Customer Reviews

Trailblazer: An Intimate Biography of Sarah Palin

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I am intrigued by Sarah Palin. Despite what most people think, she is a very smart, informed, knowledgable and yes,a articulate woman. I admire her ability to handle so many really important items on the average persons check list & has completed probably a lot of items on her "bucket list". I've never seen a family like hers, handle so many issues, whether family oriented or political with so much ease. This is the 3rd book about Palin that I've read. I loved "Going Rogue" the most. With some of these books you have to be attentive to what your reading in order not to be confused. If you don't like details and a lot of moving back & forth between family responsibilities and politics, you may not enjoy this book or some of the others on Palin.
Well worth reading this and other books about Sarah Palin, especially if you like her or want to learn more about her.

While I can't stand Sarah Palin I found it an intersting read. While she advocates as a mom dedicated to special needs children.. she needs to actually be with her son.. she is ALWAYS LEAVING HIM WITH SOMEONE. When you sit by your child's bedside for weeks while they are having surgery and you fight for insurance.. then talk to me about being an adocate. If somehow she becomes president I willl move to Canada and that is a promise

I found this book very enlightening and appreciated the personal perspective vs. the political slant I expected. During the election, Sarah's gaffes gave ample opportunity for the press to paint the Palin portrait with one color. Trailblazer reflects the journey that paved the way for her seemingly baffling appointment as the Vice Presidential nominee in a way that begins to shed light and understanding on what poised Palin for this position. Given the roar from the crowd that what made her special was that she is "just one of us," I thought the author's choice to tell the story in a straight forward and simple manner accurately reflected the same ease in which people connect with Palin. I found it to be an honest and unbiased account of the story preceding her tipping point which led to an explosion on the world stage.

Trailblazer is a wonderfully researched book. I learned more about Sarah Palin by reading it than all of the other biographies combined. That's probably because Lorenzo Benet, a correspondent for many years with People Magazine, is an excellent journalist and writer. His book presents a blend of the personal and political and he carefully avoids indicting Palin for her politics. Benet did a great job of writing a balanced book, so that whatever your feelings about Palin, you will come away with a good understanding of the woman who was the first Republican woman to run for vice president. I highly recommend this book.

Not much information about what makes her tick. It was an outsider looking in (not from a close viewpoint, either).

I really enjoyed the book. You get to know Sarah Palin real well and how she became the VP candidate. Sarah has come a long way, in a "man's" world of politics. I strongly recommend this book!

Very enlightening.Makes one wonder why anyone would go into politics and put up with character abuse.

Interesting basis for comparison to Sarah's perspectives in "Going Rogue". Enables me to make a more accurate and balanced assessment of Sarah Palen and who she really is, as opposed to what the media makes up about her. Admirable woman of strength, integrity and character - - not perfect, but neither is any candidate out there!

I read Sarah Palin's memoir, Going Rogue: An American Life before I started posting book reviews to Amazon. Palin impressed me with her political history, going from city council to mayor to governor to Republican Vice-Presidential nominee. The story of her climb up the political ladder was exciting to read, and I looked forward to a different perspective in Trailblazer: An Intimate Biography of Sarah Palin by Lorenzo Benet.

Benet, an assistant editor at People magazine as well as a coauthor of a number of pop biographies, unfortunately has written a boring book that reveals absolutely nothing about Palin that the public doesn't already know. Trailblazer relies on news articles and televised media stories for its sources, and anyone who has read the newspaper or watched Palin's media appearances will find nothing new here. Benet, to his credit, did interview Palin for People, when the magazine did a story on the then governor shortly after she gave birth to her son Trig, who was born with Down Syndrome. There however mustn't have been a lot of substance to that article as he only touches on his actual meeting and interview with Palin. Benet relies on many quotes from an interview he had with one of Palin's sisters, but the calibre of quotes he culls from her are all fluff, ranging from how good she was at high school basketball to how fabulous she works at juggling her time between her work and family. He also interviews Palin's hairstylist and all that she can say is how she changed Palin's hair colour and that she and Palin love to chitchat about their kids. All the quotes he gets out of people are fluff like this, which makes a very boring read indeed.

Trailblazer, written in 2009, seems out of date already since Palin has lived a lifetime of activity in the 24 months since the book first came out. Most glaring are the references to the upcoming wedding between Palin's daughter Bristol and future Playgirl model Levi Johnston. Benet speculates about Palin's future and while he could not have known that she would resign as Alaska governor later on in 2009, or that she would star in her own TV show, he was prescient in thinking that she would write her autobiography. For more in-depth information about Palin's rise up the political ladder, read Going Rogue.

What a great read! This book goes into real depth and reveals the "real" Sarah Palin. We're treated to all things Sarah, from the mundane (she never eats any food with the letter "e" in it) to the sublime (she inadvertently participated in an occult human sacrifice ritual). The story about how Sarah got the tatoo of Gertrude Stein on her neck was fascinating, and the account of its subsuquent removal was also quite interesting. I was also fascinated by Sarah's numerous fistfights with next door neighbor Marjorie Blanche Votsner, who landed in the hospital seven times. But there were tender moments, too. Very much enjoyed how Sarah took her stylist's daughter under her wing. A definite recommend!