''America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag'' is the second book by

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...

. It was released on November 23, 2010, and has been described as containing selections from Palin's favorite speeches, sermons, and inspirational works, as well as

vignettes Vignette may refer to: * Vignette (entertainment), a sketch in a sketch comedy * Vignette (graphic design), decorative designs in books (originally in the form of leaves and vines) to separate sections or chapters * Vignette (literature), short, i ...

about Americans she met in the fall of 2009 while on her book tour for '' Going Rogue: An American Life''. One million copies were printed for the first run, and a digital edition has been available since the release. She embarked on a 16-city book tour in America's "heartland" that began on November 23, 2010. The book made number two on

The New York Times Best Seller list ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

during its second week of release. ''America by Heart'' was the fifth best-selling nonfiction book of 2010, according to ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'', with 797,955 copies sold.

Pre-publication controversy

Several days before the book's release, the website

Gawker ''Gawker'' is an American blog founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers and based in New York City focusing on celebrities and the media industry. According to SimilarWeb, the site had over 23 million visits per month as of 2015. Founded in ...

published excerpts in which Palin criticized Levi Johnston (the father of her grandchild), the TV show ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'', Hollywood filmmakers,

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

, the Obamas' former pastor

Jeremiah Wright Jeremiah Alvesta Wright Jr. (born September 22, 1941) is a pastor emeritus of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, a congregation he led for 36 years, during which its membership grew to over 8,000 parishioners. Following retirement, his be ...

, and

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

for the speech he made about his religion while campaigning for President in 1960. Palin posted the following message on her Twitter page: Within 48 hours, Palin's publisher had sued Gawker for copyright violations and had obtained a federal court order requiring Gawker to remove the material from its website, despite Gawker Media's claim of

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. The ''

American Spectator ''The American Spectator'' is a conservative American magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation. It was founded in 1967 by Tyrrell, who remains its editor- ...

'' called the legal action a "huge victory". On November 20, 2010, Palin published her own "Exclusive Sneak Peek" of the book on her Facebook page. On the day the book was officially released, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' printed extracts from the book on American values, criticism of Barack Obama and his health care legislation, criticism of

Levi Johnston Levi Keith Johnston (born May 3, 1990) is an American model and actor, best known as the twice-former fiancé of Bristol Palin and father of their son Tripp. He first received media attention in August 2008 when U.S. vice presidential candidate ...

and the younger generation.

Reviews

Human Events ''Human Events'' is an American conservative political news and analysis website. Founded in 1944 as a print newspaper, ''Human Events'' became a digital-only publication in 2013. ''Human Events'' takes its name from the first sentence of the Un ...

'' magazine describes the book as patriotic and optimistic in tone and as bringing life to words from historical figures such as Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy and Abigail Adams. ''

Townhall Townhall is an American politically conservative website, print magazine and radio news service. Previously published by The Heritage Foundation, it is now owned and operated by Salem Communications. The website features more than 80 columns (bo ...

'' columnist

Katie Pavlich Catherine Merri "Katie" Pavlich (born July 10, 1988) is an American conservative commentator, author, blogger, and podcaster. Early life and education Pavlich was born in Phoenix, Arizona, to a family of Croat and German descent. She grew up i ...

recommends the book to "any American who believes in faith, family, love of country and even history". She describes the book as having a personal touch but as emphasizing faith-guided conservative principles much more than Palin's earlier book, ''Going Rogue''. Amanda Marcotte's review in the ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...

'' claims that ''America by Heart'' is divisive and succeeds in "stoking the feelings of resentment in her target audience against the usual cadre of villains," while containing a subtext which implies that white fundamentalist Christians are the real Americans and that America is the only nation with the right to having feelings of "

exceptionalism Exceptionalism is the perception or belief that a species, country, society, institution, movement, individual, or time period is " exceptional" (i.e., unusual or extraordinary). The term carries the implication, whether or not specified, that the ...

." ''The New York Times'' says the book is full of the patriotic reflections promised by the title, but it is also a road map to the political attacks Palin would make on

if she were to run for U.S. President in 2012.

References

External links

About the book
HarperCollins
Amazon.com's book reviews and description

Barnes & Noble's editorial reviews and overview

GoodReads.com's book reviews and commentary
{{DEFAULTSORT:America by Heart 2010 non-fiction books Books about cultural geography Books about democracy American political books Books about Sarah Palin Books about politics of the United States Books by Sarah Palin Books critical of modern liberalism in the United States Current affairs books American non-fiction books HarperCollins books