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Assassination Vacation - Sarah Vowell
Assassination Vacation
by: (author)
3.68 340
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... show more
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.
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Format: paperback
ISBN: 9780743260046 (074326004X)
ASIN: 074326004X
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages no: 258
Edition language: English
Bookstores:
Community Reviews
Kerry
Kerry rated it
Jokey anecdote-led historical/travel non-fiction! I love all these things! Sarah Vowell is quirky teetering on the edge of Quirky – her elementary school nickname was Wednesday (as in Addams), what droll classmates she must have had – and she's written historical travelogue about American presidenti...
katiewilkins186
katiewilkins186 rated it
2.0 Assassination Vacation
For a unique and morbid vacation experience, Sarah Vowell decided to travel the country by visiting locations where politicians have been assassinated. In this book, she shares interesting anecdotes, both from history and her own experiences, as well as a ton of fun facts. I really liked this approa...
Ms. Margie
Ms. Margie rated it
If you enjoy Sarah Vowell's stream-of-consciousness, phobic, obsessive voice, you'll love this book.Vowell is wacky, and I say that in the nicest way. She writes very honestly and openly, which I enjoy because she is so wacky - absolutely obsessed with the assassinated presidents, which kind of fre...
Stacia's books
Stacia's books rated it
2.5 stars. Parts of the book were relatively interesting, but I think the overall narrative suffered because of the author's meandering, jumpy style (along w/ the fact that she often had pretty stringent political asides about "current" politics -- current for the time of the book's writing, i.e., t...
joshmunn
joshmunn rated it
3.0 Assassination Vacation
Vowell finds herself a lot more hilarious than I do.
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