11.25.2009

5 to go!


Assasination Vacation is not a murder novel. It is however a ridiculously fascinating story. I feel it is important to note that I grew up in a home that would make most presidential libraries jealous, so I am probably prone to information on our presidents, especially the ones killed in office. In this book Sarah Vowell takes to the road unearthing the minutiae surrounding the first 3 Presidential assassinations. Those 3 assassinations were Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley. The first of these is pretty well known and as a native son of "the land of Lincoln," I had the tale pounded into my head each year along with the stirring exploits of Kazimir Polaski (look it up). Any way, the Lincoln assassination is indeed fascinating, and full of intrigue but so are the lesser known of the presidential assassinations. If I didn't trust the sources of the information I would have a hard time believing that many of the plot lines didn't come from telenovelas. These stories are rife with espionage, conspiracy, bribary, bizarre sexual exploits, teapot manufacturing, And strangely enough Robert Todd Lincoln comes to play in all three stories. Reading this book inspired me to visit Washington D.C. as soon as possible and explore the historical sites that are off of the normal tourists radar, as well as visit the Truman presidential library in Kansas City when I go home for Christmas. He wasn't assassinated, but a couple of people tried. Maybe there is a good story behind that as well.

1 comment:

  1. Awesome sounding book. The cover art reminds me of:

    http://www.amazon.com/Plastic-Jesus-Hollowness-Comfortable-Christianity/dp/1576839230/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

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