Terri M. LeBlanc's Review of Assassination Vacation

by Sarah Vowell

New York Times bestselling author of The Wordy Shipmates and contributor to NPR's This American Life Sarah Vowell embarks on a road trip to sites of political violence, from Washington DC to Alaska, to better understand our nation's ever-evolving political system and history.

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.

I had the opportunity to see Sarah Vowell in Cedar Rapids as a part of the Outloud! Author Series sponsored by the Metro Library Network. I was familiar with Ms. Vowell from her appearances on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. After her reading and Q & A session with the attendees, I purchased two of her books, Assassination Vacation and Unfamiliar Fishes. I decided to tackle Assassination Vacation first as I have had some weird fixation with both the Lincoln and Kennedy assassinations since 10th grade.Ms. Vowell has a unique style of writing American History. For Assassination Vacation, she travels around the country visiting well known and not so well known locales connected with the assassinations of 3 early U.S. presidents, Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley. She doesn't just visit site connected to the presidents, but also those connected to the men that fired the gun. This approach provides a unique, somewhat well-rounded picture of the victim and perpetrator.I say "somewhat well-rounded" because Ms. Vowell is well known for her commentary on current American politics which she deftly weaves into the narrative of the book. Some might say this taints the overall neutral perspective that some might be seeking in a non-fiction novel. Personally, history cannot be viewed in a vacuum and connecting historical events to current events, for me, brings old dusty stories back to life.Overall, I give Assassination Vacation a thumbs up. If you like your American History with a touch of well-known and obscure facts with a side of satire and sarcasm, then you should check it out.

This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews.

Assassination Vacation

by Sarah Vowell

Reviewed by Terri M. LeBlanc on Jun 27, 2014

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