The Wordy Shipmates

by Sarah Vowell

book data

2,205 ratings, 3.49 average rating, 782 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		11%
4		40%
3		34%
2		11%
1		1%

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published

October 7th 2008 by Riverhead Hardcover

binding

Hardcover, 254 pages

isbn

1594489998 (isbn13: 9781594489990)

description

From the New York Times bestselling author of Assassination Vacation and The Partly Cloudy Patriot, an examination of the Puritans, their covenant com...more

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08/01/08

Kim rated it:

bookshelves: favorite-authors, non-fiction

Read in February, 2009

Okay, here goes:

I’m torn on The Wordy Shipmates. I’m still a relative newbie to Sarah Vowell. With Assassination Vacation, I had that new love vibe going on. All that gushy ‘You’re so awesome, I’m so glad that I found you, where have you been all my life’ feeling. With The Partly Cloudy Patriot, I moved to that next step in a relationship, where you start to learn about the person and some of it reminds you why you fell in love and then sometimes it’s all like...more

Like this review? yes (15 people liked it)

14 comments

07/09/08

Lauren rated it:

Read in October, 2008

I can hardly believe that I'm going to write these words: I did not enjoy The Wordy Shipmates. Anyone who knows me and my love of Sarah Vowell will be *shocked* by this, as am I. But that fact remains that I found it boring. A slog. Too totally Puritanical.

I know what she was attempting to do - put a human face on the Puritans who founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony, draw parallels to our modern evangelical (this that phrase an oxymoron?) Christian country, and make sharp dist...more

Like this review? yes (12 people liked it)

3 comments

12/08/08

Nicholas Merlin Karpuk rated it:

(review of isbn 0743578198)

Read in December, 2008

Sarah Vowell's quirky 12 year old voice almost requires me to read her books in audio form. This is the second book of Vowell's I've purchased in audio format, and beyond some of the glitches (damn you iTunes!) it's the preferred way to go.

This book is probably the driest thing I've ever read by Vowell. Normally her The American Life bits and her previous books are a lot more anecdote-heavy, which was always a major selling point. She has a knack for taking some really diverse topics...more

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

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11/09/08

Jeff rated it:

Read in January, 2009

recommended to Jeff by: My brain.
recommends it for: People who like belt buckles on things other than their belts.

To love me is to know me, and to know me, is to know that I love Sarah Vowell. I think it was my good friend Kelsey who said, "You have to read this book!" She was talking about Take the Cannoli. I read it, and I loved it. Then I read Partly Cloudy Patriot, and loved it as well. I listened to This American Life almost religiously in the hopes of hearing one of her radio essays. So when I heard her read a snippet of The Wordy Shipmates on This American Life a couple of years ago-...more To love me is to know me, and to know me, is to know that I love Sarah Vowell. I think it was my good friend Kelsey who said, "You have to read this book!" She was talking about Take the Cannoli. I read it, and I loved it. Then I read Partly Cloudy Patriot, and loved it as well. I listened to This American Life almost religiously in the hopes of hearing one of her radio essays. So when I heard her read a snippet of The Wordy Shipmates on This American Life a couple of years ago- I nearly drove off the road. A new Sarah Vowell book? I'm in, sign me up! But it turns out the book was still a year away from being published at the time. Sadness abounded. But finally it came out, and there I was in a first run bookstore (I work for a used bookstore- so it takes a lot for me to buy a book at full price- $20 for a book?? no way- okay, well maybe if it's a book I really wanted to read).

So, The Wordy Shipmates... I enjoyed it- though, and oh how it pains me to say this, not as much as I enjoyed her other books. Here's the dealio- I think Sarah Vowell is stupendous at the essay- but when she has to carry out a thesis for more than 20 pages, well, the waters get a bit murky. I read some reviews for this book on Amazon (and I must say reading Amazon reviews is awesome. The worlds biggest internet bullies write Amazon.com review reviews. I swear every third comment on a review is, "Did you even read the book?" and then there's name calling, and I'm sure someone ends up crying behind their laptop- and I'm sure that person wears glasses and never played any sport) and a big complaint I read over and over is how Vowell tried to link the Puritans self righteousness to the former administrations apparent need to police the world. Stuffy conservatives who wear bow ties and suspenders may have a problem with this- and I'm not sure I'm convinced by her arguments either. Still I was able to glean other things from the book.

So the book is about the trials and tribulations of those wacky Puritan pilgrims that came over to our now fair country and set the seeds for what would become America. There were cold winters, and Dutchmen, and the French, and of course the Indians, well, Native Americans. The zealot Puritans had their own zealots to put up with, which caused for hi jinks and death, very cold bloody death. But what the book does nail home, at least for me, is the immense obstacles that these Puritans went through just so they could sit together and talk about how great they were in the eyes of the Lord. Which sounds more facetious than I mean it to be (which I guess proves I've been reading Sarah Vowell) I have a genuine admiration for these guys who believed so much in something that they traveled over an ocean to start up a new life in a foreign land. I have a difficult time driving to work in the morning. I don't like going more than a couple of days without watching something my DVR has recorded. I like sleeping on a bed, and taking a shower, and pooping in a toilet that flushes. I could not have traveled across the ocean, for God. I don't really go to church. I don't even like water. But I like the idea that there were people- maybe slightly crazy people, that were willing to do that, just cause it seemed like the thing to do. I think that's neat.(less)

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10/08/08

Imogen rated it:

Read in October, 2008

I think it's funny how there's always a moment during a Sarah Vowell book where I go, 'oh yeah! She just writes american history!' It came pretty early on in this one, too.

This is not my favorite of her books. It's a lot more american history, and a lot less Sarah Vowell being a smartass about american history, than I prefer. I mean, I was into it, and I finished it, and I kept all the Puritans whose names begin with Ws straight, but I don't know. The whole appeal of Sarah Vowell fo...more I think it's funny how there's always a moment during a Sarah Vowell book where I go, 'oh yeah! She just writes american history!' It came pretty early on in this one, too.

This is not my favorite of her books. It's a lot more american history, and a lot less Sarah Vowell being a smartass about american history, than I prefer. I mean, I was into it, and I finished it, and I kept all the Puritans whose names begin with Ws straight, but I don't know. The whole appeal of Sarah Vowell for me is not that she makes american history accessible, it's that she uses american history as a vehicle for, y'know, talking about other stuff. Like the Brady Bunch, and her nephew's martial-arts inspired interpretive dancing, that sort of stuff. Which all was in here, just y'know. Not as much as explanations of pamphlet wars in 1640.

And I mean to her credit I followed what she was talking about in the pamphlet wars! I zone out pretty easily, and all I really like is the Cloverfield Monster, blastbeats and cussing. So I think she succeeded and all, she's just not the kind of writer i connect with in a five-star kinda way.

Also, I guess it felt a little unfocused to me? Like, posterity will probably show me to be wrong when I read more reviews of it, but there was a thread of 'this fucked up place where we are in american history right now? We got here DIRECTLY from our roots in these people' that I would've liked to see fleshed out more- which would have involved, again, more Sarah Vowell talking about these modern times in our lives. Y'know?

I like typing "Sarah Vowell" over and over like the way the RZA says "Bill Murray" in "Coffee & Cigarettes." Right Sarah Vowell?

Anyway yeah. My point is, I was interested, I was engaged, but ultimately, this is an American History book with a little meta smartass commentary. I want more meta smartass commentary from you, Sarah Vowell! There were whole paragraphs where you didn't even mock any of these old timey people.

...

Oh also I like the part where she's like, 'Anne Hutchinson incriminated herself because she didn't know when to shut the fuck up. Like me!' Because I can relate too.

....

OH AND ANOTHER THING! She makes fun of whatsisname for arguing that Christianity fell off around the time of Constantine, but whatsisname was kind of right. I mean, Constantine was the one who took 'turn the other cheek' and turned it into an official religion or a state, to justify wars and stuff. Hasn't she read Mark Kurlansky's book about nonviolence?

Oh, right, nobody read that book. (less)

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07/28/08

Erin F. B. rated it:

bookshelves: non-fiction

Read in August, 2008

That's what I get for saying I was on a roll of great books. And I wanted so much to like this and I did like it for quite some time. Having just visited Boston, it was great to learn about the founding of it, especially those little tidbits that only Sarah Vowell seems to know.
I just got to the end and felt there was no point. The Puritans came to the New World to escape persecution only to persecute each other and the native people they encountered...we all know that story. I guess...more

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07/26/08

Spiros rated it:

bookshelves: arc

Read in August, 2008

recommends it for: those who enjoy a healthy dose of humor with their outrage

Sarah Vowell is of Cherokee descent, and was raised in a Pentecostal community. This would, to a large degree, explain her fascination with Puritans. I am of Catholic descent, and could give two shits whether there is such an entity as God or not. This would, to an equally large degree, explain my total uninterest in Puritans; they didn't eradicate my ancestors, and they had no part in shaping my weltanschaung. To the extent that I regard them at all, I think of them as a bunch of kooks, a benig...more

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01/26/09

Shelly rated it:

bookshelves: listened-to-on-ipod

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...more 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.(less)

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12/09/08

Nomi rated it:

bookshelves: nonfiction

Read in December, 2008

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 lo...more

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08/01/08

Jackie "the Librarian" rated it:

bookshelves: history, humor, non-fiction

Read in March, 2009

This is NOT as easy-reading as Sarah Vowell's other books. Instead of having multiple topics, Sarah focuses on just one, the Massachusetts Bay pilgrims, who came after the more famous Plymouth Rock ones.

She digs into this dry subject, and while managing to make her usual wry observations, reading quotations from Governor Winthrop and other colonists isn't as fast going as her usual conversational style.
The topics are serious stuff - the colony's precarious independent rule as ...more This is NOT as easy-reading as Sarah Vowell's other books. Instead of having multiple topics, Sarah focuses on just one, the Massachusetts Bay pilgrims, who came after the more famous Plymouth Rock ones.

She digs into this dry subject, and while managing to make her usual wry observations, reading quotations from Governor Winthrop and other colonists isn't as fast going as her usual conversational style.
The topics are serious stuff - the colony's precarious independent rule as granted by the charter from England, relations with the local tribes and the issue of was it really England's land to bequeath, and questions of salvation through grace rather than works.

Overarching all this is the idea of the colony being a "city on a hill", setting an example for the rest of the world.

There was a lot to think about, and a lot that is reflected in our current political culture. Fascinating stuff, but the combination of history and philosophy make for slow going.

Recommended for quirky history buffs.
************************************

Okay, I'm back to reading this book, and already I can tell I'm more in the mood. It helps that I just went to see Sarah Vowell doing readings from this book and some of her other material last weekend. Wow, I did NOT know that about stuff about Oneida teapots having an origin in a New England free love cult!
This is now my bus book.
*************************************************

I just couldn't find the dedicated time I wanted to read this, and then I had to return it to the library. I'm asking for it for Christmas. And I WILL read it.

I did have a little trouble with the format - I wanted paragraphs, not just little breaks between passages.
And I expected it to be like Sarah's other books, with more of her own life mixed in. But this book (at least, what I read of it) didn't stray much from the subject of the pilgrims in question.

But now that I know what to expect, I think I'll enjoy it when I finally DO get around to reading the whole thing.(less)

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07/26/08

Alicia rated it:

bookshelves: essays, light-reads, nonfic

Read in July, 2008

It seemed this book got off to a slow start, detailing the origins of the Church of England (blah blah Henry VIII divorce blah beheading blah) rather than focusing on Vowell's own plenty-fascinating experiences with historical reverberations in the present moment. But then John Winthrop sets sail with the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and things get very detailed very fast. I got a little dizzy, frankly.

Moreover: in this book, and thanks to Sarah Vowell's historical diligence, there exis...more

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08/01/08

Randomanthony rated it:

In The Wordy Shipmates Ms. Vowell half, or maybe three-quarters, succeeds with the transformation from memoirist with a history bend to a historian who occasionally injects her own story into the text. Vowell comes off like a particularly accessible high school teacher giving a series of lectures on early American history. She works hard to enliven the past and connect the implications to the modern world. Her passion for the subject is apparent, but I could have used more conventional histor...more

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12/02/08

Alan rated it:

Read in December, 2008

Sarah Vowell specializes in what might be called "jokey popular history." She's serious about her subject but she tries to wrap it up in a -- well duh! style of writing interspersed with many personal asides, some relevant, some not.
Here, she writes about the founding of the colonies of Massachusetts and Rhode Island and the colorful characters who inspired them. This quickly draws her into abstruse theological differences that today seem highly irrelevant. But she succeeds in d...more

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12/08/08

Hans rated it:

bookshelves: history

Read in December, 2008

You never really learn much about the history of the American colonies post-thanksgiving through pre-Salem witch trials. This book fills that gap. I think the most provocative thing about this book is how puritan culture still permeates through-out the American Psyche to this day. Much of American attitudes and culture were all founded upon the principles that governed the lives of those original founders. This influence can be felt in how Americans view many issues ranging from gay marriage t...more

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01/10/09

Andy rated it:

Read in December, 2008

Vowell's book rates as anecdotal pop history at its most average. I'll give her credit, she tries pretty hard to make this - the story of the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony - appeal to a wide audience. There's a good deal of clever wordplay and an engaging, 'gee isn't that strange' sense of humor; and she makes a point of drawing lots of parallels to our present-day social and political idiosyncrasies, some of which are interesting. But I was constantly annoyed that Vowell doesn't try ...more

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11/08/08

Allison rated it:

Read in November, 2008

recommended to Allison by: my friend scott recommended the author
recommends it for: anyone who likes history

i loved this book. i will never think about puritans the same way, and i can't wait to read more about roger williams and anne hutchison. i also look forward to reading more books by sarah vowell.

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01/20/09

Jen rated it:

bookshelves: didnt-finish

Read in January, 2009

Reading Sarah Vowell always makes feel like such an a-hole. I think she's so so funny and I love listening to her on NPR. Unfortunately, I am totally unable to stick it through one of her books. Always, always, always I make it about 1/4 of the way in and can't finish. It's funny, because while I'm reading that first fourth I'm totally down -- I read aloud sentences, I look up the people she's writing about, etc. but I always get distracted by her asides and find myself coming up with my own asi...more

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10/16/08

Janice rated it:

bookshelves: -his-tory

recommends it for: moms. and others

my one problem with this book was this: considering that i could "listen" to sarah vowell all day long, the fact that she included no chapter breaks meant that i looked up from this book to realize that i hadn't gotten out of bed yet, and that the day had driven headlong into what could almost be described as evening. heavy price to pay for a few pages over coffee.
and i suppose that, really, that is no problem at all; except that the lack of chapters also seemed, in this case,...more

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12/02/08

Jbeg rated it:

I feel frankly terrible about giving this one only 3 stars, which is like a pentacostal giving Jesus 3 stars. The book is smart, funny, well-researched. But it never really hit the high notes of ASSASSINATION VACATION, in part because unlike that earlier masterpiece here Vowell is essentially teaching a really good class instead of putting together a remarkable book. That is, where AV tackled her travels across various moments in history and spots on the landscape with her sister and her nephew...more

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10/12/08

Chad rated it:

bookshelves: non-fiction-history

Read in October, 2008

This book barely scrapes by with four stars, based mostly on the duel facts that I've become a pretty big history buff in recent years, and that I happen to think Sarah Vowell is pretty neat.

If you're not a fan of Vowell, I can't really see myself recommending this book to you. Its a rather meandering account of the Puritan's early attempts to sculpt the Massachusetts Bay Colony from the new American wilderness, using only their tough puritan work ethic and their oppresively burdens...more This book barely scrapes by with four stars, based mostly on the duel facts that I've become a pretty big history buff in recent years, and that I happen to think Sarah Vowell is pretty neat.

If you're not a fan of Vowell, I can't really see myself recommending this book to you. Its a rather meandering account of the Puritan's early attempts to sculpt the Massachusetts Bay Colony from the new American wilderness, using only their tough puritan work ethic and their oppresively burdensome religious practices. It focuses primarily on the goals of Puritan leader, John Winthrop and touches on other 17th century luminaries as Roger Williams, John Cotton, and Anne Hutchinson.

I said meandering, and I mean it. The events follow a relativaly chronological order, but there are no big ideas that are outlined or arguements presented. There aren't even any chapters. I almost called this an extended essay, but its really more like a stream-of-consciousness history improv lecture. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Like I said, I think Vowell is a neat chick, so even her directionless (yest factually accurate) ramblings I find quite readable and even enjoyable.

Vowell's transformation over the course of her last few books has been a fascinating one. Her first several works marked her as a hipster essayist in the vein of David Sedaris, her co-contributor at 'This American Life'. With her last book, "Assassination Vacation", however, she has transformed into a full-blown historian (or at the very least, a history afficianado), collecting stories about her travels around the country to sites related to the various assassinations of American presidents. The difference between "The Wordy Shipmates" and that book, however, is that "Assassination Vacation" was still (at least partly) about Vowell herself. You got a good feel for what drove her around the country from locale to locale, and each adventure paid off with what she learned at each place.

With "The Wordy Shipmates", however, Vowell pretty much removes herself from the account. She drops in a note or two about her sister and nephew, and meeting with a historian or two when examining some important documents. But for the most part, this is the story of the Puritans. Vowell acts as a distinct and quirky narrator, but it is Winthrop and his Puritans who take center stage.

I enjoyed this work, but I do hope Vowell shifts back toward the linked personal/historical essays for her next work, as opposed to the long-form almost-essay of "Shipmates".(less)

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