Times Reviews Joe McGinniss's Anti-Palin Hatchet Job, Ignores Books by Conservatives

"The Rogue," Joe McGinniss's hatchet-job expose of Sarah Palin, is crammed with unverified anecdotes delivered by anonymous foes of Palin but was nonetheless favored with recognition in the Times Sunday Book Review. In contrast, Times archives are almost bereft of reviews of books by conservative personalities like Ann Coulter, even while she routinely make the paper's own bestseller list.

'The Rogue - Searching for the Real Sarah Palin,' Joe McGinniss's hatchet-job expose of Sarah Palin, is crammed with unverified anecdotes delivered by anonymous foes of Palin, and has barely registered in sales. It was nonetheless favored with recognition in the Times Sunday Book Review, in a review by former Slate writer Jack Shafer titled 'Going to Extremes.' Shafer delivered a mostly critical notice, but not without committing some of the book's more inflammatory details to the august pages of the New York Times.

In contrast, Times archives are almost bereft of reviews of books by conservative personalities like Ann Coulter, even while she routinely make the paper's own bestseller list (the paper has published more reviews of anti-Coulter books). It's part of the Times' phobia about reviewing conservative books in general.