady, not the image she projects. I've got no axe to grind; Palin is now largely irrelevant to Alaska.

From out of all the misstatements, narcissism, spin and distortions that make this biography so embarrassing to read, one indisputable fact emerges: It's pretty clear ex-governor Palin would still be a low-profile politician in the frozen north, but for candidate McCain and his staff. Those would be the same folks she attacks so fiercely in this biography.

Which brings to mind Mark Twain's famous quote: "If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man."