Like a beloved pet, I found this book hard to "put down"...

Shut the kiddies in the closet and throw the dog an extra-gnawy all-day bone--with Sarah's new book in the house, this mama got nothin' else done all day. To read such historical facts in concert with her shrewd connections to present-day happenings is too much fun to miss, even for a moment! If you like some history presented in an entertaining format, you'll like this...and if you find presidential foible stories both entertaining and educational, you'll like it. And kids will love it, too--matter of fact, my brother and his best friend used to stage famous assassinatons on our lawn in the summer; their favorite was the Archduke Ferdinand who is sadly NOT included on this vacation.
If some other reviewers are rankled by her occasional forays into political commentary--let's just say she's a way mo' better writer than B. O'Reilly or the equally young, more photogenic, but annoyingly shrill Ann Coulter. Sarah can entertain and teach a reader without banging them over the heads with her politics--she kind of just taps you on your political knee, then looks away.
I haaate to sound sexist...but it's the kind of book I'd expect a really funny guy to write, like some modern, twisted James Thurber...oh, wait, wouldn't that be David Sedaris?
Sarah absolutely rocks and rules. This book kills, on so many levels.

Vowell's Best So Far!

I first came in contact with Sarah Vowell through her work on The American Life and enjoyed her unique voice (both actually and artistic) enough to read through both The Partly Cloudy Patriot and Take the Cannoli : Stories From the New World one summer. I must say that I was unimpressed... while funny and occasionally insightful the works failed to grab me as This American Life did.

With that background I wasn't in any real rush to read Assassination Vacation but I recent trip to Seattle provided a good opportunity. I am pleased to say that I was pleasantly surprised with this book and vastly prefer it to her pervious ones. I think in large part this is because Assassination Vacation is one complete work rather than several unrelated essays as her other books were. Also, this book is a completely original work and not recycled from This American Life radio pieces (some of which I had heard before).

What makes this book so enjoyable is Vowell's unashamed nerdyness. As in Robin Wall Kimmerer's Gathering Moss, Assassination Vacation offers the reader an invaluable insight, the view of a topic through the eyes of a lover. While for Kimmerer it was moss for Vowell it is presidential assassinations. In exploring the pasts of Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley Vowell crafts a great read, both compelling and entertaining.

The only real problem I had with this book is that Vowell suffers from the very common post-9/11 problem of needing to mention the attacks even when not completely appropriate... this problem is especially evident when the writer lives in NYC as Vowell does. But one can indulge her pension for 9/11 tie ins and still enjoy this great book!

Assassination Obsession

In Sarah Vowell's first book that is not a collection of essays, we learn that she is obsessed with death, has a phobia that keeps her from driving, and is allergic to cats. We also learn quite a lot about the assassinations of Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley.

Not only is Vowell obsessed with the deaths of these three presidents, but she is fascinated by the men who killed them and the circumstances surrounding the shootings. So she goes on a pilgrimage to learn all she can about these grim stories. Assassination Vacation is the result.

There's a ton of history in the book. We learn that John Wilkes Booth was well-known before he killed Lincoln. As a famous actor, he was even able to move freely between North and South during the Civil War, unlike regular people, prompting Vowell to observe "There's a lesson for the terrorists of the world: ...they should put less energy into training illiterate ten-year-olds how to fire Kalashnikovs and start recruiting celebrities like George Clooney. I bet nobody's inspected that man's luggage since the second season of ER."

According to Vowell, the Lincoln assassination was part of a plot in which accomplices of Booth would simultaneously kill Vice President Johnson and Secretary of State Seward to bring down the government. The man who was to shoot Johnson chickened out, but Seward was nearly killed and only survived because the would-be assassin's gun jammed. Did I miss that day in history class?

This is the kind of fascinating stuff that Vowell slings throughout the book, keeping my attention even though pre-WWI American history has always been a snoozer for me. Here's another - in 1912, when former president Teddy Roosevelt was campaigning for president on the Bull Moose ticket, he was shot. The bullet hit him in the chest, but was first deflected by the steel glasses case and folded-up notes for his campaign speech in his pocket. He was bruised and bleeding, but gave the speech as scheduled.

This isn't just a history book, it's Vowell taking us (and the friends and relatives she coerces into driving her - driving phobia, remember?) along and providing entertaining commentary along the way. She also tells us what she thinks of bed and breakfast inns, the movie Starship Trooper, succotash and grits, and the current political climate in America. If you don't want her opinions, better not read the book.

I read the print version of Assassination Vacation, but I bet it would be a great audio book. Either way, five stars!