Transporting us from Buffalo to Alaska, Washington to Key West, Vowell has crafted a narrative that is much more than a historical travelogue - it is the disturbing and mesmerising story of how American death has been manipulated by popular culture, including film, literature, and - the author's favourite - historical tourism. Skilfully belying the undercurrents of loss and violence that course through her journey, Vowell injects a range of lighter detours along the way, including mummies, show tunes, mean-spirited totem ...
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Transporting us from Buffalo to Alaska, Washington to Key West, Vowell has crafted a narrative that is much more than a historical travelogue - it is the disturbing and mesmerising story of how American death has been manipulated by popular culture, including film, literature, and - the author's favourite - historical tourism. Skilfully belying the undercurrents of loss and violence that course through her journey, Vowell injects a range of lighter detours along the way, including mummies, show tunes, mean-spirited totem poles, a nineteenth-century biblical sex cult - and exactly how Lincoln's Republican Party became Bush's Republican Party. Assassination Vacation is a fascinating, informative, and richly entertaining look at the myriad ways in which political assassinations have altered and shaped our nation's history.
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Well researched, detailed accounts of attempts and assasinations of US Presidents. Easy to read book. A must for all historians and history buffs.
Stu936
Oct 13, 2011
Strange But Fun
Sarah is "different." In talking about the assinations she brings in interesting tid bits and humor.
courtneyinatlanta
Aug 26, 2010
Letdown
I like Sarah Vowell on NPR, but I'm sorry to say I don't care for her writing. This book did contain some interesting trivia, which I liked, but Vowell interjects too many of her own opinions and personal anecdotes into the book, and none of them are very interesting. It annoys me when people can't talk about anything without bringing their personal politics into it. Vowell is a super-Democrat, and while I agree with many of her opinions, that's not why I read this book. I was looking for historical trivia, not a list of reasons why she hates Bush. Also, she completely neglected the Kennedy assassination for reasons that elude me. I had been looking forward to this book, but it ended up being a pretty big letdown.
Bubblehead
Apr 9, 2009
She is worth reading on anysubject
What a nice way to learn little knowntid-bits about a important events in our history
Alissa
Feb 23, 2009
Laugh out loud history
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.
