Saradise Lost Book 5 - Chapter 51: Reading Geoffrey Dunn's The Lies of Sarah Palin

I wrote some time back that there is a danger that at some point more will have been written about Sarah Palin than about everything else in Alaska combined. Who knows, we may have reached that point already.

A lot of what has been written about Palin has been web-based, but there are already more books about her than any other person in our state's short history. And several more are due to be released.

The only book on Palin I read fully was Going Rouge, the collection of critical articles about her, published in November, 2009. I had already read most of the chapters when they appeared as articles.

I didn't read either of the books published under her name. She had had somebody else write them for her, so I let somebody else - Jeanne Devon - read them for me. Her articles on both Palin books are hilariously illuminating, as she tore apart and deeply into the layers and layers of fabrication that are truly Palin's only imprint upon those books.

Friday, I received my review copy of Geoffrey Dunn's The Lies of Sarah Palin: The Untold Story Behind Her Relentless Quest for Power. I'll be hosting the firedoglake Book Salon with Geoffrey on Saturday, May 7th, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Alaska time. Both he and I will be there on-line to answer any questions from people there (you have to be a member of firedoglake's commenting community to participate).

The Lies of Sarah Palin is a remarkable book. It goes far beyond any of its predecessors in its critical research into Palin, from her beginnings, and it ends with coverage of Palin's near meltdown this past January, in the wake of the awful Tucson shootings and murders.

It is somewhat eery reading such thorough detail about one's own town. Dunn spends six pages (pp. 41-46) on Sarah Palin in the 8th grade, for instance. I know almost all the characters, some of them quite well.

Page after page, I'm reminded of what Judy told me back on September 1st, 2008, as we were canvassing for Obama in Wasilla. At the time - a little less than a week after Palin's selection as McCain's running mate, she said, "I can't believe how much you've forgotten about Sarah." Two weeks later, after being questioned about all sorts of past events involving Palin, by one reporter or blogger after another, Judy admitted, "I can't believe how much I've forgotten about Palin."

One thing abourt this book that strikes me as seminal is how irrefutable much of what Dunn presents is. The lies Palin will have to spin denying the truths between its covers will most likely deserve another book by another author. Too bad Soapy Smith isn't around to appreciate all this.