Going Rouge

So, when is Carrie Prejean going to join Sarah Palin on the ... uh ... trail? I wonder how The Nation can get away with using that picture of Palin without paying any royalty? Being a public persona, I guess, means your image is pretty much fair game for all takers.

Spoof biographies look to spoil Sarah Palin's book launch

Going Rouge, a parody of the former vice-presidential candidate's 'mom's eye view' of US politics, Going Rogue, will hit stores next month on the same day as its target

Double take ... the 'genuine' Sarah Palin biography, and the spoof.

For those unable to stomach Sarah Palin's forthcoming "mom's-eye view of high-stakes national politics" Going Rogue (count me among that number), small US publisher OR Books has announced that it will bring out Going Rouge, an alternative view of the former Republican vice-presidential candidate, on the same day.

Parodying the cover of Palin's memoir (subtitled An American Life), which sees a relaxed-looking Palin in front of a blue, cloud-strewn sky, Going Rouge (subtitled An American Nightmare) places Palin in front of thunderous clouds and lightning.

The book – the title is a reference to the US newsreader who mistakenly called the autobiography Going Rouge – will see a series of contributors examine Palin's origins in Alaska, her rise in the Republican party, and "the nightmarish prospect of her continuing to dominate the nation's political scene", OR Books said. It will be published as a paperback and ebook on 17 November, the same day that Palin's hardback Going Rogue is due out.

Another spoof, Going Rouge – The Sarah Palin Rogue Coloring and Activity Book by cartoonist Julie Sigwart and Micheal Stinson, is also out on 17 November. Featuring mazes ("Help Sarah find her way to the White House"; "Where in the world does domestic Alaskan oil go?"), puzzles and word games, the authors promise to "mercilessly lampoon and parody everything Palin in 48 pages of hilarity".

"We are environmentally conscious folks, and consider her to be a total threat to ecosystems everywhere, a continuation of the abominable legacy of George W Bush, an epitome of the stereotypical 'Ugly American'," Stinson said by email today. He promised that their book "doesn't just have a buncha words, we've got pictures" too.

Whether either of the Going Rouge books will have any impact on Palin's sales is doubtful. Going Rogue, written in just four months for a reported $7m (£4.4m) advance, pushed Dan Brown's new novel The Lost Symbol off the top spot on Amazon.com's bestseller lists earlier this month, over six weeks before publication.

And how many of those advance sales were bulk orders? I predict it will make a quick trip to the Bargain Bin. The original story is here.