Send-Up Of Sarah Palin's Memoir, Called Going Rouge, Causing Confusion

Palin Parody Book Creating Lots of Oopsies In The Media

Posted by: Kate Torgovnick Filed in: news
1:20PM, Monday November 23rd 2009

Ha ha ha. On the very same day that HarperCollins released Sarah Palin‘s memoir, Going Rogue: An American Life, new book publisher O/R put out its first offering—Going Rouge: An American Nightmare. The covers are almost identical, though instead of the red hoodie and sunny sky, the mock version uses a stock photo of Sarah in a red suit against a stormy sky. Going Rouge is a collection of essays about Sarah Palin, curated by Richard Kim and Betsy Reed, both editors at The Nation, and written by authors and journalists like Eve Ensler, Katha Pollitt, Frank Rich, Tom Perrotta, and Naomi Klein. And the tome is apparently causing a ton of confusion. When USA Today ran a review of Palin’s book in today’s issue, the piece was accompanied by a photo of Going Rouge. Fox News Channel made the same mistake in a segment last week. (Or were these errors the work of Palin-hating employees playing a prank?) And O/R publishing has evidently been contacted by oodles of reporters wanting to chat with Palin. “One website not only thought we were Ms. Palin’s publishers but called the book Going Rough,” joked the book’s co-publisher. So what do you think—is this funny satire, or over-the-line sabotage? [NY Post]

comments

Riley
wrote on November 23 2009 @ 01:30 pm: [report]

Sabotage, only because of the overt similarities between the covers and the release date; but I don’t think there is much she could do about it.

Kind of childish, I mean how big of an influence is this book going to have anyway? Seems like a lot of effort for someone that isn’t important.

hlnbabe
wrote on November 23 2009 @ 01:32 pm: [report]

what fact checker can’t read “an american nightmare”? totally hilarious and not a step over the line.

C.Munro
wrote on November 23 2009 @ 01:41 pm: [report]

Overt similarity is common in satire. I think it’s the timing that makes this one tricky. Had O/R’s book been released a while after HarperCollins’s book, I think defending it as satire would be pretty solid. But the similarities then would be easier to construe as humorous, as it would be poking fun at something already familiar in pop culture.

So sly
wrote on November 23 2009 @ 01:51 pm: [report]

It’s fair game. At least someone didn’t come out with a dirty Harlequin type book called Going Rough: An American Wife. lol. That would be hilarious! The cover of the book could have her holding a gun with one foot on a dead animal, wearing one of those bodice ripped shirts. :D

BlueVibe
wrote on November 23 2009 @ 02:00 pm: [report]

Freedom of speech. No different from the Onion, really.

Riley
wrote on November 23 2009 @ 02:03 pm: [report]

@C.Munro - I’ll agree with overt similarities being a common tool in satire. I also agree about the timing, they might have sold more copies if O/R did wait a little while. I do think the dual release was only meant to cause confusion, which obviously worked.

I’m still hopeful that the majority of voters purchased the book as either a joke or just to read it out of morbid curiosity. I think all political memoirs are a joke, most of them are just written to take a final jab at enemies; likely never read by the supposed author.

spatula
wrote on November 23 2009 @ 02:20 pm: [report]

I’m divided, I guess..I think it was definitely engineered to cause confusion, but I also agree with @hlnbabe about “An American Nightmare”; how do you miss that?

So..hilarious sabotage?

moonblossom
wrote on November 23 2009 @ 03:21 pm: [report]

Hilarious. And well deserved. I’d love to read what Eve Ensler has to say about Palin.

retro chic
wrote on November 23 2009 @ 04:55 pm: [report]

She’s already a parody… why be redundant? I think a device like the cheesecake Newsweek cover of her, which I fondly refer to as “Going Vogue,” is more powerful.

She is also her own Reality TV show in a popular genre that has already managed to blur the lines between public persona, and well, reality, and intelligent competence. This send-up will only serve to help her in the long run by stoking the fire.

The thing is, love her or hate her – laugh or salute – just don’t underestimate her. It will not be so funny if she grins and spoofs her way to the White House, like Reagan and Dubya did (or at least veep). So many times, media-driven high-office politics is the opposite of what should make sense. Don’t believe it?... let’s talk again in 3 years.