Going Rogue: Sarah Palin Finishes Her Memoir

Tuesday, 29th September 2009

Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Good news, Palin fans: her memoir has beaten its deadline and will now be available in November! So you won't have to wait until spring to read Going Rogue: An American Life.

That's an interesting title: perfect, absurd and perhaps a little bit revealing. Not the American Life bit since just about everyone* has enjoyed an "American Life" but the Going Rogue** bit. This either suggests that Palin still hasn't appreciated the damage she eventually did to John McCain's presidential campaign (damage for which McCain was, of course, largely responsible himself) or, and this seems more probable, that she does appreciate this and has decided that it's something worth revelling in. That in turn might be thought a suggestion that she's more interested in being a celebrity than a real politician. But perhaps that's unfair: Going Rogue: An American Life will surely reveal all!

Anyway, readers are invited to submit alternative titles for Sarah Palin's memoir that would give a still better idea of the treats in store for those rushing to purchase one of the first 1.5m copies available. (Usual rules apply***)

*That is, among others: Reagan, Franklin, Mellon, Jesse Owens, Ben Hogan, Dr Benjamin Spock, Daniel Boone, Burt Lancaster, Oral Roberts, Jerry Garcia, Martha Washington and, er, Bill Richardson have all, according to their memoirs or biographers, led "An American Life". In fact the only Un-American Life I can think of is Sam Tanenhaus's masterful biography of Whittaker Chambers which was given that title for its British publication.

**Things that "go rogue": Lions, Elephants, Sharks, Vietnam Veterans, Cops, Alaskans...

***No prizes, just for fun.