About this title: From the "New York Times"-bestselling author of "Assassination Vacation" and "The Partly Cloudy Patriot" comes an examination of the Puritans, their covenant communities, deep-rooted idealism, political and cultural relevance, and their myriad oddities.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781594489990ISBN:1594489998
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Near-new condition. NO remainder marks or price clippings. Tight spine, bright pages. NO writing, marks or tears inside book. 255 pages. Synopsis In this New York Times bestseller, the author of Assassination Vacation "brings the [Puritan] era wickedly to life" (Washington Post). To this day, America views itself as a Puritan nation, but Sarah Vowell investigates what that means-and what it should mean. What she discovers is something far different ... read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Group Usa
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781594484001ISBN:1594484007
Description: From the "New York Times"-bestselling author of "Assassination Vacation" and "The Partly Cloudy Patriot" comes an examination of the Puritans, their covenant communities, deep-rooted idealism, political and cultural relevance, and their myriad oddities. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781594489990ISBN:1594489998
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 254 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781594489990ISBN:1594489998
Description: New. First printing 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2. Slight shelf wear. GoodwillnyBooks is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. You may return new items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781594489990ISBN:1594489998
Description: Signed by Author Hard cover in dust jacket. SIGNED by Vowell on a bookplate. clean text-book is Near Fine. dust jacket has one tiny close tear at head of rear panel at fore-edge. very good. read more
"Sarah is a serious historian who takes a smart ass'ed editorial approach to a difficult topic - putting odd ball expatriot, religious fanatics into historical perspective allowing us to climb in the virtual back seat with these "puritans" - for a bit.
They are in our fabric, like it or not. Might as well dig them up and put on some new clothes and become reacquainted. They are not my direct descendants but they are my ancestors.
All historians de facto editorialize. Better to see clearly when the editorializing is taking place. Miss Sarah does this nicely in an irreverant but very reverant way.
Plenty of old fashioned history there, too. Makes me want to find my hat with the buckles that English separatists/maybe-maybe not separatists never wore.
"The only Sarah Vowell I've ever "read," was/is _Take the Cannoli_. All my other exposure to her writing has been via audio: _Assassination Vacation_, _The Partly Cloudy Patriot_, and now _The Wordy Shipmates_. I have to admit, sadly, that I was let down. Generally the audio versions of her books are so good. They feature readers like Conan O'Brien, Jon Stewart, and (my personal hero) David Cross. And while the audio version for "Shipmates" does feature the likes of Bill Hader, John Hodgman, and John Oliver, the only voice I ever heard/recognized was Campbell Scott's, who, you know, isn't chopped liver exactly BUT... I mean, I liked "Singles" and all, but that was what--15 years ago? Despite all that, his voice is pretty monotone, and has an overwhelming soothing effect. I can't tell you how many times I fell asleep listening to this book. I even fell asleep listening to this at work once! I tried, I really did try, to finish this. I must've listened to it for 40 hours. I kept rewinding (or whatever it is we call that now that everything's digital), but I just couldn't stay interested. I would like to point out, however, that the two stars are not for the text itself, but for the audio version. I am thinking this might be better in book form. I do love Sarah Vowell's passion for her subject and her ability to impart her nerdiness for history in a way that's quirky and funny and relevant and interesting (although the part where she talks about Americans getting their history from 70s TV sitcoms went on a bit too long for me), and she's obviously done her research-- like when she talks about how Reagan adopted Winthrop's "City Upon a Hill" speech as his own--hold on, this was my favorite so I'll copy the highlights for you:
- In 1983, the official unemployment rate in America hit 11.5 million. Reagan, interviewed on Good Morning America, said that homeless people who slept on grates were "Homeless, you might say, by choice." - In 1987 Reagan went on television to apologize for Iran-Contra. He said "A few months ago- I told the American People I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and evidence tell me it's not." -In 1989 he gave his fairwell address (what Vowell refers to as a "self-congratulatory benediction") and in his speech he referred to John Winthrop as an "early freedom fighter."
I've spoke of the shining city all my political life," he said "but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds, living in harmony and peace. A city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls--the walls had doors, and the doors were open to anyone with the will and heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still. And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight years ago. But more than that-- after 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady not matter what storm.
To this Vowell responds
My heart told me that wasn't true. The facts and evidence also told me that wasn't true. Remember Winthrop's city, where 'The rich and mighty should not eat up the poor.'? Where 'If thy brother be in want and thou canst help him, if thou lovest God, thou must help him.'? President Reagan did not utter the word AIDS in public until more than 20,000 people had died from the disease. His appointed officials embezzled funds ear-marked for cleaning up toxic waste sites and gave the money to Republican candidates. He cut school lunch programs for needy children. He fired 11,345 striking air traffic controllers which, according to the 'Village Voice,' led to 253 deaths due to controller errors over the next ten years. He cut the budget for the department of housing and urban development from $32 billion in 1981 to $7.5 billion in 1988. Two million Americans were homeless by 1989. The only Federal department whose budget was not cut, but increased, was the Department of Defense, that was because the President's white whale was the Soviet Union. Being ready and able to bomb the hell out of the "Evil Empire" was the nation's top priority, and if that meant thousands of poor kids had to skip lunch, or sleep in cars in poison neighborhoods, so be it.
I imagine that the further you get in to the text, the more good stuff like this you'll find. I'd also like to add that Vowell's reverence and respect for much of the early religious writing associated with the Puritans helped me look at those texts through a strictly literary lens and not, as an Atheist, be so offended by the their countless references, thanks, and praises to god. All I can say at this point is, the jury's still out on the book, but, unfortunately, I have to give two big fat thumbs down to the audio version."
"In her fifth book so far, "A Wordy Shipmate," Sarah Vowell seems to be going more and more out on the limb of edgy (inside edge, as in just barely professional at times; not the outside/frontier edge) writing. I sort of wish I hadn't caught her on television, for I hear her high-register voice and see her randy mannerisms when I read this book.
She is open and honest about it, it seems: She knows she has gotten away with being a little snot and in fact is paid good money for it. I'm not so sure tthat he snarky takes on her rehashing of Massachusetts history were absolutely needed; it's been done lots better in many other books.
So, to get my money's worth from the book, which I certainly did, I had to ignore her voice and image. I tried replacing it with Doris Goodman's, but that only went so far; the writing stles are just too different. Just reading as if written by a stranger worked fine after a bit of practice. Some of her bits could be used directly on stage at a comedy or improve club, and, depending on the mood of the evening, would likely be a huge hit.
Other sections of the book dig deeper into Puritan history itself. While I'd read of those folks in high school and college even, it had been a while. Vowell sure does bring their story to life, although is it really fair to judge them against today's mores?
Overall, the book is a very good read; just be careful to steer clear of her tv appearances."
"This is an interesting topic but I could only take so much of the author's hipster style of writing with her constant tangents and editorializing on personal revelations and pop culture references. This might make a decent essay or (gasp!) blog entry but as a full-length book it's not up to snuff. (I think it's possible to write engagingly and critically about history for the general public without boring us to tears and without sacrificing sentence structure and content.) Of course if you're looking for the kind of author who makes you feel like you're learning about history but is really just feeding your ego's need to feel cool about your ability to grasp her Brady Bunch references then this book might be for you..............OK random goodreads person, I'm ready to get slammed for not being witty/hip/edgy enough to appreciate Sarah Vowell.........."
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