The Patriotic Pilgrimage of Sarah Vowell

Assassination Vacation – Sarah Vowell

            It’s probably rare that the prolog of a book can essentially sum up why I like a particular work so much.  Assassination Vacation begins with the author sitting to breakfast in a New England B&B, casually trying to discuss the play she went to the previous evening with the other guests.  The play’s subject matter, Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins, about US Presidential assassins, and Vowell’s nerdy interest and knowledge in the play’s subject seems to make the other guests nervous and ends with Vowell having to dash off to catch a bus back home. 

And what does she essentially do from there?  She goes on a pilgrimage to sites important to the lives and deaths of those assassinated Presidents.  Vowell concentrates on  three early Presidents, namely Presidents Abraham Lincoln (16th), James Garfield (20th), and William McKinley (25th) as well as the society and times they lived in.  Vowell furthermore looks at the lives of the assassins: the well-beloved actor John Wilkes Booth, the insanely deranged failure Charles Guiteau, and the would-be anarchist Leon Czolgosz, making an enthralling narrative.

It's still unknown as to how much President Garfield's love of lasagna is reflected in his feline namesake's gastronomic delight in the pasta dish.

It is in that nerdy love of history and her country which makes me delight in her books.  Demonstrated in on scene, Vowell is that person staring at an obscure historical marker on a building long after the casual tourist has cursorily glanced at it and moved on.  Unlike the busy tourist she appears to revere the implications of what she’s looking at, and because of that, you admire both her and the historical story she’s telling even more.

Sarah Vowell is a sometimes-contributor for NPR’s This American Life and her prior books read more like short stores: involving either various antidotes or observations from history or her life.  Assassination Vacation feels almost more like a novel or travelog than simple history.  It's both informative and funny. Known for her quirky outlook, Vowell's trek across the country is filled with observations which made me smile and laugh both while reading the book and listening to the audiobook (which has some very famous voice actors, such as mystery novelist Stephen King as President Abraham Lincoln and The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart as President Garfield and is well worth a listen, even if you’ve already read the book).

And, have a happy & safe holiday weekend!

Rating: 5 out of 5.