Posted on 11/17/2009 9:30:57 PM PST by grey_whiskers
I bought my copy of Sarah Palin's Going Rogue on the way home from work today.
There was a giant stack of the book available at Costco, but I had already called ahead to Barnes and Noble, where I had some other shopping to do.
At Barnes and Noble, to my surprise, the book was prominently displayed, but not *too* prominently. That is, it was on the central table as one entered the store, but not *facing* the entrance. You had to look for it. From all appearances, a number of copies had already sold by the time I arrived at 4:30 PM.
When I went to the cashier, I gave them my name so they could go to the shelves behind the register and get my copy. Following the clerk with my eyes, it seemed a goodly number of other people (6 or 8, maybe?) had done the same thing.
The clerk wore a chagrined expression, so I tried to brighten things up by asking cheerfully, "It's the first day the book has been out. Has it been moving well?"
A grimace, and the words came out, after a pause. Reluctantly, as it were. "Well, my shift just started, so I don't really know. But I think it has sold some."
I was waiting for the expected snark about my low IQ, but it didn't come. I suspect the clerk felt as the sand castle does at the moment it looks up and sees the tsunami approaching, just after it had been celebrating how far the ocean had receded...
And now, on to the book.
I can do no better than to quote a reviewer of one of Madeleine L'Engle's novels, that "If you are a fast reader, this book will provide you with hours of memorable enjoyment. If you are a slow reader, fast readers will be consumed with jealousy."
I *am* a fast reader: but I have two teenagers and therefore, limited time. I will only be able to review up to around page 130.
The first two pages of the book make it clear that Sarah is not a poseur, nor a "Johnny come lately" to the conservative movement. And she is a genuine religious conservative: which, given the dedication of Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, explains the reaction to her. All I will say (no spoilers) is that the breath left my body when I read about her daughter Piper at the Alaska state fair--and this from August of 2008.
The book then goes on as an chronologically-ordered autobiography, explaining her childhood and family's motivations, jokes, and style. After reading these pages, Sarah's optimistic, but determined personality can be seen, even in her early life. Some good examples of this include her description of finishing her first marathon, her joining the other second-stringers on her high-school basketball team to win the state championship her senior year, her determination that faith in God can draw you on to do great things.
And the description of the birth of her first child makes it clear beyond question that she is not--and never could be--a craven careerist.
(Incidentally, those wondering about the unusual names for her children will find their questions answered here. For example, Palin says that if Track had been born during wrestling season, his name would *not* have been "Track", and not "Wrestle" either, but "Mat".)
Also important in the first chapter, but continuing throughout the book, are picturesque descriptions of the people, the sky, the very land of Alaska. These are written with an un-selfconscious style which cannot be faked. Her concern for the environment comes from living next to the land, having a husband who has for many years earned a living from the fishing industry. But at the same time, Todd Palin has also worked for the oil industry. She is well aware of the competing claims of development and environmentalism. She writes first hand of the impact of the Exxon Valdez oil spill upon the state of Alaska -- and not just those in the area sullied by the spill -- because the *impression* created by the spill affected prices paid for fish, even for fisheries far away from the slick.
The second chapter explains how she got her start on the town council, and incidentally, her first exposure to (low-level) self-serving. She relates how a member of the chamber of commerce in Wasilla, wanted to create regulations requiring homeowners in new developments to have their garbage picked up once a week (rather than taking it to the dump themselves). All well and good, except that the man making the proposal owned the garbage collection company. And thus she saw in microcosm the temptations of government. But as she wrote elsewhere in the chapter, "In politics, you're either eating well or sleeping well. And I wanted to sleep well."
Time forbids me from writing nearly as much as needs to be written about the book. But I will say, that with the exception of a few passages where Sarah's native speaking voice disappears, it is clear that the "ghost writer" did not create the *content*. The book is obviously Sarah on Sarah -- and just as obviously written by someone with keen intellect and very emotionally balanced: completely unlike the caricatures which have been painted by paid shills and hacks on the left. And speaking of the shills, I have read today from a number of places, any number of criticisms of the book. One Democrat mouthpiece even characterized it as "whining". After 130 pages, I have yet to see a single whine of any kind. But I have seen what will doubtless be *future* whimpers: those of her detractors during the Presidential campaign. In this book Sarah explains the back story hidden by the press, and the motivations of those cited as "sources" in hit pieces on her.
Finally, around the time I have stopped reading, Palin describes her time as Lieutenant Governor, her association with the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC), and her run for governor. This section of the book is a veritable gold mine, but it is worth touching on a few salient lines and points along the way. The most interesting thing politically, is that the FBI executed a number of search warrants related to corrupt legislators, relating to oil-and-gas interests. The next most interesting thing, is that Sarah was stonewalled by a number of people -- including the head of the AOGCC, the governor, the attorney general -- in getting to the bottom of the corruption. Her response was telling (p.99):
"I knew what I had to do, so I resigned -- stepping away from the ethical lapses and hierarchical blinders to effect change where I could--on the outside."
But she didn't *stay* on the outside. She organized a grass-roots movement for governor, against many more "connected" people, based on representing the people: not merely talking of it, but driving 12-hour round trips in her VW Jetta for meet-and-greets, when she couldn't afford the airfare. Meeting with Native villagers--with both her own children and the campaign staffers' children in tow.
And not for the glamorous photo-ops either. For the sake of winning hearts and votes, by word-of-mouth.
This is a woman who set a goal, and is single minded in her determination to achieve it: and won.
Chills went down my spine when I read of her victory, and thought of her subsequent resignation as governor: it was not a defeat for her, but a way to move to effect change where she can -- on the outside.
And those who rely on insider connections to line their own pockets, who don't care about solving our country's problems, had better be warned.
As Sarah herself put it on page 114 (with a nod to Barack Obama):
"We were change when change wasn't cool!"
This book is her first salvo.
It won't be the last.
Cheers!
bttt
Thanks for taking the time to post this excellent review. You make me really anxious to get my copy.
I am in the Philippines right now and I hope to see it in the bookstore here soon-they carry all the left wing books from the US, so it would be a crime if they don’t carry this one.
It came to me, that if you understand Sarah, you understand what her father Chuck Heath said. "Sarah didn't quit. She stopped to Reload."
But a better metaphor came to me as I was reading your review.
General Patton didn't quit attacking the German Army when he disengaged, wheeled the 3rd Army and marched to relieve Bastogne. He defeated them utterly.
Imagine the last 4 months if Sarah had not come to the defense of our country immediately!!!
Petty careerists just don't get it. She isn't worried about running for President, that she trusts to God. She is fighting to save our country like the rest of us now, when it matters because if we lose 2010, there really won't be any hope or change in 2012.
Good report. I think I’ll request the audiobook from the library. I can’t read much these days: Frank knocks the books out of my hands.
Got mine Yesterday in Grand Rapids. Gonna see her 2day. Read an excerpt from the book on the Roger Fredinberg Show last night.
I was waiting for the expected snark about my low IQ, but it didn't come. I suspect the clerk felt as the sand castle does at the moment it looks up and sees the tsunami approaching, just after it had been celebrating how far the ocean had receded...Thanks grey_whiskers. Nice turn of phrase!
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