It’s also the sort of book that will make you want to read more about these tragic presidents and their strange, egotistical, and occasionally tragic assassins. It’s the sort of book you read on the subway, only to get odd looks from your fellow passengers because you’re laughing aloud way too hard. Her enthusiasm for the subject is infectious, and her biting wit makes you laugh aloud even as you mourn what could’ve been had Lincoln opted not to go to Ford’s Theatre that night, had Guiteau gotten help for his mental illness, had Czolgosz not learned of the assassination of the Italian king by an anarchist in 1900.ĭespite these grim events, this book is light, joyful, and incredibly hopeful. ASSASSINATION VACATION is a travelogue of her “vacation” throughout America to research, see, and even touch the places and artifacts related to the first three presidential assassinations. Vowell doesn’t just like history, she lives it. And throughout it all, she celebrates American history and patriotism, albeit in a book about death and violence. Vowell does not, however, simply recite facts or clarify misconceptions she brings these men and their assassins, Charles Guiteau and Leon Czolgosz respectively, to life. Garfield in 1881 and William McKinley in 1901. Kennedy’s deaths seem to weigh heavily on American consciousness, and if you had asked me to name the other two victims of presidential assassination, I would’ve drawn a blank.ĪSSASSINATION VACATION not only explained who those two men were but illustrated the very real and poignant tragedies of the deaths of Presidents James A. The tragedy of Abraham Lincoln and John F. The other two presidents who were assassinated were nameless ghosts. Like most people, I knew only a bit about the two most famous presidential assassinations: the confusing conspiracies surrounding Lee Harvey Oswald, and the belief that John Wilkes Booth was an arrogant actor jealous of his more talented older brother.

I first read ASSASSINATION VACATION in high school, for no other reason than I saw Sarah Vowell promote it on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and she made me laugh. Her previous book, ASSASSINATION VACATION, is the perfect example of how history, especially when it is not about the victors, is fascinating, funny, and heartbreaking. And Sarah Vowell, author of the new LAFAYETTE IN THE SOMEWHAT UNITED STATES and former editor of “This American Life,” is a great teacher. Probably even more surprising is that it can make you laugh-if you have the right teacher, that is. American history is anything but a stodgy affair it’s exciting, tragic, suspenseful, and horrifying.

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell