Customer Reviews

Going Rogue: An American Life

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3 star:		(39)
2 star:		(44)
1 star:		(304)

 

 

Review by a liberal

While I disagree with a lot of Palins Political beliefs I read this book with interest. Admittedly in the beginning I wasn't sure If I could make it through the book because of that but the way that she chronicled her life it really makes it an interesting read.

The book really covers the decisions she has made in her life both political and personal. The reader gets to know her as a person and a politician, her motivations in life.

She was fairly unknown outside of Alaska, thrust into the middle of a Presidential campaign that was already floundering. While she did breathe some life into the McCain campaign it wasn't enough. She was put in a tough situation. Clearly she felt that she didn't receive the kind of support that she needed to be an effective Vice Presidential candidate and she discussed that in this book. We get to read about all of the things we suspected were going on in the McCain camp that she wasn't able to talk about during the race.

She sacrificed a lot and her family sacrificed a lot from the demands of campaign from criticism on her political beliefs, the innuendo that the only reason McCain selected her as a running mate is because she is attractive, to the personal attacks about her decision to have her challenged son. She was criticized a lot during the campaign of nearly everything. She talks about the criticisms in the book in detail. She loves her State and tried to make it a better place. She loved it enough to resign thinking that someone else could do a better job running it with out all of the distraction that was heaped upon her by media following her every move both on the local and national front.

Palin talks about life under the media microscope, how it effects to this day her and her family. While most of us including me can't imagine the pressure she was under during the campaign, she lays it out on paper.

This is Sarah Palin speaking her mind, She talks about everything. While she didn't change my mind on the political issues that I disagree with her on. She did change my mind about the type of person she is. In her personal life. In writing this book she has subjected herself to more criticism. I applaud her for her strength and conviction. Regardless of your political beliefs you should read this book.

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.

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. 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.

Sarah Palin is above all else a self promoter and more than that, a person whose hold on objective reality is very slim, when reality is inconvienient. This book was written with a ghost writer and who knows how much of it was written by Palin who hardly seemed very articulate when she was questioned without a script written by a ghost writer.
The point of the book is to glorify Palin, to provide, a rewrite version of Palin that fits the image she wants to promote of herself so that she can get ahead in the world, and also set herself up for 100K talks. Why can she do this? The American public is very gullible. Thus, alas, the purpose of the book is to erase and write over what we have heard in her interviews or that we have gotten a glimpse of through questions and answers on the spot; thus, because its purpose is political and an attempt to correct a damaged image, the book is ridden with falsehoods and is severely contradicted by others involved in the same situations at a political level that she refurbishes to suit the image she wants to project. Although, for example, we all saw Sarah in fancy new, wildly expensive clothes. She insists that this not Sarah (what about all the new expensive duds should bought for her husband at smashingly over priced places? This is one of the many, not Sarahs that the book is intended to wash away. She presents herself as a kind of frontier Goldilocks in the beautiful Alaska wilderness, an innocent abroad in Washington. Sarah would never do any of the things we saw her do on television...wipe that out. Read this book instead on the Palin fairytale..that is its purpose.

I'm really not "getting" this book. Was Sarah Palin intent to put her best foot forward with an eye on future opportunity, or charm the already charmed? I think it must be the latter. Am I the only one who is finding these escalating contentions that is dividing America frightening? If it was her intent to put her best foot forward, I would think she would have showcased herself as a wise leader and lay off the retaliation politics.

Her lack of empathy in the fears of anyone other than her base makes me uncomfortable and makes her look extreme. Her fans feel she stands for America, but we are a pluralistic nation and I'm surprised she doesn't see the danger in escalating hatred between Americans. She is not the only one who understands conservative fiscal responsibility but why does she never asks herself what might motivate the opposing views? Are all her critics just wicked, wicked people? Or maybe oil barons or welfare queen? A little insight goes a long way. And yet, I believe she really does think this hated that is consuming us good for the country. I, for one, do not share this view, but it's good to know where she stands.

Okay, I read most of it but, I admit I skimmed through some pages before I had to return it to the library. And her early life was interesting enough, with that bubbly, can-I-be-any-more-clever attitude, although some of her motivations made me scratch my head, it was readable. And, as to the truth of her accounts, well, Google them yourself. Everyone will see what they want to see. The last part of the book is what everyone is talking about, the McCain campaign. I personally think she comes off as naive. What was she expecting in her run for vice president? Of course you would be handled by strategists who coordinate the campaign. It was their job to keep the candidates in synch, tell them what to wear, what issue to emphasize. Her job was to listen, work hard, and be prepared. Not every situation calls for a rogue. This I-got-to-be me stuff can be abrasive to many. And while she doesn't directly criticize him, I think a little more loyalty to the man who gave her chance would have been gracious.

So, I gave it three stars, not because I became a fan of SP, but because the book was revealing, has solid contents and is well enough written. I see most the reviewers here are offering their opinions on SP, slinging little nasties at their neighbors, and side tracking issues. On that note, let me say, obviously she does connect with some, but I found her voice to be whiney, rather snarky, and paranoid, with an inability to listen well to others. In the end, OMG, she's no rogue, she is just like us! So, to her fans, call me all the names you want, I just don't see what you see. These qualities make her neither hero nor a villain, they just make her common.

When she was first elected Gov., and especially when she seemed to be capable of pushback against the trans-national oil companies that practically run Alaska, Alaskans loved Sarah. She lost a lot of popularity during the Presidential election, and then of course when she prematurely resigned.

This book is more than anything a revisionist attempt to vent frustrations and to get even. Sarah herself has nothing of interest to say on the national stage, and this book accurately reflects that.

According to my dictionary, the definition of "rogue" is: 1. A dishonest person. 2. a rascal or scamp. 3. a playful mischievous person. 4. an elephant or other animal of savage disposition and solitary life. 5. an individual varying markedly from the normal, usually inferior. 6. to live or act like a rogue. 7. to cheat. 8. to uproot or destroy, as plants which do not conform to a desired standard. 9. to perform this operation upon; to rogue a field. (appar. short for obs. roger, begging vagabond, roamer and beggar). -Syn. 1. see knave.

"Death panels"!? Did anybody ever hear her explain what in the world she was talking about or why she apparently prefers the real, and demonstrably lethal private health insurance companies' death panels to the mythical government death panels? Has anybody heard of any death panels in Medicare or Veterans' Health Services? And since it's a good idea to require every car to be insured against damage, then why is it not a good idea to have every human body also insured against damage? The principal is the same. When some people get health care without having bought insurance, the cost of insurance to those who are buying it goes up. And health care plus profit for investors costs more than health care without profit for the government. And health care is more important and more expensive than car care. Why is this not self evident?

Conclusion: Too many of her attitudes and ideas are about half smart, as evidenced by, not only the choice of title for her book, but also her choice of editors and advisers whom one would assume had some education in the literary arts, and would know the definition of the word "rogue"! Or is she happy to define herself as a dishonest rascal and cheat?

Written as though it was a 'young reader edition', this book is simplistic and embarrassing for any true Conservative to read. The writing and the vocabulary have been dumbed down to about middle school level.

I got the book from the library and read it so I could get a sense of why this woman is so popular. I was bored to pieces with the book, but muscled through it, and really didn't find anything appealing in there. Sure, it's nice that she's just like everyone else out there, but what else is there to her?

What I did find was that she is not responsible for anything that's gone wrong in her life. She and McCain lost the campaign because the McCain staffers kept too tight of a lid on her. They fed her BS non-answers to use instead of letting her answer her own way. They didn't let her talk to the press. They didn't let her jog.

Then after the campaign her office was flooded with ethics violation complaints, enough so that her staff could no longer perform their duties, and she could no longer perform as Governor. I found the book a bit on the whiny side.

I decided to read Governor Palin's book, "Going Rogue", not for partisan political reasons, but because I was interested in whether she would use this book to answer her critics, as well as address the numerous sticky issues that swirled around her political career in Alaska and as the Republican candidate for vice president in 2008. Since this book was advertised as a personal memoir, I was also interested in her story about growing up in Alaska, one of the least understood states in the USA. I'll leave all of the political and emotional stone-throwing to the other Reviewers on Amazon.com and simply write a Book Review instead. Additionally, since this section is dedicated to "book reviews," my 5-star rating applies to the book and is not intended as a personal rating of Governor Palin.

Like so many other Americans, I also closely followed the 2008 election. I already knew a lot about the political veterans Senators Biden and McCain, but initially knew very little factual information about Senator Obama and Governor Palin. Yet there were so many unusual and even bizarre stories being reported on the candidates that it became difficult to determine which were true, partially factual and which stories had no factual basis in reality. Considering, in my opinion, how nasty the mainstream media treated Palin, I was immediately interested in her side of the story. How an individual reacts and responds to adversity is very revealing about their character, upbringing, and ultimately their personal integrity. This is especially important to know regarding our public officials.

There were very few revelations in this book about Palin since during the election dozens of stories, as well as personal interviews with her dominated the airwaves and print media. Yet, the personal homespun style in which this book was written provided a virtual window into what motivates her to succeed, as well as what drives her to so strongly resist the status quo. After reading this over 400-page book, I felt I had gotten to know a little more about Governor Palin; what is important to her, why family and her Christian faith are such an integral part of who she is, and why Alaska is an inseparable part of her life.

Palin covers pretty much all of the accusations, outrageous stories written about the Palin family, and a lot on the internal workings of the McCain-Palin campaign that caused such a political brouhaha. This book could have been a "tell-all" attack on Palin's critics and enemies. Her explanations could have become little more than a 400-page "got'cha" session. But thankfully it wasn't. Palin maintained the book's autobiographical style and addressed each issue as it fit into the chronology of events. She set up each situation, giving it the necessary context, and then stated her recollection of the facts. The reader clearly knew when she was adding her own personal, unspoken thoughts in each circumstance. The reader also knew when and who Palin was displeased with, and why.

I don't recall feeling that Palin was playing loose and free with the truth in this book, nor did I feel she was straining to justify her actions or opinions. There were a number of moments in the book where Palin reflects on her mistakes, blind spots, and things she would have done differently, if given the opportunity. I found these moments very refreshing and frankly quite uncommon in our public servants today. There were times when I thought she spent too much time on incidental details concerning her family. Although, by the end of the book I realized that is just the way Sarah Palin is. The book is well written, funny in parts and disturbing in others. It is an excellent snapshot of our current American political atmosphere.

Palin leaves little doubt about her political philosophy, her ever-present faith in God, and genuine commitment to living out what she calls her Commonsense Conservatism. I came away from "Going Rogue" (a term the senior staff in the McCain campaign tagged her with) convinced that Governor Sarah Palin is a genuine, salt of the earth American who honestly believes she lives out what she preaches. This book chronicles the life of a bright, extremely skilled woman, with family, community, public service, faith and politics all wrapped together for good measure.

It should come as no surprise that not everyone will enjoy "Going Rogue." A few minutes of scrolling through the reviews on Amazon.com will bear that out. However, no matter whether you embrace Palin's politics and personal philosophy or not, I would think everyone should come away with a accurate picture of who Sarah Palin really is, why she is generally popular, and why she holds to her Commonsense Conservatism so dearly. If you can't at least get that much out of the book, your ideological blinders may need to be removed before reading "Going Rogue (An American Life)."