Thursday, August 14, 2008

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell (973 Vow)

Obsessed doesn't begin to describe the author's fascination with presidential assassinations. To satisfy her obsession, she traveled to all the sites she could find that were associated with three presidential assassinations: Lincoln, McKinley, and Garfield. And I mean she traveled everywhere - as far away as the Dry Tortugas to see the fort where Dr. Samuel Mudd was imprisoned for helping John Wilkes Boothe. (Mudd said he was only performing his duties as a doctor. Others disagreed.)

I thought it would be a horribly boring book but it was one that I had to read for a book club. Imagine my surprise to find that I liked it a lot. The author is fairly cynical and has a sarcastic tone to her writing. She realizes how much she is imposing on family and friends (she doesn't drive so has to take them with her to get around) but is unapologetic about her interest in presidential deaths. I enjoyed all the history thrown in as well as all of the coincidences - did you know that Robert Todd Lincoln was connected to all three of these assassinations? Well worth the time spent reading it!

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