Take a photo of a barcode or cover
book_lover_andrea 's review for:
Assassination Vacation
by Sarah Vowell
I loved this book! It was irreverent, funny, honest, saracastic, ironic, serious, thought-provoking, interesting, cynical and hopefully poignant. Very, very poignant.
I started reading this book, coincidentally after I just saw Sondheim’s musical Assassins, which Vowell describes in the introduction of her book and re-visits throughout. That connection initially drew me in. Add to that her description of the musical 1776 (which she saw at the Ford Theater) and I was hooked.
Assassination Vacation describes the assassinations of three presidents – Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. Each chapter is a different president. At the heart of Vowell’s quest to learn and tell their stories is pilgrimage as she visits sites connected to the presidents, their families, their assassins, the political events surrounding the assassinations, and even secondary players in their administrations. From her visit to the Mutter museum in Philly to see a piece of John Wilkes Booth’s brain, to cemetery after cemetery, to long forgotten monuments, to countless museums and historic houses. (For anyone who has ever worked for a museum or historic house Vowell’s descriptions are priceless! They are so true, poking fun of the stuff oriented historic house tour (this chair is a....), while paying homage to the sincerity and passion of those who work and operate the houses and museums! And unlike James Loewen in Lies Across America, Vowell respects the people working at these sites and pays honest attention – never debasing or making fun – to what they say. To what they contribute to her historical knowledge. To their ideas and opinions.)
As she journeys to site after site, she constructs a narrative that is compelling and thought-provoking. She points out quirky facts, enters into the record her own (off the wall) conspiracy theories, and adds relevancy to her discussion about long dead presidents in reflecting on today’s (meaning 2005’s) political climate. (In the end, I wanted to read an appendix or a newer addition that would add her thoughts on the recent election and how that changed any of her thoughts she wrote in her book.)
I couldn’t put this book down! While I wished the information in her book was footnoted (the history geek in me is coming out) and wanted to cross out every line of passive voice (this is in its most basic form, after all, a history text), I found myself not only wanting to retrace her steps to the sites mentioned in her books, but re-energized by her cynical but heart-warming spirit, patriotism, and love of history! I found myself inspired to take a fresh look at history and the opportunity that awaits me every day to learn about history, to tell people about history, to make history matter.
The rest of Vowell’s books are now on my must-read list and I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone (with anyone and everyone being more liberal folk who appreciate irreverent sarcasm and poking fun at the deification of the past).
I started reading this book, coincidentally after I just saw Sondheim’s musical Assassins, which Vowell describes in the introduction of her book and re-visits throughout. That connection initially drew me in. Add to that her description of the musical 1776 (which she saw at the Ford Theater) and I was hooked.
Assassination Vacation describes the assassinations of three presidents – Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. Each chapter is a different president. At the heart of Vowell’s quest to learn and tell their stories is pilgrimage as she visits sites connected to the presidents, their families, their assassins, the political events surrounding the assassinations, and even secondary players in their administrations. From her visit to the Mutter museum in Philly to see a piece of John Wilkes Booth’s brain, to cemetery after cemetery, to long forgotten monuments, to countless museums and historic houses. (For anyone who has ever worked for a museum or historic house Vowell’s descriptions are priceless! They are so true, poking fun of the stuff oriented historic house tour (this chair is a....), while paying homage to the sincerity and passion of those who work and operate the houses and museums! And unlike James Loewen in Lies Across America, Vowell respects the people working at these sites and pays honest attention – never debasing or making fun – to what they say. To what they contribute to her historical knowledge. To their ideas and opinions.)
As she journeys to site after site, she constructs a narrative that is compelling and thought-provoking. She points out quirky facts, enters into the record her own (off the wall) conspiracy theories, and adds relevancy to her discussion about long dead presidents in reflecting on today’s (meaning 2005’s) political climate. (In the end, I wanted to read an appendix or a newer addition that would add her thoughts on the recent election and how that changed any of her thoughts she wrote in her book.)
I couldn’t put this book down! While I wished the information in her book was footnoted (the history geek in me is coming out) and wanted to cross out every line of passive voice (this is in its most basic form, after all, a history text), I found myself not only wanting to retrace her steps to the sites mentioned in her books, but re-energized by her cynical but heart-warming spirit, patriotism, and love of history! I found myself inspired to take a fresh look at history and the opportunity that awaits me every day to learn about history, to tell people about history, to make history matter.
The rest of Vowell’s books are now on my must-read list and I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone (with anyone and everyone being more liberal folk who appreciate irreverent sarcasm and poking fun at the deification of the past).