A Book Review by Beetle, a Hamster

Want some "light" reading that will give you nightmares? You'll probably say no. I'm here to change your mind.

Yes, it's the book written by that guy who rented the house next door to Sarah Palin. You know the one. The writer she accused of peeking over fences and through windows. Him. 

I call this light reading because Sarah Palin is pretty much off the political map.... at least for now. So this exploration of her character should be amusing, not scary. It's both.

I won't repeat what's written in the book. I'll just give you some very broad hints. 

You'll probably not be surprised to read about the welcome that author Joe McGinniss received when he set up his grill on the deck of the somewhat neglected residence. There was a surly Todd Palin who introduced himself by saying "I don't like this." His farewell was considerably less friendly. The landlady reminded McGinniss that the Palins still had a key to the property from when they rented it years before. "Change the locks," she advised. The chief of police called out of nowhere to offer special protection. A repairman arrived with cardboard taped over his license tags, fearful of reprisals should the Palins see the truck and trace it to him. And so it goes.

Meet the paranoid Palin clan. And those early experiences pretty much end McGinniss's first hand account of life in the world of Palin. The rest of the book consists mainly of interviews with people who know the Palins - former friends, one-time political allies, fearless foes. And they have a lot to say.

Sarah Palin's parenting skills, if you could call her child-rearing manner a skill, may be less than surprising to a lot of us, except that it's worse than you think. A one-time friend's description of a seldom-washed toilet shared by Palin daughters Bristol and Willow is graphic and repulsive.

The story of Palin's relatively brief foray into politics is one of ambition, luck, ruthless opportunism, bullying and, most significantly, a cadre of background players who pulled the strings from the beginning. That's the part of the book that will give you nightmares. 

Palin home in Wasilla (from internet)

But it's complicated. The puppet masters include Sarah's Wasilla Church of God, which is affiliated with the "spiritual warfare" philosophy of something called the New Apostolic Reformation, which is largely the brainchild of one C. Peter Wagner... and it goes on from there. My paws got sweaty as I turned the pages. Their cutting hatred was so extreme that I, frankly, didn't believe half of what I was reading. So I Googled the above institutions and names. It's all true.

Try it yourself. And let the nightmares begin.

Here you will also find quotes from all the  people behind the rumors about a pending Palin split, Sarah's extramarital affair with her husband's business partner, the bizarre ocurrances surrounding her last pregnancy, the alleged cocaine use and all the rest. 

This is a book full of ironies - and populated by Palin relatives that could have come from a road movie filled with the most improbable low-life characters. 

In this review I've intentionally left out some of the most fascinating revelations. You'll love this book!