About this title: From the author who Nick Hornby calls "smart, funny, soulful, and even educational"--a smart, funny, soulful, and even educational collection of first-person experiences about life in America. Vowell captures the hilarious and moving things that happen when she confronts history.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780743223522ISBN:0743223527
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780743223522ISBN:0743223527
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780743223522ISBN:0743223527
Description: Good. General Used Condiiton. Minor Defects may Exist. Minimal Shelf wear. Text may contain minor marking or highlighting, Binding Tight. Previous owners name or bookplate may be present. Customer Service isn't just a motto for us, its a way of life. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780743243803ISBN:0743243803
Description: Good. Clean pages good condition overall minor shelf wear tight spine All new inventory received to basement All orders guaranteed and ship within 24 hours. Your purchase supports More Than Words, a nonprofit job training program for youth, empowering youth to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business. read more
Description: Satisfaction Guaranteed. Shipped quickly. 2003. Paperback. Used, very good. Very good overall with light to moderate wear. No dust jacket. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 2003-10-01
ISBN-13:9780743243803ISBN:0743243803
Description: Good. Light edge and corner wear. Light creases to cover. Pages still clean and tight. All U.S. orders shipped with tracking numbers and e-mail confirmations. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Hamish Hamilton Ltd
Date Published: 01/05/2003
ISBN-13:9780241142066ISBN:0241142067
Description: Used-Good. Book in good or better condition. Dispatched same day from warehouse. Please email with any questions for quick response. read more
"After reading the first essay in this compliation I wanted to like this book. I looked forward to more of the same genuine feeling and witty sentiment in which Sarah ensconces her experiences at Gettysburg, Salem, the 2000 inaguration, and the Carlsbad Caverns. Unfortunately these humorus and profound pieces are punctuated with seemingly irrelevant, meandering musings thematically tangental to the patriotic tone set by the title, the cover, and the opening piece. And while I understand the value of such ramblings, thier place is usually on ones personal computer or in a journal tucked away somewhere rather than amongst a series of essays that seek to deal seriously with the topic of contradiction in American living. And if their inclusion is supposed to be some kind of preformative affirmation of those inherrant contradictions, it feels contirved and doesn't flow naturally at all. Speaking of contrived, the ridiculous illustrations that pop up every now and again are totally distracting and only add to the "slapped together" feel of the whole book.
Furthermore, her inability to refrain from vulgarlity quickly lowers my respect for her as a writer. Anyone who can't express a sentiment without reverting to the "f" word strikes me as unimaginative and inarticulate. I wanted to like this book. I wanted to lose myself within the dry wit and unexpected metaphors, but in the end all I can say is that of all the books I've ever read, this is one of them."
"I so want to like her and I did for about the first 75 pages. In fact I liked this book so much I recommended it to the fellow passenger on my recent train ride. I liked that she was a loner but needed to be around people. I liked her politics and I liked her background.
She got sort of old after a while. I think I'll forgive her as the book is written around the turn of the century and therefore dated, naturally. And I learned things while remembering other things. Things like how Al Gore was perceived as a dork, as "the inventor of the internet" when I remember him not saying that, and as a person who, you can tell, isn't one to take credit for anything.
I bought it in the first place because it was on the $4 bookshelf at Green Apple down the street. I'm going to have to buy more books on that shelf. This was worth at least that, and at least the short amount of time it took to read."
"These essays and commentaries from Vowell's NPR radio appearances and other sources are curmudgeonly, critical, liberal, and, often, laugh-out-loud funny. The commentator, a self-described history nerd, wanders across the spectrum of American life from the theme-park feeling of Salem, MA, where she purchased a Witch's Crossing shot glass, to the glories of Carlsbad Caverns and the Underground Luncheonette. She belongs to a political listserv that was aghast at the results of the 2000 election, yet, joining several of the members on a road trip to protest the Inauguration, she ended up weeping as she sang the "Star-Spangled Banner." Her commitment to America and her dismay about the current direction of the government, both before and after September 11, are strongly stated, but her wit and slightly quirky outlook make reading her book a pleasure. Teens, regardless of their political leanings, will enjoy the pop-culture connections and even learn some history while smiling at her delivery. This title will work well for assignments on essay writing and even provide material for monologues."
"As a person who has never quite felt comfortable living in my own country (or anywhere else, really), I loved this collection of essays, in which Sarah Vowell examines the quirks of American society, the highs and lows of American history, and her own neurotic, barely-functional inner life. While she feels like American history is part of her DNA, she doesn't feel entirely comfortable, either.
As a fellow history geek, I loved the way Vowell engages with history. She's not so interested in the grand lessons, saying that she knows not to invade Russia in the winter but fails to see how much use this knowledge is to her. Instead, she is interested in how the quirks and contradictions of the past reflect her own. Through looking at history, she better understands herself. She revels in these contradictions, personified by people like Theodore Roosevelt, the bookworm/he-man, who read Tolstoy while hunting down cattle rustlers.
Vowell has some real problems with America, with the crimes of its past, the vapidity of its politics, with the way intellectualism is often scorned. Yet, she also says that America is her religion, with Lincoln as messiah and the Declaration of Independence and Constitution as scripture.
I really loved this book. It was comforting to find someone else who thinks it's fun to drive 50 miles to look at an empty field where something happened 100 years ago...and who then tells their friends about it."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
