So this is my second Sarah Vowell audiobook this year. They’ve so far not been OMG have to read! But they’re quick, entertaining, and I learn a little something on my commutes. And they’re often on sale on Audible which makes them a cheap little pick me up. This time we have Unfamiliar Fishes, the story of the Americanization of Hawaii. Starting with Captain Cook discovering the islands, through the first missionaries arriving (from New England of course!) to their grandchildren annexing Hawaii to the […]
The Lancelot of the Revolutionary Set
So I starting listening to this last fall, pre the arrival of Little Beth Ellen. Then I didn’t go anywhere for months, so it took coming off of maternity leave and commuting to work again to finish it up. The reason I was excited for this one was twofold: I’m Hamilton obsessed, just like the rest of the world, but also I, like many others, grew up in a town named for the man (also the only one in the country spelled correctly, a fun […]
“Oui oui, mon ami, je m’appelle Lafayette! The Lancelot of the revolutionary set!”
Guyyyyys this book. It took me almost three months to read it, when I expected to finish it in a couple of days! I just didn’t like it very much, and I’m not sure why. It might be that it was the first Sarah Vowell book I’ve listened to on audiobook, but I don’t think so. I listen to a lot of audiobooks, and I love Sarah Vowell’s voice (not to mention the voices of her many stellar audiobook guests, including John Slattery as Lafayette, […]
Pretty great except for the musical interludes
When I bought this book of essays by Sarah Vowell, it didn’t occur to me that the 2002 publishing date would be so noticeable while reading it. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed reading The Partly Cloudy Patriot, but it was thoroughly weird being thrust back into the days of the Bush v. Gore clusterfuck and the years leading up to 9-11. I was a non-voting teenager back then, so while I remember the highlights, I wasn’t exactly keeping up with politics. There is […]