very simple

I love Sarah Vowell.

Every time I read one of her books, I can practically hear it narrated in that distinctly nasal voice that one wouldn’t think was made for radio, but somehow seems perfectly appropriate whenever she appears on This American Life. And yeah, she’s part of that McSweeney’s crowd, which certainly gives an air of pretentiousness (heck, it almost stopped Monty from reading this book), but somehow continually puts out publications that I actually want to read.

Oh, and the book? pretty awesome. Vowell is completely obsessed with the minutiae of Presidential assassinations. Focusing on the first three to occur (Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley), she makes connections between the three (Robert Todd Lincoln was actually present at all three! He was like the angel of death for presidents!), and taking trips to odd medical museums, 19th-century free love colonies, caribbean prisons, and highway medians in Buffalo, her writing is infused with such excitement that it makes me want to hop a train to follow in her footsteps.

Tags: books