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As a history teacher I found this book to be both informative and entertaining. Sitting somewhere between a history text, a travelogue, and personal memoirs this book takes an especially unique approach to American History. However, Vowell's repeated criticism of the Bush administration wore on me after a while and seemed to detract from the otherwise engaging text. Unlike the typical history book which can read like the transcript of a college lecture reading Assassination Vacation feels more like sitting in a coffee shop having a personal conversation with Sarah Vowell. Vowell does an excellent job bringing the pathos she is know for from This American Life the the subject of Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley assassinations. Overall, a quick read well executed. Recommended.
Apparently among the author's many quirks is that she doesn't drive, so she is always prevailing upon friends to take her places. Vowell would be really fun to travel with in real life.
The book traces the people and events leading up to and immediately following the assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley, interspersing fascinating historical narrative with Vowell's own experiences visiting the markers, artifacts, and monuments that remain from those events. Her unique roadtrip tracks down every route of interest, no matter how seemingly remote or trivial, meandering from the Mütter Museum of pathology which has a piece of the brain of Garfield's assassin; to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas, the desolate prison where Dr.
I've spent the last week of commuting in the quirky company of historical commentator Sarah Vowell, reading her book Assassination Vacation. She has a great nose for history's trivial ironies: who knew that Lincoln's son Robert Todd Lincoln would be in close proximity to three presidential assassinations ("the presidential angel of death" as Vowell dubs him), or that John Wilkes Booth's brother Edwin saved Lincoln's son.
Samuel Mudd served, for aiding John Wilkes Booth in his flight after shooting Lincoln; to the Tahawas Club in the Catskills where Teddy Roosevelt received word that McKinley had been shot. Her observations and her conversations with rangers, docents, and other people connected to historical sites, combined with her intricate knowledge, make it an engrossing trip through both history and the Americana that commemorates it.
She even succeeds in making James Garfield interesting. Sarah, when you're working on your next book, I'll be happy to drive you for one of your explorations.
Sadly, Ms. An avid reader and history buff, I tried desperately to continue reading this book. Vowell is unable to write about this very fascinating subject in American history without indulging in her own, biased, liberal obsessions. In doing so, she loses serious credibility. Unfortunately, the book became more of an "I hate Bush sooooo much" rant rather then a smart read. Rarely do I have to stop reading a book, but with this one, I do so gladly.
Everytime I read a new Sarah Vowell book, I am so happy she keeps on writing. If you are a history buff, or know one, they will probably really enjoy this book. She has the perfect mixture of dry humor, facts, and history. She provides a wealth of information and keeps you chuckling as you read on. I highly recommend all of her books for all types of people. Enjoy.
Vowell is like a female, liberal democrat version of P.J. O'Rourke, and if that alone doesn't make you want to read this book, then let me add that in Assassination Vacation she manages to craft an informative and hilarious book out of her research into three historic presidential assassinations.Vowell recounts the stories behind the assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley while traveling about to various locales that have a link to the assassinations, no matter how tenuous. Part travel-logue, part history, part memoir, Assassination Vacation also manages to draw several links between America's history and more recent historical events concerning the presidency of George W. Bush and the Iraq War.
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