Customer Reviews

Sarah from Alaska: The Sudden Rise and Brutal Education of a New Conservative Superstar

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Sarah from Alaska" will appeal to both supporters AND non-supporters of the former Alaskan governor. It is a solidly written, UNBIASED account of her VP campaign last year. The "good" is presented with the "bad". I am a political junkie, and a solid Democrat, but I enjoyed reading this book and gained some perspective about Mrs Palin. So unbiased is the writing that I really can't discern the writers' political leanings from their writing!

I was amused to note that the one-star review (so far) was written by a Sarah Palin supporter who admits he did not read the book, but didn't like the picture of her on the cover(!). Not the best basis for a review. My advise to him is to actually READ the book. He'd probably enjoy it.

Whether you agree with Sarah Palin or not, this is a historical look at Ms. Palin and her experience on the campaign trail. You will go behind the scenes and find answers to the questions that may have escaped the notice of the general public. You will also read the truth behind rumors that constantly plagued the former vice presidential candidate. The authors have written a comprehensive book that looks at the real Ms. Palin, her trials and triumphs.
I highly recommend it.

This is the last book I expected to find myself reading, but life takes you strange places. What I've found is an insightful journey alongside the most polarizing politician this country has seen in years. Along the way, I've turned from my preconceived notions about the candidate and the person, replacing conjecture with fact. I've discovered that there is a real person with real motivation behind it all. Now, don't get me wrong, you won't find me voting for her or supporting her. Knowing her is not necessarily loving her, unless you already do. Regardless, a worthy read for anyone who understands that history is what happens when we have time to apply thought and research to the events that shape our time. This is a fine start to the writing of that history.

I am the last person that thought he would read a book about Sarah Palin. From what I have seen and heard, she is the type of person I would very much dislike and avoid being around, much less vote for. But, I am very grateful for this balanced, even dry, accounting of Ms. Palin's sudden meteoric rise, the campaign, and the political dog-fight she encountered when she returned to Alaska. And, even as someone biased against the politician, this blow by blow insider's account - which, as far as I can tell, is about as free of partisan hackery as one could realistically achieve still so close to the event - is a fresh, candid assessment of those tumultuous months. I was pleasantly surprised, though, to see that the memes of "Sarah the Brute," "Sarah the Dim," and "Sarah the Savior" so popular with the chattering classes are cardboard cut-outs that do the subject no justice at all, a glittering slash and thrust towards the heart of the marketed image we see and accept as uncritically true as opposed to a more difficult and multi-layered relative "truth" one cannot reach in brief interviews and canned photo ops. In this book, there was much to praise about Sarah Palin, and much to pity, and much to find distasteful if not outright worrisome. In short, it humanizes her as she moved through those most dehumanizing of waters, American politics. Detractors and supporters will find no comfort in these pages. No valentines for either camp. And all this does, in my estimation, is raise the credibility level.

Has the book turned me into a Palin supporter? No, absolutely not. But it did at least give me a greater appreciation of the person, as least as viewed as a person functioning under amazingly stressful circumstances. And the debunking of the tawdry "affair of the clothes" is as sour an indictment of political machines and self-appointed "image" and "taste-makers" as one could hope to find this side of the French Revolution's "Affair of the Diamond Necklace." The old Nikon ads were wrong, as any person of sense knows and this book shows. Image is NOT everything. And when the image is so horribly wrong about a person, whether you like them or not and whether or not that "image" is postitive or negative, it can have devastating consequences.

I gave it four stars because, I suspect, as further Palin involvement in American politics evolves (or fails to evolve), it is material that will need to be amended afresh as more information comes to light. I therefore regard this as just one chapter in a story unfolding. But, it is worth the money.

I recommend "Sarah from Alaska" with the caveat that it's just a first, great telling of events close as they happened that will have to be measured further by future historians as more information develops. But it's as solid a first step in that direction as we are likely to find at the moment.

NOTE (November 20, 2009): I wish to add the fact that I happened to catch the young authors on a television show the other day. One, I believe, was an "embedded" Palin entourage reporter for FOX and the other for CBS, if I am remembering correctly (although I cannot be certain). So, not only do they have impeccable first hand credentials, they went through their research methods soberly and precisely, and explained in candid detail without opinion commentary how they reached their weighty conclusions. I was very favorably impressed, and although I cannot do so, I would raise my "stars" to "five" based on what I saw and heard.

Recommend.

This is a detailed, insightful and fair treatment of Palin's career up through recent events. It dispels some inaccuracies (particularly about the expensive clothes debacle) and correctly explains many of the events that Alaskans watched from a ringside seat. It could have delved into the more substantial ethics complaints rather than treat them all as frivolous, but it does describe some of Palin's better-known "embellishments" (a tactful word for "lies.") Her diehard supporters may not like the portrait that emerges, but many Alaskans and others will easily recognize it, and it certainly captures the Palin persona that has come to overshadow the actual person.

As a Democrat I'm not a fan of Sara Palin. I think she's out of her league in a job as big as the Presidency. But there's no denying that she's a compelling character for a lot of Americans. She comes off here better than she does in "Game Change" (at least here she's not mentally unbalanced), but still cannot "expand" to meet the larger roles on the national scene. There's a considerable amount of the book that happens after the end of the campaign, and this is a part of her life not treated very completely by many other books. I recommend it for a Republican or a Democrat.

Well-written. A perfect painting of the "real" Sarah Palin. It shows Palin's true colors and isn't a pretty picture. Self-centered, narcissistic, insensitive, phony, cruel, uncaring, "it's all about me" are just a few adjectives to describe this woman Sarah. God help us if we're dumb enough to elect her to a public office. She's dangerous!

This book fills in some holes that Sarah probably left out of her book on purpose or maybe for time. Either way, I recommend it if you have read Going Rogue. The two books tell the complete story of her run for VP and insights to what she believes.

this is a well written and well balanced book that was very readable. i hope the authors keep writing on politics or news events

In the aftermath of the last election, I have started to try to take a second look at Sarah Palin. I did not support her when she first came on the scene and was appalled at what I thought was a bimbo trying to flirt her way into the vice presidency. At the same time, I did think the media went overboard in its negative portrayal of Palin when compared to the other candidates, making fun of her children and Alaska in general. Making fun of a Down's child or pregnant teenager is way out of bounds. One of the reasons I have stopped to reconsider her is that the media never stopped hounding her even after the race was well over and she should have been forgotten.

I read Palin's "Going Rogue" book and found my opinion of her rose somewhat. Intrigued, I then purchased this book to find out more. It is written by a couple of young journalists who were part of the campaign scene and got a lot of "inside" material. I have to give them credit as it seems they do try to be even handed and nonpartisan--I just want to know the truth, not spin. They paint Palin as being very kind and gracious most of the time but also having a ruthless, very self promoting streak. That seems fair; I would wager that MOST of the politicians out there have both these traits, or at least outwardly. However, according to this book, Palin was continually trying to buck the McCain campaign manager's plans and do things her own way, often creating more problems for herself. According to the book, Palin seemed to develop a bit of a big head and really thrived on the attention she was getting. In the end, this caused problems when the campaign was over and she had to return to a boring, secluded governors job in Alaksa instead of the White House. She could not forget her experiences on the road and her anger towards the press; frivolous lawsuits finally unnerved her and she quit her job "for the good of the people".

In this account, Palin is pictured as being an intelligent woman who let her ambition get in the way. She is seen often contradicting herself, such as being angry over the media treatment of her children, but then offering up them as examples in many of her speeches; telling people she would not fire them and then doing so indirectly; chiding a former opponent over using abortion of a litmus test, then doing the same thing herself by refusing to be seen with pro choice republicans. She seems to have convictions about some things--until they get in her way and it is inconvenient to follow them. On the other hand, she practiced what she preached by having a Down's child at age 44 when she was a governor and could have aborted the baby.

All in all, this book still leaves me respecting her a little more but still somewhat undecided about her. In my opinion, quitting the governor job was the worst thing she could have done; she needed the experience and to show that she could handle the heat. If she cannot handle being a governor, then she can not handle the presidency. I can feel some sympathy for what she went through, and if she quits because of that and never goes back to politics, I actually respect that. However, stay out of the kitchen if you cannot take the heat of running for and perhaps being president.