"’I’m the one who should be having a baby. Not Sarah.' The Palin kids call their parents
and
when things are tense.
looked at me. ‘Let’s get pregnant.’ ‘I’m not ready,’ I remember thinking. ‘I’m just a kid.‘”
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Keeping in line with the various Sarah Palin-related books released recently, Bristol’s notorious baby daddy Levi Johnston tells his side of the story in Deer in the Headlights: My Life in Sarah Palin’s Crosshairs released Tuesday, Sept. 20. This behind-the-scenes look at life in the Palin household spans from before Sarah’s stint as governor through the vice presidential election and on to the collapse of Levi’s relationship with all that is Palin.
Levi Johnston and his ghost writers James and Lois Cowan convincingly paint Johnston as the dumb and hapless victim of not just the Palin family's scorn but also of the sick and hungry American media and those who sought to capitalize and exploit not only him but also Bristol, Trigg (Palin's baby with Down syndrome) and Tripp (Bristol and Levi's son).
Can anyone be this clueless? The Palins and the media again and again bamboozle Levi, and at one point, he finds himself posing for Playgirl. While reading Deer in the Headlights, it is difficult to not empathize with the plight of one teenager, who is battling both the Palins and the media.
Levi presents a picture here of an innocent backwoods schmo, far happier to spend his time hunting than chasing fame or even fortune. Levi appears to want to be a good father and was a decent guy who was on his way to a formidable hockey career when Bristol willingly became pregnant. Despite his better instincts, Levi was thrilled to be a proud poppa, dropped out of high school, traded his dream of playing hockey for a good job as an apprentice electrician to his dad’s company, and squirreled away $1900 a week to support his new young family. Not bad for a high school drop out until, due to Palin’s fame, a story leaks about Levi not having a GED, and he is forced to resign. Dream number two blown thanks to Palin.
In an intimate look at the Palin household, Sarah and Todd are portrayed as being in a loveless marriage, having no family values or dinners and only visiting church on Christmas (until the campaign started). There are also references to Sarah—a hands-off and distant mother—referring to her son with Down syndrome as "the retard baby." Deer in the Headlights is intriguing at best and at worst, a sad commentary on the cheapest, trashiest and dirtiest level of American politics.
According to Levi, Sarah locked herself in her “cave-like” room, watched talk shows and daytime soaps, and never read a book—let alone a magazine.
The book is filled with excellent quotes, such as one on page 128: "I had asked [Sarah], What does a vice president do exactly? Take over—she had smiled—when the president dies."
The book did not sell well and Levi (once again) blamed Sarah for his poor sale numbers but I feel it has a tabloid magazine feel to it that makes it a quick, easy and entertaining read. It is a guilty pleasure that leaves one wanting more and perhaps heading to the aisles for Bristol's memoir book.
Levi Johnston
