false 12358 6 <P>Sarah Vowell travels through the American past and, in doing so, investigates the dusty, bumpy roads of her own life. In this insightful and funny collection of personal stories Vowell -- widely hailed for her inimitable stories on public radio's <I>This American Life</I> -- ponders a number of curious questions: Why is she happiest when visiting the sites of bloody struggles like Salem or Gettysburg? Why do people always inappropriately compare themselves to Rosa Parks? Why is a bad life in sunny California so much worse than a bad life anywhere else? What is it about the Zen of foul shots? And, in the title piece, why must doubt and internal arguments haunt the sleepless nights of the true patriot?<P>Her essays confront a wide range of subjects, themes, icons, and historical moments: Ike, Teddy Roosevelt, and Bill Clinton; Canadian Mounties and German filmmakers; Tom Cruise and <I>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</I>; twins and nerds; the Gettysburg Address, the State of the Union, and George W. Bush's inauguration. <P>The result is a teeming and engrossing book, capturing Vowell's memorable wit and her keen social commentary. <P> 229722 2002 The Partly Cloudy Patriot total:4601|5:1232|4:2210|3:1001|2:137|1:21| 4601 18298 6065 565 4 7 false false Sat Oct 04 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 01 12:58:28 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 03 23:04:58 -0700 2008 some of them, anyway). I'm not even sure that 're-affirms' is the word I'm looking for. I don't know... I'm just extremely grateful...
...more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Oct 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 07 15:24:20 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 23 06:08:48 -0700 2008 1 ...more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Sep 13 21:18:23 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 13 21:23:56 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat May 31 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 10 09:24:37 -0700 2008 Sat May 31 18:35:32 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Mar 22 15:57:40 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 22 16:31:20 -0700 2008 I especially remember the story about Co...more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Sep 05 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 01 10:46:03 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 01 19:28:36 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Mar 12 06:49:07 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 19 16:18:48 -0700 2007 Wed Mar 12 06:49:05 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2003 Mon Jul 30 11:52:27 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 10 17:43:13 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue May 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Nov 22 14:59:29 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 22 14:59:29 -0800 2008 Lincoln at Gettysburg, were quite compelling. Others were family stories that I found boring and irrelevant. I think the book is intended to be a humorous, light-hearted approach to ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Apr 18 15:12:10 -0700 2007 Tue Apr 24 17:34:14 -0700 2007
A good example is her essay on the kerfuffle over Al Gore mentioning Love Canal while speaking at a high school. AG was misquoted and "...more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Sep 13 19:24:30 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 13 19:31:43 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jul 27 07:42:53 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 27 08:40:09 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jun 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 22 06:54:16 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 22 06:54:28 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 1 false false Tue May 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 27 06:03:07 -0700 2009 Wed May 27 06:18:17 -0700 2009 once more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 20:16:48 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 20:38:09 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Aug 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 21 14:15:57 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 13:44:15 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Jun 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 22 13:37:51 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 27 09:10:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Dec 03 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 25 08:24:02 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 03 07:53:13 -0800 2008 1 The Partly Cloudy Patriot
Wk.32.; Bk.32

It's no secret that I am a pretty big fan of Sarah Vowell. I think she is one of the most learned and interesting writers of American history. She knows how to transfer her pearls of information without being too didactic or smug...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jul 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 30 18:20:46 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 30 18:25:24 -0700 2009
She got sort o...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jul 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 10 07:08:36 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 10:21:53 -0700 2009 more...]]>