Opinion: ‘Going Rogue’ by the numbers: Sarah Palin’s missing index has been found!

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We salute Slate and the New Republic, whose quick-thinking staffers decided to produce an index for Sarah Palin’s bestselling book, “Going Rogue: An American Life.” Some had speculated that Palin decided not to put an index in the back of her book to thwart the traditional ‘Washington read,’ which involves standing in a bookstore searching the index of a newly published tome for your name or the names of friends, enemies and/or frenemies.
After reading the independent indices, we conclude that authors and publishers must be careful what they stint on. An independent index, it turns out, is more than a simple alphabetical listing of content. It’s a powerful analytical tool, as you will see from our excerpts of both versions:

Baby shower at shooting range 76
Bridge to Nowhere 237
“Captive” of McCain campaign 261
Caribou lasagna 218
“Change,” on originating campaign slogan before Obama 114, 225
Clinton, Hillary, Palin’s non-accusations about whining of 287
Couric, Katie Lack of knowledge about energy issues 207, 273; Low self-esteem of 256; As “lowest rated news anchor in network television 270; Unfair editing of interview with 272-275, 279; Lack of national pride 279 Creationism, belief in 217, 218, 392
Dang 74, 184, 282, 296, 352, 401
Debate preparation, Mean people in awful early stages of 279-283
“East Coast,” as semi-derogatory descriptor of people 229, 374
Evolution, as “politically correct” stance 219
God 1, 6, 15, 20, 22, 23, 51, 52, 57, 30, 33, 34, 35, 56, 83, 103, 104, 121, 123, 133, 144, 169, 170, 173, 175, 176, 177, 188, 185, 186, 187, 193, 195, 208, 217, 218, 233, 238, 243, 244, 261, 272, 286, 294, 322, 323, 331, 337.
Good deeds of Sarah Palin 1-403
Going rogue, actual instances of handing phone to McCain for a radio interview without permission 252; Expressing regret about pulling out of Michigan 298; Distancing self from $150,000 wardrobe purchase 317; Todd going onstage on Election Night despite being told not to, 337
“Headquarters,” as mysterious place in McCain campaign that caused Palin problems 261, 285, 299, 309, 324, 331, 335
International experience, Palin’s as greater than Barack Obama’s 228, 229
Iraq war, Palin’s informed perspective on 214; Media’s skewing of Palin’s informed perspective on 238
Johnston, Levi N/A
Judd, Ashley, as “pretty, perky celeb” who unfairly opposed hunting of wolves 134
Kerry, John as “elitist loon” 181
Kick butt/ass 67, 111, 127
Palin, Track, Wishing his name was normal 53
Palin, Todd, God’s deliverance of 34; Cussing, chewing not-going-to-church ways of 37;False rumors about divorce from 352; Sexiness of 352
Pregnancy, descriptions of, ‘I porked up,’ 50; ‘ready to calve,’ 51; more nauseated than usual,’ 171; ‘starving for king crab and scallops,’ 192; campaign’s advance knowledge of, 214; campaign’s botched handling of, 234
Sentence, actual ‘As the soles of my shoes hit the soft ground, I pushed past the tall cottonwood trees in a euphoric cadence, and meandered through willow branches that the moose munched on,’ 102
Sexism, Of sports media 28, 29;Of sports generally 29; Of local “good ‘ol boys” 71;Of Wasilla city officials 72;Of Wasilla police chief 79; Of media covering presidential campaign 287; Of clothing controversy 315; Of David Letterman 351; Of women’s rights groups 352
“Trig truthers” 347
Turkey decapitation incident 354
Veganism, as questionable lifestyle choice 133, 239
You betcha 309 -- Robin Abcarian