Rating: 
Summary: The most enchanting voice on earth
Review: I truly enjoyed reading this book, but it pales in comparison to listening to the 5 disc CD version that she reads. Sarah's voice and cadence add much to these essays. To me they are twice as funny and twice as endearing because of her remarkable speaking voice. Several reviewers have noted her NPR role on This American Life. However, she and that fabulous show are on PRI(Public Radio International).
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Summary: I appreciate her dry wit
Review: I was first introduced to Sarah Vowell when flipping through the channels on television. I stopped on a program on the Discovery Channel, where several authors were invited to speak at some sort of event. Sarah has this somewhat annoying, nasaly sound to her voice that is at once both annoying and completely endearing. After listening to her speak, I bought The Partly Cloudy Patriot on a whim, and was completely taken in.Sarah Vowell is, at heart, a hip, nerdish, Gen-Xer like me. She has a special knack for story-telling. When I read this book, I was reminded of David Sedaris in some ways. I enjoyed it as much as Sedaris, but for different reasons. While Sedaris' anecdotes are "laugh out loud" funny, Sarah's stories are told with a dry, subtle wit. I look forward to reading more of her work.
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Summary: Patriotic and more
Review: I was hooked from the opening essay about the Gettysburg Address. It's hard for Vowell to sustain the high quality of that opener throughout the book, but she comes close far more often than not. And not every essay is directly about one form or another of patriotism -- for example, her piece on Thanksgiving has more to do with her and her family than with pilgrims and native Americans, but it's still a tremendous piece of writing. Perhaps best of all, this book has prompted me to embrace my inner civics nerd self. Thanks, Sara!
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and funny -
Review: I'm just not sure which adjective to emphasize here. The only thing that would make these essays better is to hear Sarah reading them, but they are witty, well thought out, and, well, they just make you happy.
Rating: 
Summary: As a (longishtime) fan, I'm not so pleased...
Review: I've always found myself enthralled by Sarah's work--be it with McSweeney's, Ira Glass, David Sedaris, or even on, of all things, TV. I thought "Take the Cannoli" was simply delightful...so much so that I promptly assigned it to my senior-level seminar in organizational theory, eventually justifying it's selection solely on the merits of "general principle." "Much like Weber's writings on bureaucracy, Vowell's work is foundational!" I intoned. The extra credit question on the final exam read "Which 21st century writer's work could hold it's own against the likes of Weber, Durkheim and Simmel on an Entertainment Tonight poll?"
As a fan, I dig her playful, innocent-yet-incisive voice, the unabashed interest in geekdom, etc. Moreover, it's pretty clear that we've both shared all-too-many of the same experiences, even down to our public fondness--and focused interest in--the obscurest of rock musicians, national monuments and cinematic moments. Perhaps it's this same kind focused interest (in this case regarding her work) that explains why I took the time to actually log on to Amazon and offer these comments. Namely, the voice of "Take the Cannoli,"--the voice which seems to so effortlessly reach a broad audience while discussing seemingly mundane subject matter (e.g. her dad's homemade canons)--seems on this outing to be a little, well, lost. In place of essays regarding a father's interest in canons, one's early experiences in marching band or the role of mixed tapes in nailing down a future mate, "The Partly Cloudy Patriot" is built from the more common, familiar terrains of politics, ideology and history. And while it's not the case that her writing is any less "sharp" or "insightful"--lord know I wish I could master her sense of economy--our collective preoccupation and familiarity with her chosen landscapes (old presidents, the civil war, 9/11, the last presidential election, etc.) somehow leaves less room for her own literary talents/gifts to peek through. I guess you could say it's harder for Sarah to sound like Sarah when she's chiming in on the same debates my dogmatic, political friends are always blathering on about Though admittedly, she does so with infinitely more grace and style! Or maybe a clearer way of putting this is to say that I think this style works best when the author is able to find the most familiar of stories and/or subject matter in the unlikliest of places. Or something like that anway...
Rating: 
Summary: Forecast for Vowell is clear sailing...
Review: I've been a big fan of Vowell's since her extraordinary obit for Frank Sinatra in 1999 on Salon.com. Her last book of essays was wonderfully eclectic. This one is a bit less personal and more about history and America itself. Vowell shone in her autobiographical essays in Take the Cannoli. Here, she has very few missteps (the Tom Cruise essay was not something I fully got), but her Gettysburg address essay is outstanding. She is full of liberal politics, but also is NEVER predictable. She loves her country and writes movingly of her place in it. She is one of Generation X's finest spokespeople. Bless her and America.
Rating:
Summary: A unique collection
Review: I've taken a fancy to memoirs and essays lately, and Vowell's stands out among them - primarily because most of her essays have a political/patriotic/historical flavor to them. It's a refreshing change from the typical tales of love, work, and foibles that are in many memoirs.
Rating:
Summary: Uneven, but mostly funny
Review: If you have never read Sarah Vowell and you would like to get the flavour of this book, give her a listen on National Public Radio. Her voice is consistent between the written and spoken word. She is very political and very Democratic, so that informs her writing. If open bias bothers you, or that particular bias bothers you, give this book a miss. The Buffy bit was very amusing, as were some of the historical passages. Some of the rest I found less. However, humour is notoriously subjective, so your mileage may vary. I found this book good reading on a gray, rainy day. It's not Pulitzer material, but it is a bit of sunshine for a dreary afternoon.
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Summary: Clever, if Unspectacular Sociopolitical Discourse.
Review: In "The Partly Cloudy Patriot", Vowell describes her sociopolitical perspective on the U.S. In a series of nineteen essays (many of which originally aired on her NPR program), she illustrates her observations with personal experiences and often uses pop-culture analogies for elucidation. She's a self-described "history geek", and she applies her impressive, encyclopedic knowledged effectively. Throughout much of the book, Vowell applies a dry humor mostly effectively; it's the type of humor that makes you chuckle consistently, but seldom generates robust laughter. Vowell is a warm, sincere essayist. Her casual prose and unique pop-culture approach is witty without ever being pendantic or condescending (if you've ever heard an interview, she's very self-effacing). Despite her leftist slant, her strongest essays offer keen observation of the uniqueness (for better and worse) of the collective American psyche. In "Cowboys v. Mounties", she compares the histories of the U.S. and Canada. Even though she's generally a fan of Canadians, something about them seems "off". In her experiences with The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, she learns what it is: Individual Canadians truly considering themselves a minor part of collective social fabric; their unerring modesty and politeness are characteristic of this and seem creepy to the American sense of individuality. In "Wonder Twins" she compares her relationship with her fraternal twin sister with that of Myanmar twins who briefly commanded a guerilla army. Some of her ideas seem a bit flimsy to me, but her assertions are usually interesting and worthy of consideration. Vowell's best essays make social observations rather than being overtly political. Vowell is less successful with her openly political essays. Even if you agree with her politics (which I often do), her unyielding ideological slant is usually an annoyance. The most egregious example is the seemingly interminable essay, "The Nerd Voice" (parts one and two). She expresses her frustration over the results of the 2000 presidential election and explains how Gore could have been a more effective candidate. Using several pop-culture analogies ["Revenge of the Nerds" (movie), "Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)] she tries to show how Gore could have presented himself as a likeable, self-effacing nerd (rather than the phony, unlikeable smarty-pants he campaigned as). The ideas in this essay are particularly shaky, and after thirty pages it amounts to little more than sour musings of a resentful Democrat. Most of her other politically oriented essays are shorter, but aren't much better. Reading "The Partly Cloudy Patriot" is like having a casual conversation with an amusing history buff you might meet in a bar; instead talking about sports, you have a conversation about America. At her most insightful, Vowell reveals that all Americans share unique characteristics despite our individual differences. It isn't a literary masterpiece, but if you're in the mood for a couple hours of affable sociopolitical discourse it's an ideal book.
Rating:
Summary: Hoorah for Sarah Vowell
Review: In these days of the Patriot Missle (R), the recently signed Patriot Act which makes it easier for the government to spy on you, the newly established Patriot's Day, and "love it of leave it" patriotism of cable news, finally Sarah Vowell brings some sense, humor and wisdom to the subject. These are warm, funny, and smart stories and I just think it would be a better and safer world if more people read them.
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