Assassination Vacation (edit title)

Ballroom_Pink edited the characters of Assassination Vacation Sunday, September 20 2009.

• Changed the section title: Cast of Characters/Important People
• Added a character: Emma Goldman

Shelfari edited the description of Assassination Vacation Friday, July 31 2009.

• Sarah Vowell exposes the glorious conundrums of American history and culture with wit, probity, and an irreverent sense of humor. With Assassination Vacation , she takes us on a road trip like no other -- a journey to the pit stops of American political murder and through the myriad ways they have been used for fun and profit, for political and cultural advantage. From Buffalo to Alaska, Washington to the Dry Tortugas, Vowell visits locations immortalized and influenced by the spilling of politically important blood, reporting as she goes with her trademark blend of wisecracking humor, remarkable honesty, and thought-provoking criticism. We learn about the jinx that was Robert Todd Lincoln (present at the assassinations of Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley) and witness the politicking that went into the making of the Lincoln Memorial. The resulting narrative is much more than an entertaining and informative travelogue -- it is the disturbing and fascinating story of how American death has been manipulated by popular culture, including literature, architecture, sculpture, and -- the author's favorite -- historical tourism. Though the themes of loss and violence are explored and we make detours to see how the Republican Party became the Republican Party, there are all kinds of lighter diversions along the way into the lives of the three presidents and their assassins, including mummies, show tunes, mean-spirited totem poles, and a nineteenth-century biblical sex cult.

Shelfari edited the contributors of Assassination Vacation Tuesday, July 21 2009.

• reordered the contributors.
• 1 : Sarah Vowell:

Peiyu W edited the quotations of Assassination Vacation Monday, July 20 2009.

• Added a quotation: “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong”

Shelfari edited the contributors of Assassination Vacation Monday, July 20 2009.

• Added a contributor: Sarah Vowell: (Primary Author)

Shelfari edited the first sentence of Assassination Vacation Friday, July 17 2009.

• Going to Ford's Theatre to watch the play is like going to Hooters for the food.