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A review by book_concierge
Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
2.0
Book on CD read by the author and special guests
I loved the premise of this nonfiction book. I have a nearly life-long fascination with murder and murderers. Vowell’s obsession is more specific to political assassination, but still, I am forever drawn to the kinds of attractions she visits … museums of medical interest, or regarding crime. This volume chronicles her visits to various sites related to the assassinations of Presidents Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley. I also had the text version available to me (mostly to verify spellings, etc), and I have to say she does include a lot of fascinating trivia about the people involved in these cases. Even to including information about other people who were in the Ford Theatre when John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln, and their descendents.
As for the audio … OMG … I know from her bio that she’s done voice work (notably voicing “Violet” in The Incredibles - a Pixar animated film). But she really should have hired a different, professional actor, or relied on her “guests” more. Her guests have only an occasional sentence to pronounce, and they include: Conan O’Brien, Stephen King (who plays Abraham Lincoln), Dave Eggers and Jon Stewart (among others). On the other hand, Vowell’s extremely nasal tone, plus the background music, are enough to make me run for the hills. Had I rated the audio book only, I’d give it 1 star; but I was still fascinated by the subject. She’s like that weird history teacher you had in 5th grade who was so obsessed with some detail that s/he made it come alive for you (even though you rolled your eyes and KNEW s/he was loony tunes). That focused attention gets her an extra star.
I loved the premise of this nonfiction book. I have a nearly life-long fascination with murder and murderers. Vowell’s obsession is more specific to political assassination, but still, I am forever drawn to the kinds of attractions she visits … museums of medical interest, or regarding crime. This volume chronicles her visits to various sites related to the assassinations of Presidents Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley. I also had the text version available to me (mostly to verify spellings, etc), and I have to say she does include a lot of fascinating trivia about the people involved in these cases. Even to including information about other people who were in the Ford Theatre when John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln, and their descendents.
As for the audio … OMG … I know from her bio that she’s done voice work (notably voicing “Violet” in The Incredibles - a Pixar animated film). But she really should have hired a different, professional actor, or relied on her “guests” more. Her guests have only an occasional sentence to pronounce, and they include: Conan O’Brien, Stephen King (who plays Abraham Lincoln), Dave Eggers and Jon Stewart (among others). On the other hand, Vowell’s extremely nasal tone, plus the background music, are enough to make me run for the hills. Had I rated the audio book only, I’d give it 1 star; but I was still fascinated by the subject. She’s like that weird history teacher you had in 5th grade who was so obsessed with some detail that s/he made it come alive for you (even though you rolled your eyes and KNEW s/he was loony tunes). That focused attention gets her an extra star.