(Snort)

"Not Afraid of Life - My Journey So Far" by Bristol Palin with Nancy French William Morrow 256 pages $25.99

On October 18, 2011, Palin will be 21 years old. Now I wasn't born in Alaska, didn't grow up there, my mother never ran for a public office in her life ... but I have to ask -- how much living can a 20 year old have done?

I've made it as far as page 164. Palin is sitting at the kitchen table, feeding the baby while reading Star (trashbloid magazine.) She is stunned to see a picture of the baby and then angry becuse the photo collapses her agreement with People magazine for exclusive shots -- for a great deal of money. Sleazy Levi has struck again! (Note: his mother has been buying him chewing tobacco since he was in 7th grade.)

Palin's message is somewhat crisscrossed: premarital sex is bad, but the resulting baby is like totally awesome!

I found this to be somewhat strange, vaguely off-kilter ... the names that Sarah and Todd gave their children.

Oldest son, Track - "because he was born during track season and my parents love sports."
Bristol - "Dad told everyone I was named after Bristol Bay, where he'd fished since he was a kid, but Mom told everyone I was named afer Bristol, Conn., home of ESPN where she'd hoped one day to be a sportscaster."
Piper Indi Grace - "after the Piper plane my dad flies, the idea of 'independence' and the grace of God."
Willow - "a small community that began in 1897 when miners discovered gold and for Willow Bay, one of my mother's favorite sports reporters."

It occurs to me that they may have been out in the bitter, biting cold a little too long...