ASSASSINATION VACATION

I adored Sarah Vowell’s new book, Assassination Vacation—oddly, because although I’ve read all of her other books and moderately enjoyed them, I always find them a little disappointing (especially Radio On, such a good idea but so annoying somehow in execution), or at least not compelling enough to want to own them. But Assassination Vacation seems to have more substance to me, and it taps into my love of other people’s geeky obsessions, as well as my appreciation of odd historical factoids and my fascination with visiting random historical sites. Anyone who wishes they could tour every presidential library, shares an affection for the brown-on-white National Park Service font, or wants to be a docent when they retire will enjoy following Vowell’s stories of her travels visiting every site related to the first three presidential assassinations (Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley). The book is funny, but also informative and surprisingly moving—it makes history real in the best way, as well as post-modernly examining the endeavor of trying to experience history through the buildings and artifacts left behind. It was one of those books where while I was reading it, I was already looking forward to reading it again.