Can I Be Your Friend??

I recently finished reading Sarah Vowell's non-fiction book Assassination Vacation, and I'm experiencing book withdrawals. Well, more like author withdrawals. In the text, Vowell explores the lives and deaths of the first three assassinated presidents (Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley), and recounts her travels visiting the locations touched by those assassinations. While the book sounds dark and morbid (and at times it is), it's equal parts travelogue, history lesson, and humorous musings. And while it was a delightful as well as fascinating read, I very much miss Vowell's enchanting style and tone.

The text is written in first-person, and Vowell frequently offers her personal experiences and anecdotes, so her personality seeps through onto the page. So, after reading the book, I feel like I got to know her pretty well (or at least her carefully crafted literary persona... but we'll save that discussion for another day). And now... I want to be her friend. She sounds so awesome! Vowell deftly blends history and modern-day, weaves the intellectual with the mundane, and makes the arcane seem relevant, while offering an insightful yet humorous take on life and politics. Plus, she's freakin' hilarious. Who wouldn't want a friend like her?

Of course, the real Sarah Vowell may be nothing like the one on the page. But lucky for me, two of her books are on my reading list, so I have much more to look forward to.

You know you want to read it.