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The Partly Cloudy Patriot

by Sarah Vowell, Katherine Streeter (Illustrations)

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 13,503 ratings · 978 reviews

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 This American Life -- ponders a number of curious questions: Why is she happiest when visiting the sites of bloody struggles lik...more

Paperback, 196 pages

Published September 23rd 2003 by Simon & Schuster (first published 2002)

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Oct 03, 2008 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: essays, favorite-authors

I love Sarah Vowell. I can't say that enough. She re-affirms my belief that someone out there gets 'it'. That... it's not crazy to have these thoughts. (well, 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...

I'll admit that I”m not one to eagerly debate American politics, the economy or foreign policy, I'm just not articu-literary enough in that way. As you can see, I like to make up words and then people don't...more

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Feb 26, 2012 Tracyesine rated it 3 of 5 stars

I checked this out to read on the plane after realizing that the other choices I was considering were too controversial for airline security. I hoped a book by an American author with the word "patriot" in the title would help me avoid an aggressive pat-down. When I opened the book in the airport, I realized I had heard about half the chapters read aloud by Vowell on This American Life, which somewhat dampened my enjoyment. Still, it was a fast and fairly fun read. The chapter about Canadian Mou...more

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Oct 23, 2008 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Jenny Benevento, Sonya Green, Shane Beers

Recommended to Elizabeth by: This American Life

Shelves: non-fiction

I picked this one up from BookMooch after hearing one of the stories on This American Life last fall (or maybe earlier this year?). I can't ever decide if I find Sarah Vowell's voice charming or grating, so perhaps reading her prose was the best way to discover that I really, truly do love her.

One of the things I've always appreciated about some of my pen-friends is that the letters they write me could very well be a voice mail message because their way of writing is so true to the way they comm...more

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Sep 13, 2008 simon rated it 3 of 5 stars

ok. i almost gave this book 2 stars because it was cheesy in an NPR/This American Life/The Onion/Obama sort of way. its a book about patriotism and skepticism and being american and thinking about what that means. and really really liking america. i mean, with a conscious and all, but really liking them red white and blue things. so that's the part that made it difficult to swallow.

but sort of stuck in there are really moments of insight and good writing that warranted another perspective. her m...more

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May 31, 2008 Maggie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone, especially history buffs

Shelves: memoir, all-time-favorites, non-fiction, undergrad, audio

This was great both as a work of literature and as an audiobook. Sarah Vowell is funny, articulate, and wise; there's something to be said for writing so good that it makes you actually want to visit boring historical sites (Gettysburg and Salem, specifically). Part memoir and part history lesson, this was in every way fun to listen to. As an added bonus, Conan O'Brien performs as Lincoln, Stephen Colbert does Al Gore (brilliantly), and David Cross reads TR's lines.
I liked this book so much o...more

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Mar 22, 2008 Shelly rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: listened-to-on-ipod

Aside from herself, Conan O'Brien, Seth Green, Stephen Colbert, and David Cross read on the audio version. That right there is enough to make the content not even matter. But it does. This is my introduction to Sarah Vowell and my favorite of her work.
I especially remember the story about Concord High School in New Hampshire inviting all the 2000 presidential candidates to speak. Half accepted, including Al Gore. This was 1999, the same year as Columbine, and the candidates were asked to speak a...more Aside from herself, Conan O'Brien, Seth Green, Stephen Colbert, and David Cross read on the audio version. That right there is enough to make the content not even matter. But it does. This is my introduction to Sarah Vowell and my favorite of her work.
I especially remember the story about Concord High School in New Hampshire inviting all the 2000 presidential candidates to speak. Half accepted, including Al Gore. This was 1999, the same year as Columbine, and the candidates were asked to speak about violent crime. After Gore spoke Vowell interviewed some of the students about his speech and many of them were impressed; telling how they felt he respected them as people, and didn't just view them as kids.
He talked about the importance of the insulation of a loving family and how that might keep someone immune from committing those types of things (school shootings). Then, there was a Q&A and one of the kids asked how high school students could become more involved in politics. Gore went on to talk about how there's a lot of cynicism in the world, especially among youth and then encouraged the kids to look inside themselves and see how lucky they are to live in this country. He talked about long voting lines in new democracies like S. Africa where people waited hours to vote. As opposed to here in the US where we have low voter turnout. Further encouraging the kids to get involved he told the story of Love Canal. How a high school student had wrote him a letter 20 years ago about how her family was getting sick and she believed the water coming from her well was contaminated. This encouraged Gore to look for other contaminated water sites and clean up hazardous dump sites. He said to the kids that "It (Love Canal) was the one that started it all", and was misquoted in the paper the next morning as saying "I was the one that started it all". Aside from that being an anecdote about the power of the media to spin things out of control, what's so touching about the way Vowell shares the story is how upset the kids were that an experience that had been so positive and a story that was meant to be motivating, was turned into this cheap, salacious news piece about what a liar Al Gore is. No talk about what he'd said about school violence, no talk about how he'd encouraged the kids to get involved and to not take their status as an American citizen for granted, just--Al Gore's a big fat liar who claims to have invented the internet, was the real life person behind Ryan O'Neal's character in Love Story, and discovered Love Canal.(less)

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Sep 01, 2007 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: sarah h

It's my second time reading this collection of essays, and I'm still finding it quite funny on the re-read. The author's historical and political knowledge are guilt-inducing, considering how little I know about both subjects, but I'm grateful to her for chipping away at my ignorance with her entertaining presentation of what I usually find really, really boring. As a self-professed nerd (she takes notes while watching movies), she does a great job of highlighting obscurities and delighting in t...more

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Mar 12, 2008 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

In the midst of lots, and lots, and lots of academic reading, I needed a break! Ever since 'Take The Cannoli' I've been a huge fan of Ms. Vowell's wit. This book rewards my loyalty. Her relationship to the history of the U.S. is personal with out schmaltz, and funny without being too irreverant.

Two of my favorite passages so far:
Just the other day, I was in my neighborhood Starbucks, waiting for the post office to open. I was enjoying a chocolately caffe mocha when it occurred to me that to drin...more

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Sep 10, 2007 Dolores rated it 4 of 5 stars

Sarah Vowell is that rare writer who manages to be sarcastic and cynical, but still respectful and downright witty as can be. Her follow-up to "Take the Cannoli" is just as good, but in a different way. Whereas "Take the Cannoli" was more about her coming-of-age and life experiences, "The Partly Cloudy Patriot" is mainly her take on recent political and news events. She manages to put her own personal spin on what has transpired, never sugar-coating her views, but she keeps the humor alive throu...more

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Nov 22, 2008 David rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not sure what I expected, but this book didn't excite me. Some of the sections, like the opening chapter dealing with 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 American history. But it just didn't "grab" me. I guess one problem was having multiple readers and sometimes making it into a production instead of an essay. When the introduction to the audiobook me...more

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Apr 24, 2007 John rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Nerds

This book was very entertaining. I was surprised by some of the author's dead-on observations and ability to step back and examine her own zealotry.

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 "discovered Love Canal" was added to the list of undeserved credits claimed by AG. The author was able to take a step back from her obvious boner for AG and reflect on the irrelevance of a misquote if the result confir...more

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Sep 13, 2007 Melissa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

I love Sarah Vowell and this might be my favorite of her books. She writes essays about...well, just about everything: her relationship with her republican dad (who calls her after elections to remind her that he cancelled out her vote), the Salem Witch Trials, underground lunchrooms and why Tom Cruise made her nervous years before he was jumping on couches. She's funny and insightful and, if you have never heard Sarah on This American Life (a PRI radio show), it's worth getting this on tape/CD,...more

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May 09, 2013 Joshua Harms rated it 3 of 5 stars

Sarah Vowell is insightful and reflective and self-deprecatingly nerdy: appropriate and expected of most any postmodern essayist. You’ll recognize her from This American Life, to which contributes fairly often. She’s an outspoken, liberal art-history nerd/history-buff, and so her essays are appropriately based on a packed full of glorious, nerdy history tidbits. But you swallow and enjoy the nerdiness because she also highlights her background as a daughter of a gunsmith and the rural, Midwester...more

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Dec 20, 2012 Moondance rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'm going to assume these essays were originally meant to have been read separately- a periodical publishing here and there. Because when they're read together they read as a series of the author patting herself on the back for being a "nerd" over and over again. Her head-shaking acknowledgement of her own interest in American history is so thinly veiled as self congratulatory its obnoxious.

In her essay on Al Gore she speaks about America's anti-intellectualism and its political affects. Her ess...more

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Dec 16, 2012 Amber Lea rated it 4 of 5 stars

I wasn't sure whether to give this four or five stars, so let's pretend it's a 4.5.

Listen, I LOVE Sarah Vowell. She gets me. We have so much in common, and she's hilarious.

All the things I don't like about this book feel kind of petty, like how she says she's a "Capital D democrat," or how she talks about her love of sports, or how she loves city living and doesn't have much interest in nature...I'm like eww. She also seems to love America more than I do...but she's still awesome! She's still br...more

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Nov 29, 2012 Kaitlin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: essays

I read this during a kick I was having after recently moving to the states and wanting to read only female, American essayists. After the terrific reviews, constant appearances on recommendation and "best-of" lists, I quickly checked this book out.

Okay. I can see why everyone loves this book, but sadly I did not.

The reason I did not like this book is because I felt alienated from its content. This book contains really great stories about life growing up in the US and linking those moments to th...more

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Oct 17, 2012 Aidan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, culture, essays, history, non-fiction, politics

Sarah Vowell is enthusiastic about history and politics and that enthusiasm makes for joyful reading.

This is the third of Vowell's books that I have read, after Take the Cannoli and Assassination Vacation, and it is the best of the lot. The collection of essays joined together in this work are from the early '00s. Such an important time in American history and so, of course, a memorable time in my life. Except, at that time, I was too young and naive to share Vowell's discerning vantage point,...more Sarah Vowell is enthusiastic about history and politics and that enthusiasm makes for joyful reading.

This is the third of Vowell's books that I have read, after Take the Cannoli and Assassination Vacation, and it is the best of the lot. The collection of essays joined together in this work are from the early '00s. Such an important time in American history and so, of course, a memorable time in my life. Except, at that time, I was too young and naive to share Vowell's discerning vantage point, and perhaps still lack her unfailing generosity. Her work here is all the more meaningful for its measured response to such a volatile time in American history. Vowell's keen insight on America as it enters its post-Clinton and post-9/11 days, especially read 10+ years later, allows for better understanding of that period.

Vowell is at her best when she's reckoning with what it means to be a liberal American intellectual. She has a deep respect and admiration for America's political (especially presidential) history, but also struggles with the imperialism and genocide that goes along with it. The then-recent (suspicious) first election of George W. and the twin towers tragedy pose further challenges to Vowell's outlook and she is only too happy to reflect upon all of these challenges and share them with her reader. She does this alongside continuing the trend she started in other works to share her introvert-extrovert joy in visiting Sites of Historical Import. You can almost hear squeals of delighted nerdery as she reports these experiences. Throughout, Vowell ties herself and her family into the history of this nation—the good, the bad, the ugly—and stepping back one is left with an impressionist painting of An American Life. That is, someone who is complicated in their relationship to history, to their fellow citizens, and to their government.

This picture of An American Life as Vowell offers it, while shaded with liberal leanings, escapes the bounds of her political affiliations and becomes a reflection of the American spirit. Reading this book, I find myself proud to be an American in a way that flagrant displays of American jingoism in recent years seemed impossible.

Vowell's partly-cloudy-patriot perspective is a fantastic contribution to American literature, i.e. literature that is from an American and about being an American, in all its contested and complicated glory.(less)

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Jun 30, 2011 Jason Lamb rated it 4 of 5 stars

I want to believe that a Sarah Vowell still dwells in me, that I could be more childlike, more hopeful, more unabashed. I admire her perspective, though it feels naive at times, but I do hold that the world is a far better place with a few True Believers still telling the old stories and visiting National Parks with Purpose.

Some have criticized this collection of essays as meandering, and I suppose that is one way to read it. I had a different understanding. The space between the essays is wher...more

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Mar 13, 2011 Donna Jo Atwood rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: essays, political-opinion, family

I enjoy Sarah Vowell's writing. Her sense of humor makes mine dance for joy; her slightly off-center world view can be like a breath of fresh air.

These essays were mostly written in the aftermath of the 2000 election. Sarah is just a tad to the left of the politcal spectrum than I--enough so that I could understand her anguish, but enough less that I was ready to tell her to get over it much sooner than she did. Her chapter on Al Gore's visit to a High School class and the journalistic aftermath...more

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Jun 22, 2009 Erik rated it 4 of 5 stars

Despite being a regular NPR contributor, I admit that I didn’t hear Vowell until a month ago when our local affiliate rebroadcast a talk that she gave here recently. Not only was she hilariously funny – in her signature dry and erudite way – but I remembered that a good friend of mine counts her as a favorite writer. So, naturally, I hemmed and hawed about what book of hers that I would crack open first, and then this 2002 collection of patriotically-themed essays showed up the other day on my l...more

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May 27, 2009 Ciara rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: racile demoratic partisans, the intellectually dishonest, apologists for the founders

Shelves: read-in-2009

straight up, i am really not a fan of sarah vowell's love affair with american exceptionalism & naked liberal partisanship. there were parts of this book that made me throw it down in disgust. like the piece about sarah & her nerdy politco internet buddies going to george w. bushe's first inauguration, to "witness" the fact that not every american just stood around & did nothing while the election was stolen, blah blah blah, yeah, standing on the mall & crying your eyes out sure...more straight up, i am really not a fan of sarah vowell's love affair with american exceptionalism & naked liberal partisanship. there were parts of this book that made me throw it down in disgust. like the piece about sarah & her nerdy politco internet buddies going to george w. bushe's first inauguration, to "witness" the fact that not every american just stood around & did nothing while the election was stolen, blah blah blah, yeah, standing on the mall & crying your eyes out sure is going to change the world. anyway. she says that she had an epiphany that "this country enslaved people, we got the president we deserved". uh...i think there are an awful lot of black americans who are probably pretty unimpressed with the fact that the united states used to permit slavery, & probably also did not vote for george w. bush. i can't even put it into words at this point because it's so mind-boggling, but does sarah vowell think that only white people read her books? it's like she doesn't event ATTEMPT to consider any other audience. & i know, i know, when you're on national public radio as often as she is, it stands to reason that your audience is going to be mostly white people. but still!

& then there was her piece about how obnoxious it is when people compare themselves to rosa parks. because, you know, rosa parks was such a unique individual, flying in the face of institutionalized racism, a lone freedom fighter in the shape of a weary middle-aged lady just trying to get home after a long day, sparking off the civil rights movement with her renegade refusal to give up her seat on the bus. this is what we have been taught, & this is the bright shiny pretty idea that sarah vowell clings to with all her heart. never mind that the bus boycotts were orchestrated in advance, & rosa parks was specially selected from among all these people already working tirelessly on tedious but well-organized civil rights campaigns, to specifically get on a bus, refuse to give up her seat, & become the face of civil rights. i know well-organized activist campaigns that manipulate people's heart strings with good PR aren't really as stirring to the heart of a patriot as the mythos of the charismatic individual bucking the system & ignoting the hearts of the people, but...the reality of pragmatic political organizing is a lot more exciting to me personally.

& this is my entire issue with sarah vowell. she buys into all the myths of american history--jefferson can be forgiven for owning (& raping) slaves because he was such an awesome writer. lincoln was a stirring orator who wept at the idea that another human being would be enslaved. teddy roosevelt was a charming, sad nerd. rosa parks was just a regular everyday lady with no connection to the civil rights movement before her singular decision on a bus one day broke everything wide open. american exceptionlism NEEDS these myths to survive, but they're just a bunch of bullshit. the reality is a lot more complicated, a lot murkier. it means looking at one's heroes & acknowledging that they were deeply flawed & conflicted. it means acknowledging that history is not inevitable, & that the nice guys on white horses aren't going to swoop in & save you if you wait patiently enough. she actually says at one point that she takes it for a fact that people in other parts of the world "hate us for being american". um...okay, george w. bush. seriously, WTF? i have never thought that anyone hated americans just for being americans. i can understand that maybe they hate the united states because the u.s. is a imperialist superpower whose control of the world has been founded on the oppression, extermination, & marginalization of millions & millions of people.

whatever. basically, i hated this book & i don't get people who love sarah vowell. her worldview is so facile. there is a way to interface with the things you love about your life, your surroundings, your political engagement, whatever, without this kind of bullshit partisan hand-over-heart cornebread & cheese.(less)

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Oct 18, 2010 Scott rated it 3 of 5 stars

Vowell describes Americans as “fun-loving dopes” and admits that she has come to appreciate her “one dumb-ass little passion” of Pop-A-Shot arcade basketball precisely because it has “no point at all.” And, while such an ethic can provide for a breezy and intermittently smirk-inducing read, the inclusion of some essays in this collection for seemingly “no point at all” (toss-offs on Tom Cruise, former Dallas cowboy coach Tom Landry, and New German Cinema particularly read like non-sequiturs) sta...more

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Feb 19, 2009 Carla rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobook

I have recently begun listening to audio books at work and I have realized that not all audio books are created equal. In fact, some audio book readings have turned beautiful novels into boring crap quite reminiscent of high school English class. So I have decided to start reviewing not only the books I have been listening to, but also the quality of the reading and averaging it into the overall book score.

Sarah Vowell reads her own book, The Partly Cloudy Patriot. I find this quite helpful sinc...more

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Aug 21, 2012 Adam rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, history, non-fiction

I really enjoyed this book, it is the most "Sarah Vowell-y" of all her books that I've read so far (this, Assassination Vacation and The Wordy Shipmates), in my opinion. The authors voice and wit ring pretty clear throughout in these mostly short, always personal essays. The Partly Cloudy Patriot reads like a memoir through history and research.

I can't say enough good things about this book. I burned through it in only a few days. My suggestion would be to read this first if you were thinking a...more I really enjoyed this book, it is the most "Sarah Vowell-y" of all her books that I've read so far (this, Assassination Vacation and The Wordy Shipmates), in my opinion. The authors voice and wit ring pretty clear throughout in these mostly short, always personal essays. The Partly Cloudy Patriot reads like a memoir through history and research.

I can't say enough good things about this book. I burned through it in only a few days. My suggestion would be to read this first if you were thinking about reading any of Vowell's other books.

Though all of the stories are insightful this one quote, the last paragraph from the essay titled "The Nerd Voice", really struck me as something I so emphatically agree with:

"I wish it were different. I wish that we privileged knowledge in politicians, that the ones who know things didn't have to hide it behind brown pants, and that the know-not-enoughs were laughed all the way to the Maine border on their first New Hampshire meet and greet. I wish that in order to secure his party's nomination, a presidential candidate would be required to point at the sky and name all the stars; have the periodic table of the elements memorized; rattle off the kings and queens of Spain; define the significance of the Gatling gun; joke around in Latin; interpret the symbolism in seventeenth-century Dutch painting; explain photosynthesis to a six-year-old; recite Emily Dickinson; bake a perfect popover; build a shortwave radio out of a coconut; and know all the words to Hoagy Carmichael's "Two Sleepy People," Johnny Cash's "Five Feet High and Rising," and "You Got the Silver" by the Rolling Stones. After all, the United States is the greatest country on earth dealing with the most complicated problems in the history of the world--poverty, pollution, justice, Jerusalem. What we need is a president who is at least twelve kinds of nerd, a nerd messiah to come along every four years, acquire the Secret Service code name Poindexter, install a Revenge of the Nerds screen saver on the Oval Office computer, and one by one decrypt our woes."(less)

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Jan 24, 2012 Matt Chic rated it 4 of 5 stars

Jumping on the Sarah Vowell bandwagon here...

The first couple chapters had me worried for a second because when it comes to politics and history, Vowell and I are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Not in interest, but in knowledge --so there was a number of references or jokes that sorta went over my head.

I plead ignorance.

Anyways, that was hardly an issue by the end. This book is a collection of different essays, so where maybe that first chapter didn't click with me, the rest were just fine (...more

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Jun 22, 2011 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: airplane-books

If you have a hankering to read Sarah Vowell, do it right: rent the audiobook. It's the only way you'll properly appreciate the finer points of the collection: Vowell's crazy, squeaky voice singing a weird German accusatives song from her childhood, the completely random/hilarious cameos by Conan and Michael Chabon, the strangely fitting There Will be Giants soundtrack dropping in at the end of each story ("Pop-a-Shooooooot," they vocalize, hilariously). Some things just can't be written in word...more If you have a hankering to read Sarah Vowell, do it right: rent the audiobook. It's the only way you'll properly appreciate the finer points of the collection: Vowell's crazy, squeaky voice singing a weird German accusatives song from her childhood, the completely random/hilarious cameos by Conan and Michael Chabon, the strangely fitting There Will be Giants soundtrack dropping in at the end of each story ("Pop-a-Shooooooot," they vocalize, hilariously). Some things just can't be written in words. They need to be said.

There are two other reasons that I like this book, one being intellect. I realized that in a lot of nonfiction essay collections I enjoy reading, the authors are waaaayyyy smarter than me, making these crazy leaps of judgment and logic about society where I am just flummoxed by their genius - like DWF, Jonathan Lethem, Joan Didion, the gang. Sarah Vowell, I would say, does not possess such gifts of intellect - though she does write essays in the style of what DWF would tackle about pop culture and pointless activities, her conclusions are, at best, things that I could reach myself. I guess in a conventional sense, she is not as "smart" as my usual author turn-tos. However, this works for her. She's kind of like - hey, this is what's on my mind, it's kind of stupid, but you know what? It's stupid and I don't care. (as opposed to actually going on about how it's actually very nationally/globally/self significant, which is definitely what others of her ilk would do) Like, my absolute favorite, favorite essay, "Pop-a-Shot," is basically about how she likes to shoot baskets at the arcade with a tiny baby ball and feel really cool while doing it. She's not all like, yeah, secretly this actually means something about myself and America. She's more or less like, yeah, it's stupid, whatevs. She's totally real, you know?

Reason number two: her character. One can really get a sense of what kind of a person she is, all nerdy and history-crazy and bleeding heart liberal. What really, really amazed me in the midst of reading this was that I didn't get annoyed by her constant Gore-loving crazed liberal ideals. In fact, I actually kinda liked them. She has a way of speaking that seems so casual that you actually get into politics a bit. She's kind of externally knowledgeable and really great at getting people enthusiastic.(less)

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Jul 30, 2010 Courtney rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction-by-women

This is the third Sarah Vowell book I've read in the last month, so I must like her books. Why, then, did I give this book 3 stars? It wasn't her writing style. Generally, that's pretty engaging. She is an author who is very much present in her work. It wasn't the topic, because this one, unlike her other works I've read that have been centered on one topic, is a collection of essays about various topics. She covers subjects both somewhat serious ("Democracy and Things Like That" or "The Partly...more This is the third Sarah Vowell book I've read in the last month, so I must like her books. Why, then, did I give this book 3 stars? It wasn't her writing style. Generally, that's pretty engaging. She is an author who is very much present in her work. It wasn't the topic, because this one, unlike her other works I've read that have been centered on one topic, is a collection of essays about various topics. She covers subjects both somewhat serious ("Democracy and Things Like That" or "The Partly Cloudy Patriot") and less than serious ("Tom Cruise Makes Me Nervous" and "Pop-A-Shot"). One essay, "State of the Union," isn't so much an essay as a completely random selection of thoughts ("You know who always has a good haircut? Meg Ryan." "Pittsburgh has a nice airport." "In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups.")

I think what caused me to give this book 3 stars instead of 4 is the author herself. At times, she comes off as a self-important and better-than-you (can't say "holier than thou" because she is a by gum ATHIEST and makes very very certain--over and over--that we know that she does NOT believe in any sort of God regardless of how she was raised by her parents). She is a full-on Yankee who may never have been south of the Mason-Dixon Line. All Southern states and anyone who lives in them, past or present, is apparently BAD because we had slavery. In the first chapter, in regards to Vicksburg surrendering on the 4th of July, she says, "And yet who these days dwells on Vicksburg, except for the park rangers who work there and a handful of sore losers who whine when they're asked to take the stars and bars off their godforsaken state flags?" (You's think someone as educated as this person is might know the difference between the stars and bars and the Confederate naval jack, but hey...) Abraham Lincoln is apparently the nearest thing to a god she has. The chip on her shoulder she has about the Trail of Tears is the size of the Rock of Gibraltar, because she is PART CHEROKEE and you need to KNOW THAT every chapter or two.

In short, this is a pretty good book, but she needs to rein in some of that vitriol she spews every once in a while. (less)

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Aug 26, 2009 Anika rated it 2 of 5 stars

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...more

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Jun 27, 2009 Kit Dunsmore rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: essays, history, humor

Sarah Vowell's humor is great, but what I love about her writing is her willingness to look at the contradictions that are part of being an American. She talks about seeing a buffalo in North Dakota and wondering how anyone could shoot anything so noble, then having buffalo burgers for lunch. It's hard not to like someone willing to be that honest about themselves. Another of her strengths is connections - making intellectual leaps that result in intriguing ideas. Her passion for America and pol...more

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Mar 27, 2013 Haley rated it 3 of 5 stars

I picked up three of Vowell's books ( The Partly Cloudy Patriot and The Wordy Shipmates in book-form and then Assassination Vacation on cd, which I've been listening to in the car. It's narrated by the author herself, and I have a hard time not picturing her as Violet from the Incredibles) from the library after hearing her work being compared to that of David Sedaris.

You can imagine my disappointment when I realized this book was almost entirely about U.S. presidents, past and present, and the...more

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About Sarah Vowell

Sarah Jane Vowell is an American author, journalist, humorist, and commentator. Often referred to as a "social observer," Vowell has authored several books and is a regular contributor to the radio program This American Life on Public Radio International. She was also the voice of Violet in the animated film The Incredibles and a short documentary, VOWELLET - An Essay by SARAH VOWELL in the "Behin...more

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Quotes from The Partly Cloudy Patriot

“Being a nerd, which is to say going too far and caring too much about a subject, is the best way to make friends I know. For me, the spark that turns an acquaintance into a friend has usually been kindled by some shared enthusiasm . . . At fifteen, I couldn't say two words about the weather or how I was doing, but I could come up with a paragraph or two about the album Charlie Parker with Strings. In high school, I made the first real friends I ever had because one of them came up to me at lunch and started talking about the Cure.” — 52 people liked it

“Being a nerd, which is to say going too far and caring too much about a subject, is the best way to make friends I know.” — 45 people liked it

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