We have covered Sarah Palin in several past posts:
- If nothing else, Sarah Palin is focusing attention on the presidential election
- How retouching works (media storm about the unretouched Newsweek cover)
- An unanswered question – What did Obama have to learn, and Palin try to learn, to become a national candidate?
- Stuff that makes you go Hmmm #3 – Sarah Palin’s resignation

This week, Sarah Palin’s book “Going Rogue” comes out (official release date is November 17, 2009). The early reviews are fascinating because Sarah Palin remains incredibly newsworthy. And this book is definitely newsworthy because it is turning into one of the biggest events in the history of publishing.

So let’s start at the beginning: Why did Sarah Palin write the book? According to this article there are five goals:
1) Reconnect with her base
2) Payback
3) Stick it to the media
4) Send a message to the establishment
5) Burnish her image as a serious figure

Rush Limbaugh (and other conservative commentators) have been especially pushing #5. For example:

Rush calls Palin memoir “one of the most substantive policy books I’ve read”

They are also promoting this book in ways never seen before, which will likely push the book to stratospheric heights.

What will her book tour look like? It will be a huge event:

Is Palin’s book tour merely an opening chapter?

Palin will travel from one book signing to another aboard a bus that will make the tour appear very much like an extension of her campaign for vice president, or the beginning of a new campaign. She will be riding what one Republican calls a backlash among many conservatives against the treatment she has received from the media and much of the political establishment.

The book tour will provide the subtext for a bigger discussion of what kind of political future Palin may have — or, more important, may want to have. Is she merely a political personality, or is there something that could be called “Palinism,” defining a political philosophy that could help her party win elections and turn her into a viable national candidate?

…

Gingrich said he expects an “amazing” book tour for the former Alaska governor, with enthusiastic audiences at her signings and plenty of media coverage. “If in the process she begins to develop a sophisticated message and she begins to do interviews where people say, you know, ‘She was maligned and there’s a lot more there than I thought,’ she’ll be very formidable — and she’ll be the front-runner by February or March.”

Where did the title come from? A nice demonstration:

Want a quick summary of the book? The AP provides this overview:

Palin book goes after McCain camp but not Levi

The people who worked with Sarah Palin on McCain’s campaign are not happy:

McCain camp: Palin account ‘all fiction’

Top aides to Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign hit back at Sarah Palin Friday and Saturday, calling the former vice presidential nominee’s soon-to-be-released book “revisionist and self serving” “fiction.”

The Associated Press has also noted a number of factual problems with the book:

FACT CHECK: Palin’s book goes rogue on some facts

And Palin has countered:

Palin accuses the AP of doing ‘opposition research’ in fact check

The Oprah interview is scheduled for today, November 16:

Sarah Palin “Going Rogue”: A Book Release and Interview with Oprah Scheduled for Palin

See also opinions from the media:

And Entertainment Weekly reports on copycat books also being released on November 17:

Lookalike book ‘Going Rouge’ is coming!

Between Oprah, every conservative commentator and every news outlet, can any more hype be raised about a book? Probably not.

See also: How Sarah Palin Works