PeaceBang

Sarah Vowell, Assassination Vacation

May 30, 2007 on 10:33 pm | In TV/Movies/Theatre/Book Reviews |

Oh! Oh!
I almost forgot to tell you how much I enjoyed Assassination Vacation!!

Very interesting, very snarky, but not so much that you couldn’t tell how much Vowell truly loves American history.

When she referred to Robert Todd Lincoln as “Jinxy McDeath” (for reasons you’ll have to read the book to find out), I literally blew water out of my nose. In my hotel bed in Nashville.

Actually, Vowell’s book did make me reflect on the prevalence of that writing style: very snarky, very off-handedly confessional, very clever. Will these books age well, I wonder?

I’ve turned off the comments for the time being because I’m teaching a 3-hour class every day over the next ten days and I need to focus. Writing a blog helps me download distracting thoughts: reading, trying to make sense of and respond to comments on them does not. Don’t take it personally, I love ya anyway.