• Take the Cannoli : Stories From the New World
• The Partly Cloudy Patriot
• Assassination Vacation

Sarah Vowell exposes the glorious conundrums of American history and culture with wit, probity, and an irreverent sense of humor. With Assassination Vacation, she takes us on a road trip like no other -- a journey to the pit stops of American political murder and through the myriad ways they have been used for fun and profit, for political and cultural advantage.

From Buffalo to Alaska, Washington to the Dry Tortugas, Vowell visits locations immortalized and influenced by the spilling of politically important blood, reporting as she goes with her trademark blend of wisecracking humor, remarkable honesty, and thought-provoking criticism. We learn about the jinx that was Robert Todd Lincoln (present at the assassinations of Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley) and witness the politicking that went into the making of the Lincoln Memorial. The resulting narrative is much more than an entertaining and informative travelogue -- it is the disturbing and fascinating story of how American death has been manipulated by popular culture, including literature, architecture, sculpture, and -- the author's favorite -- historical tourism. Though the themes of loss and violence are explored and we make detours to see how the Republican Party became the Republican Party, there are all kinds of lighter diversions along the way into the lives of the three presidents and their assassins, including mummies, show tunes, mean-spirited totem poles, and a nineteenth-century biblical sex cult.

Customer Rating:
Summary: A Leisurely Stroll Through Historical Murder
Comment: Sarah Vowell's mind tends to wander. My mind tends to wander too. Usually that's not a good combination. When an author tends to go offtrack I get lost but with "Assassination Vacation" it was very easy for me to wander down the path she laid out in the book.

In this book she did something too few people, especially liberals such as myself, have even tried to do recently: she made it okay, even cool, to love America. Despite the misery of Bush and his cronies, despite the tragedies of her own heritage which she only touches on in this book, she openly declares her love for America as her substitution for religion. By skipping the goody-goody stuff in American History (or so she'd have you think she was skipping) she finds a very hip and yet utterly unique way to let us see our past and get closer to our collective roots. It's one thing to open out eyes on Lincoln but it's another for her to shine light on Garfield and McKinley, two presidents who have been forgotten but now can be remembered for more than being on the list.

While the book isn't an overt travel guide, it does suggest some interesting places to visit and things to see. Aside from the usual statues and hidden plaques that may be in some readers own neighborhoods, there are some offbeat museums mentioned that may be more fun than they would have seemed before. At the same time there are also scattered bits about Vowell's own life thrown in. It's nothing terribly telling if you're not familiar with her other books or her stories from NPR's This American Life, and sometimes it seems out of place (that's the wandering thing I mentioned) but it will keep your interest anyway. It certainly kept mine.

I knew I'd probably like this book when I asked for it for Christmas but I had no idea I would be thankful for it. This is a book everyone should read, especially those who seem to have skewed notions about what America is, be they flag-clutchers or flab-burners. If you don't learn anything from "Assassination Vacation" then you'll at least enjoy the tour.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Ms. Vowell is My Personal Hero
Comment: I live in Atlanta where the traffic is worse than our on-going drought. I spend 90 minutes a day in the car commuting to and from work. Ms. Vowell's enlightening, witty, and at times bust-a-gut-funny audio CD made me never want to leave my car. Her socio/historical/political satire was a pleasure to listen to. Her observations are still lingering in my mind, long after finishing all 6 CD's. This led me to also order her latest book, The Wordy Shipmates, on audio CD.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: fun and death
Comment: Venture into the hilarious world of assassinations. Yes, hilarious. Sarah Vowell, a humorist/columnist/voice of public radio has a morbid interest in Presidential assassinations. She set out to visit various sites across the U.S. that are linked to the assassinations and recorded her adventures in this hilarious travelogue.

Vowell brings readers to the homes of Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley as well as to more obscure places such as the Mutter Museum which has specimens of John Wilkes Booth's thorax and Charles Guiteau's (Garfield's assassin) brain.

By speaking with the historians, curators, and tour guides, Vowell brings readers very close to the assassins by revealing their lives, motives, and deaths. For example, she points out that many people hated Lincoln, and Booth thought that he would be a hero. Also revealed is the poor and lonely childhood of McKinley's assassin, Czolgosz. Looking to find a place to fit in, he began attending anarchist meetings and thus began his plan.

Though death is the "theme" of the book, Vowell looks at the assassinations as as story and examines each character objectively and with humor. Those interested in history will be pleased to learn a great deal about the assassinations- much more than is ever taught in any school. Travelers will be inspired to visit the many museums and historical sites mentioned. Recommended for fans of Lincoln books and travelogues.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Fluff For History Buffs but...
Comment: I just finished Sarah Vowell's Assasination Vacation and found it to be more interesting and cohesive than Partly Cloudy Patriot. Vowell wit and inquisitiveness are endearing and the book is a page turner more to find out her next reaction to something rather than to find out what she is actually doing.
That said, her leftist, wackily liberal politics get in the way EVERY time she inserts them. And also, despite standing up and shouting her atheism, I don't buy it. I see some inner conflict being worked out on the written page, especially the last chapter.
Those criticisms aside, I think it would be fun to take a trip with Vowell, staring at unread plaques or looking at a statue and being the only person within a mile in any direction who knew who it was of.
Vowell does a good job at threading the interconnectedness of history's charachters and events and drawing on this skill her last few sentences are sublime.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: A good read, but flawed
Comment: This was the first book by Sarah Vowell I've read, although I've been familiar with her work on NPR for many years. Since Sarah Vowell came to fame by writing personal stories and essays, it comes as no surprise that this book is more about Sarah's personal journey of discovery regarding these three assassinations than a straightforward history. In many ways, I found it refreshing. In the book, Ms. Vowell talks about the importance of pilgrimage and veneration of relics throughout history. The journeys in the book, then, become her own personal historical pilgrimage. Experiencing history from this unique approach certainly warrants a book.

That being said, the book contains a lot of really great information on American history, but includes no references or citations. Since this is work for a popular audience, its not surprising that it's not meticulously documented, but at least a list of sources used in constructing the history would have been nice. History is an easily twisted thing, and I felt that some of the facts presented warranted a citation, even in this popular context.

A quick and highly entertaining read, to be sure, but not without its faults. I found an awful lot of poorly-written or confusing sentences, having to re-read sections to make sure I knew what was being referred to. Seems to me that there's a very forgiving editor out there.

I'd recommend it for anyone who wants a fun take on history... but if you're used to reading scholarly work you might find some things a bit irritating.

---