Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned the Political Establishment Upside Down
by Kaylene Johnson
List Price:
Our Price: $2.49
You Save: $13.46 (84%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Kaylene JohnsonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-09-12
ISBN: 1414330502
Number of pages: 168
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
Book Reviews of Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned the Political Establishment Upside Down
Book Review: Strictly fluff for Palinistas--not the biography we need...
Summary: 1 Stars
Before John McCain's surprise anointment of Sarah Palin as his running mate in August 2008, non-Alaskans who knew about Sarah Palin at all were likely (like me) to be policy wonks following the Troopergate controversy. After buying this book last summer, I read it twice, and wouldn't have reviewed it at all if Palin appeared to be returning gracefully to occupy herself with the business of her home state. She has not. Those "Where's Sarah?" buttons worn in Juneau, while she was charging the state per diem to live in her Wasilla home, reportedly have reappeared after the elections. As the instant celebrity that our nation excels--for better or worse--in creating, Palin doesn't seem to want to surrender the spotlight in which she basks any more than she wanted to relinquish the six-figure wardrobe purchased by the RNC. Consequently, readers need a substantive, thoughtful biography, written by someone who knows Alaska politics and isn't blinded by Sarah Palin's marquee power. (And whoever "indexed" this booklet should be flogged.)
This book, unfortunately, reads like a fanzine. In its small format, there are 32 full pages of photos and just 90 pages of text, with generous, generous white space. Five of the 90 pages are devoted to Palin's JV and varsity high-school basketball experiences. The index is both incomplete and inaccurate. Senator Ted Stevens, arguably the most prominent politician in Alaska history, allegedly appears on just two pages. One is an error, and Palin's long, intertwined history with Stevens is conveniently absent. Johnston even misspells her subject's name, at least twice.
"Sarah" is studded with the memes Palin made famous. Johnston calls Palin from the title onward a "hockey mom," but offers no details at all of that experience. Palin considered a Senate run in 2004, says Johnston, but one reason she didn't was because her eldest child, Track, then "planned to attend a high school out of state to play hockey." That year, Track was 15; he later left Alaska for his senior year in Michigan after an appearance in juvenile court that I won't go into. Among the many, many errors or omissions in this book are that Palin sold the governor's private jet on eBay (it was briefly listed there, but later sold, at a loss, through a broker, not eBay); that Palin was named Miss Congeniality in the 1984 Miss Alaska pageant (she wasn't), that she "attended" the University of Hawaii at Hilo, from which she "transferred" to Hawaii Pacific U. for a year, where Palin earned "straight A's" (Palin never registered at Hilo, and the only source of her alleged grades is the woman herself); that she went straight from North Idaho College to the state university (no mention of her attendances at Mat-Su's community college); that "when the [Heath] family wasn't running or hiking, it was hunting or fishing," yet Palin is a "bookworm" and "compulsive reader" (not a single author, book, or periodical is named anywhere); that she couldn't have ignored the concerns of Alaskan indigenous people because husband Todd Palin is a "Native" (he is one-eighth Yup'ik), and that her campaigns have been "focused on openness and transparency" (even as mayor of Wasilla, Palin got into hot water for sending official correspondence on her personal e-mail account, as she did--and for all we know, still does--as governor); and that she "learned to never tell a lie" (is her daughter Bristol named after the Alaska town or the Connecticut city, home of ESPN? Palin has said both, repeatedly. And if she'll lie about that, what else?).
This book was published in 2008, late enough for the references in the back to include a Palin interview in Vogue. However, Johnston inexplicably ends her narrative after Palin's election as governor in 2006, with a brief, three-page "epilogue" about selected actions as governor (not a mention of Walt Monegan, the public official Palin sacked for failing to fire her former brother-in-law), and only a fleeting reference to the multimillion-dollar hockey rink built in Wasilla. Johnston doesn't mention that construction began before the land it occupies was formally purchased, or that its cost left the small town deeply in debt. There's a six-page appendix comprising her unmemorable inaugural address as governor.
The author's internal editor didn't even keep her from including a grossly unflattering detail from Palin's campaign against former Governor Tony Knowles, who "rolled out a four-year plan for education. When it was Sarah's turn to speak, she paid tribute to her father as a beloved school teacher and promised--without specifics--to make education a top priority. 'The Knowles camp was apoplectic,'" noted Bill McAllister from KTUU in Anchorage, adding, "'They couldn't figure out why the media wasn't all over what a twit she was.'" This isn't an Amazon reviewer speaking here: Johnston is quoting a television broadcaster from a station that covers Sarah Palin regularly, even blocking access to its Palin archives to journalists and the public.
No, I'm not a Palin-hater, though I find her fascinating (probably for all the wrong reasons). She's a force of nature as well as a figure that will be reckoned with in national politics for the foreseeable future. We need substantial reporting on Sarah Palin, not Hostess Sno-Balls between covers.
More Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned the Political Establishment Upside Down reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Summary of Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned the Political Establishment Upside Down
In Sarah, the first biography released of Governor Palin, author Kaylene Johnson draws upon personal interviews with Palin, her family, and other highly placed sources to explore Palin's family life, her upbringing in a devout Christian home, her political rise, and how she went from being a long-shot candidate to--potentially--one of the world's most powerful women and political figures. The book features dozens of family and political photos and contains source notes. An Epicenter Press book, distributed by Tyndale House. Tyndale will also provide a free online discussion guide designed to engage readers on the subject of faith and politics: www.FaithandPoliticsDiscussionGuide.com.Political Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Political Books
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone, 1932-1940by William Manchester
Delta; Published: 1989-09-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.05
Price in other shops:
Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movementby John Lewis, Michael D'Orso
Harvest Books; Published: 1999-10-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.60
Price in other shops:
The Seventeen Traditionsby Ralph Nader
Harper; Published: 2007-02-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops:
About Faceby Hackworth
Audioworks; Published: 1989-04-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Price in other shops:
Iron Coffinsby Herbert A. Werner
Bantam; Published: 1991-05-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $29.95
Peter the Greatby Robert K. Massie
Ballantine Books; Published: 1981-10-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.35
Price in other shops:
Nicholas & Alexandraby Robert K. Massie
Scribner; Published: 1972-12-01; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New Yorkby Robert A. Caro
Knopf; Published: 1974-07-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $34.95
Price in other shops:
Trumanby David McCullough
Simon & Schuster; Published: 1992-06-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.94
Price in other shops:
The Revolution: A Manifestoby Ron Paul
Hachette Audio; Published: 2008-04-30; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $15.22
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Lifeby John McCain, Marshall Salter
Ballantine Books; Published: 2008-07-15; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.75
Price in other shops:
Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifestoby Mark R. Levin
Threshold Editions; Published: 2009-03-24; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.20
Price in other shops:
The Christmas Sweaterby Glenn Beck, Kevin Balfe, Jason F. Wright
Threshold Editions; Published: 2008-11-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.78
Price in other shops:
Sarah Palin: A New Kind of Leaderby Joe Hilley
Zondervan - ebooks account; Published: 2008-10-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.26
Price in other shops:
Do the Right Thing: Inside the Movement That's Bringing Common Sense Back to Americaby Mike Huckabee
Sentinel HC; Published: 2008-11-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.83
Price in other shops:
The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personalityby Jerome R. Corsi
Threshold Editions; Published: 2008-08-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.68
Price in other shops:
The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favorite Candidateby David Freddoso
Regnery Publishing; Published: 2008-08-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.50
Price in other shops:
Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoirby John McCain, Mark Salter
Harper; Published: 2008-10-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.02
Price in other shops:
Fleeced: How Barack Obama, Media Mockery of Terrorist Threats, Liberals Who Want to Kill Talk Radio, the Do-Nothing Congress, Companies That Help Iran, and Washington Lobbyists for Foreign Governments Are Scamming Us ... and What to Do About Itby Dick Morris, Eileen Mcgann
Harper; Published: 2008-07-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.54
Price in other shops:
A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanityby Bill O'Reilly
Broadway; Published: 2008-09-23; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops: