Author: Sarah Vowell
ISBN: 9780743260039
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Copyright: 2005
Publication Date: April 4, 2005
Pages: 272
Throughout my life I have enjoyed reading. However, I generally duck out of any “what are you reading?” conversations. See, I read fluff. The stuff usually reserved for a beach vacation or a day at the pool. So, when people are stating how they are just tearing through the new biography about John Adams or raving that they can’t put down the new political book about winning back the middle class I slip away, head down. I can not bear to respond, “Oh! I am just loving Bergdorf Blondes! It’s so spiritual how much they think about their hair!” I believe the last nonfiction book that I read was about The Doors. And, let’s face it, with the amount of drugs they were on it is doubtful how much is, in fact, nonfiction.
However, stuck in an airport with no book for the plane I found myself at a news stand decided between a campy murder mystery and the dreaded nonfiction. One title caught my eye Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell. Intrigued, I picked it up to discover that it is a book about the assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley. Still drawn in by the name I bought it. By the time the plane took off I was pestering my traveling companion with statements such as “Hey, did you know...” He was annoyed; I was enthralled.
The book is a travel journal and a morbid one at that. Inspired by a musical about the presidential assassinations, Vowell begins her journey at the place where Lincoln was shot, the Ford theater. She continues on his killer’s, John Wilkes Booth, escape route. Stopping at the home of Dr. Mudd, she shares incredible facts for and against the long argued question of whether Mudd was an accomplice or an innocent healer.
She does this for every land mark history contains about the three dead presidents, including places where buildings once stood and now only a green tourism sign stands. Vowell always shares more information than the sign provides.
The thing that makes this book amazing and not reminiscent of high school history books is that Vowell is hilarious. She is incredibly smart, highly educated on her subject matter and yet, totally lacking in pretension. Instead of reading a lofty account of many forgotten details about history, it is like a close friend whispering scandalous stories and secrets.
The book is gripping. It has landed itself on the top of my favorite book list. And the best part? When people start talking about their great new nonfiction book, I respond with amazing stories of how Boothe’s brother Edmund later saved Lincoln’s son. That son grew up to make odd cameo appearances at the next two presidential assassinations. While there is no discussion on hair, nails or engagement rings the book is nothing short of an incredibly fun read.
