Rating: 
Summary: Don't be duped -- nothing original here
Review: There's nothing much going on here, so I'm surprised why so many people find this book so interesting. Vowell's no deep thinker and there's nothing particularly funny about what she says. This book comes off as the mildly entertaining musings of someone you might meet at a party -- but not particularly want to see again. (And, oddly, despite a claim to have an essay on Buffy the Vampire Slayer on the inside of the dust jacket, no such essay in in this volume.)
Rating: 
Summary: Funny, Intelligent And Damn Reassuring
Review: I came to Sarah Vowell a virgin. Before I purchased her book I had never heard her on radio or read her anywhere but after thumbing through a portion of her explaining why she visits gruesome places in history, as someone who has himself thought seriously of staying overnight in the home Lizzie Borden killed her parents, I knew I had a deep kinship with this delightful person. The Partly Cloudy Patriot did not disappoint in any way. These short essays are very funny, often thoughtful, personal and impassioned. Whether describing Thanksgiving with her parents or her reaction to the presidential victory of Mr. Bush (a highlight of the volume is this essay and its skillful presentation of Gore as a nerd, in a very positive way). After this past election, this volume is a wonderful way to overcome a little and laugh a lot. A much needed writer in these terrible times.
Rating:
Summary: me love sarah
Review: i could sit here and prclaim me reverence for this book all night long, but im just going to simply state "i love this book." you should definitely purchase.
Rating: 
Summary: NERDS KNOW OSWALD WAS FRAMED
Review: As I was driving by a 19th-century rural graveyard near the site of George and Libby Custer's honeymoon in upstate New York one Friday afternoon, Sarah Vowell's voice came sighing out of my Pontiac's speakers as she was interviewed over National Public Radio, where she works. At first that hint of nepotism rankled, until the lady explained how post-Sept. 11 American "patriotism" rankled her. In both spoken and written word, Vowell uses low-key humor to sketch out important Truths, quietly achieving a goal which eludes most modern writers: heightening the existences of his/her readers.
Anyhow, Vowell's succintly written accounts of life in the Big City, interfamilial conflicts, political disappointments and -- best yet -- her obsessive travels to sites of bloody battles and assassinations are simultaneously entertaining and edifying.
One thing disturbs me: In briefly recounting her visit to Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Vowell intimates that President Kennedy was in fact shot to death by one of her fellow nerds, the hapless (and notably late) Lee Harvey Oswald. She should read Peter Dale Scott's "Deep Politics and the Death of JFK" or Mark North's
"Act of Treason" or David Scheim's "Contract on America" or any number of other unofficial histories that could set her straight on that sad misunderstanding.
Those of us nearing our personal half-century marks became partly cloudy patriots on Nov. 22, 1963. In retrospect, Sept. 11 and the hollow nationalism it produced is like a carnival mirror image of the uneasy blend of pride and shame that all exploded that awful weekend 39 years ago in the Big D. ...
Rating:
Summary: Vowell's Consonants
Review: You may know Sarah Vowell from NPR's This American Life. Her quirky commentaries are the highlight of the show for me. This book is a wonderful distillation of those qualities into text. She writes in a conversational style that draws the reader into her world. Her essays cover various topics from Gettysburg to Tom Cruise to Tom Landry. Through all this, her particular brand of self-deprecating humor shines in all of them. A self-proclaimed "civics nerd," this knowledge of politics feeds her world view. The centerpiece of this collection, "The Nerd Voice," is a twenty-plus-page look at the 2000 election, why Gore didn't win, and how she and her friends--all members of a web forum--felt about it. Upon noticing that Bob Dole is attending, seeing him comforts her in a way, and she feels he "symbolizes a simpler, more innocent time in America when you could lose the presidential election and, like, not actually become president." She likens the presidential race to the proverbial Jock vs. Nerd battle from school. Gore was seen as too smart, so he must be taken down. She then notes that the reason Bush was not shot during the attack on the Oval Office was because he was not working, but was in the White House gym instead, exercising. The title piece, "The Partly Cloudy Patriot," starts out as a review of the Mel Gibson film but metamorphoses into a commentary on the use of the word "patriot" following the events of September 11th and concludes with her views on the prevalence of flags, their symbolism, and why she doesn't want one stuck uninvited into her yard. The collection is slightly uneven but that has to be expected from a collection whose only discernible theme is "America." What is here is a wonderful new view of the world around us; one that is insightful, pointedly funny, and should open your mind to see things in a different way--the Sarah Vowell way. After all, who else would list the numerous people who almost daily compare themselves to civil rights icon Rosa Parks and point out the insanity of it all?
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.
Rating:
Summary: Humorous and insightful look into patriotism in modern times
Review: Sarah Vowell tells a good story, whether it involves her parents first and last visit to New York, or how and what American children are taught about past presidents. Insightful, touching, and always humorous, she follows up her enjoyable "Pass the Cannoli" with a look at the conflict in a Liberal Patriot's heart, and brings warmth and humor to each essay.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing Cloudy about Sarah Vowell
Review: This book couldn't have come at a better time! We may be feeling a bit more patriotic these days due to certain events in our country, but we still need to laugh, and that includes being able to laugh at ourselves. Sarah Vowell's dry wit and humorous NPR commentary-like stories are a big help. I had listened to her a few times while channel surfing in the car, but caught her promoting her new book on David Letterman. I had to have it right away. Her outlook on U.S. history is both educational and quite amuzing. If you enjoy David Sedaris, then don't miss out on this NPR newcomer.
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: It was supposed to be funny??
Review:
I was truly surprised at the number of positive reviews for this book. I thought it was so-so. My theory is that if a work is produced by, and is about, a particular political point of view, people of the same mind will be much more favorably disposed to that work, even to the point of inaccuracy.
The dustjacket praise was so lavish, so gushing, that I bought this book for a buck at the second-hand store. That was last week. I'm still scratching my head wondering what all the praise was about. But, according to my theory, perhaps that's because I'm not liberal--I just don't fall into line with others of the party.
However, I am a huge David Sedaris fan. The man is no conservative, but he can write very well. He's an acute, insighttful, entertaining master of the essay. Vowell, on the other hand, comes across as a kid writing in her journal. There are some good moments, some keen observations, but in general I found this book to be on a high school or college level of writing aptitude. It was inconsistent, went off on too many tangents, and could not seem to make it more than one paragraph without relating the subject matter at hand to some movie.
I think people love Vowell for her writing, but also because she's this cute little pixie, adorable as hell. That goes a long way.
I'm sure that Vowell is a wonderful person. But she is definitely not all that she's cracked up to be. Perhaps her other books are better. I hope so.If you want essays, read Sedaris.
|
