Wild Pivot - by Jen Thompson (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

For fans of Educated and You Could Make This Place Beautiful, a memoir of powerful vignettes about a rock-star Republican strategist who gives up a life in politics after a near-death accident spurs her into a search for deeper meaning.Jen Thompson rose to the heights of politics in her early thirties as a celebrated Republican strategist--a rarity for a young woman. For years, success and power were her only ambitions, despite the drumbeat of her inner voice warning that her life was wildly off course.

It was only when a car accident nearly killed her on the campaign trail of a nationally watched Senate campaign that Jen finally decided to walk away. Her sudden alienation from the life she had always known set into motion cascading events that carried her across the world and deep into a reckoning with her own soul.

A memoir in vignettes, Wild Pivot explores how blind loyalty develops and shapes a woman with the craving to fit in and feel celebrated. With a piercing ability to explore just how jarring change and evolution can be, Thompson moves with unflinching honesty and razor-sharp wit between snapshots of her life as she grapples with the demons of her past and commits herself to doing what is required to live a life of truth and freedom--no matter the cost.

Review Quotes

". . . Wild Pivot is a compelling memoir about what happens when success no longer feels like success. It's a story about choosing truth over approval and discovering that sometimes the most courageous pivot is the one that leads back to yourself. It stands as a powerful testament to the courage required to rewrite your story--no matter the price. Readers who enjoy insightful, deeply human memoirs will find this one hard to put down."--SA Examiner

"An absorbing, deeply personal memoir of personal and political transformation."--Kirkus Reviews

"Wild Pivot is a brave memoir about the cost of telling the truth. Jen Thompson writes with moral clarity, wisdom, and wit about walking away from a powerful political identity and discovering how integrity often arrives disguised as disruption."--Parker J. Palmer, author of Healing the Heart of Democracy and A Hidden Wholeness

About the Author

Jen Thompson is a former political campaign manager and counsel in the US House and Senate. She successfully made up for a massive campaign deficit by orchestrating events with the President of the United States and other key figures. She has been quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and others. Jen left politics after managing the most nationally watched Senate campaign in 2002 and moved to Australia. Born in Chicago, Jen has lived in twelve cities, seven states, and three countries, and has traveled to many more. She currently lives in Redlands, California.