Sarah Vowell
Paperback | Pages: 258 pages Rating: 3.97 | 39742 Users | 3779 Reviews
Present Containing Books Assassination Vacation
| Title | : | Assassination Vacation |
| Author | : | Sarah Vowell |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 258 pages |
| Published | : | 2006 by Simon Schuster (first published March 29th 2005) |
| Categories | : | Nonfiction. History. Humor. Travel. Writing. Essays. Audiobook. Autobiography. Memoir |
Narration During Books 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.
Details Books Concering Assassination Vacation
| Original Title: | Assassination Vacation |
| ISBN: | 074326004X (ISBN13: 9780743260046) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth, Edwin Booth, Theodore Roosevelt, William McKinley, James A. Garfield, Charles Guiteau, Leon Czolgosz, Robert Todd Lincoln |
Rating Containing Books Assassination Vacation
Ratings: 3.97 From 39742 Users | 3779 ReviewsEvaluation Containing Books Assassination Vacation
I love the authors irreverence, wit, and humorous outlook. I find her hilarious when shes speaking, such as when Ive seen her on Jon Stewarts The Daily Show. This book is funny, but her writing is not nearly as hilarious as she is when speaking. I think this book would be great as an audio book if read by the author. Even her voice and inflections are funny, and while I laugh out loud when listening to her, including when she talked about this book, reading this book elicited some smiles fromSarah Vowell is definitely one of the top five humans Id love to grab a beer with then get so drunk Id take the subway and end up in the Bronx or Rockaway Beach because I have a slight crush on her and love how she thinks. Her mind can jump from subject to subject quicker than the electric current in your lamp travels from the on switch to the light bulb. Very few people can make the seemingly spurious links in subject matter that she manages to connect together with each book in her own unique
Thumbing her nose at traditional, dry-as-toast, linear history telling; Ms. Vowell chooses to reveal facts in a rambling, compelling, thought-provoking and often hilarious style. I think I'll need to buy all of her books now.
U.S. history has never been so much fun! Theres nothing Sarah Vowell loves more than a presidential plaque, monument, home or grave, and her enthusiasm is infectious. Over half of this book is about Abraham Lincolns assassination; the rest goes to those of James Garfield and William McKinley (attempts on T. Roosevelt and Reagan get a brief mention, but she pretty much avoids JFK presumably because that would fill a book of its own). If all you remember about these last two assassins is that one
Illuminating and quirky, Sarah Vowell takes us on a tour of the assassinated US presidents. She focuses largely on Lincoln, but touches on all three. There are some incredible coincidences and overlaps. This is my first of her books, but I like her offbeat humor, and will definitely read more.
Another one I didn't finish, and I'll try and save you the trouble of starting. The book was relatively entertaining when it was talking about the assassinations of the title (Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley), especially Lincoln - Vowell devotes the largest slice of the book to him and John Wilkes Booth. However, over time I got tired of the author taking every opportunity to take juvenile shots at the Bush administration, the Iraq war, and Republicans in general. It might have been interesting
I feel like Vowell and I would do great on a road trip together. We might never make it to our actual destination because we would be constantly pulling over to read the history signs that no one else I know will let me pull over to read, and I feel that we would be easily side tracked by historical detour, but man, we would learn a lot. Then again, her voice on the audiobook REALLY set me on edge, and if she sounds like that in person I might have to bail. Still, voice aside, I like the crazy,
0 Comments:
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.