The Partly Cloudy Patriot

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Summary: Uninhibited Paean to America from Gen X
Review: Sarah Vowell is a pleasure to read, even when you don't completely agree with her. Her views are deeply heartfelt and intelligent, and touch the ground of truth behind the poses that many of us find (and often display) in public life. When Vowell cringes at the thought of her Montana family visiting her in NYC, you cringe with her; when she weeps at the Inauguration of George W. Bush, you want to comfort her; when she is appalled by media distortions of the truth, you want to rail with her.

The essays in "The Partly Cloudy Patriot" capture the complexity of loving America when you know too much history to be completely at home with the country's squeaky-clean mythos. Vowell interviews students who were there when Al Gore never claimed to have discovered Love Canal; actually, he was preaching convincingly about the power of a single student to raise issues of national importance. Vowell talks about the tacky elegance of a cafeteria deep in Carlsbad Caverns and the silliness of tour guides who attempt, post hoc, to elevate the status of slaves by calling them "Africans in bondage." Her tender, piercing worldview salves as much as skewers, letting her express ideas that cut across the grain of commonly-accepted attitudes.

The book's title refers to a Thomas Paine essay from the American revolution that complains about the "sunshine patriots" who disappear when the days grow short and the fight turns against them. She portrays herself in halfway measures as only slightly better than these -- as a "partly cloudy" patriot. But I am not fooled. Anyone who can speaks so lovingly and without irony about Teddy Roosevelt's North Dakota cabin and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is far more a patriot than that. Sarah Vowell would hate to hear it, but when it comes loving what is most fundamental about America, she is true blue.

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Summary: Vowell's America
Review: Sarah Vowell, with her pixie-like apperance and Goth-girl tendencies, is something of a favorite of mine when it comes to the budding world of self-important essayists (not meaning a slight on other self-important essayisrs). In this, her third work, Vowell lays out her obsession with American history and culture against the backdrop of her own quirky imagination.

It's been a while since I first read the book, so I'm afraid I can't offer a detailed, omniscent review (but then again, none of my reviews have ever really fallen into that category). But what I can tell you is that no one has ever been able to write a book that combined reflections on the role of Abraham Lincoln or Rosa Parks on our modern psyche with how-to guides for future presidential libraries and a trip to the underground cafeteria at a national park. Throughout her essays, Vowell displays a grasp not only of the subjects, but of their deeper meanings in reference to American culture.

The book is over before you want it to be, something I felt also could be said about the previous Vowell work I've reviewed (Take the Cannoli), but you're left with a desire to reevaluate your own approach to the many facets of American history. Overall, the book is a love letter to those things in America that Sarah, and the reader in turn, finds fascinating. You couldn't ask for a better read.

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Summary: I'd like to buy a Vowell . . .
Review: I read this book after finishing Take the Cannoli. I can't get enough Vowell lately! Combining humor, pop culture, and an astonishing knowledge of American history, this book is entertaining and educational. Vowell has a sense of hope about America. She knows that we have a great (although contradictory) past to live up to, and, despite some of the depressing news about our government lately, she thinks it's possible that we can still do our ancestry proud. Geez, if we were all citizens like her, I'll bet America would be in much better shape.

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Summary: She's smart AND funny.
Review: After seeing Ms. Vowell on the Daily Show and hearing her describe the re-enactment of the Burr-Hamilton duel, I raced out to buy her book. I was not disappointed. Every essay is insightful and hysterical. I still can't figure out why she's not on the NYT bestseller list...

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Summary: Excellent Writing
Review: Sarah Vowell's collection of essays entitled Partly Cloudy Patriot is a refreshing commentary from a liberal who actually thinks and can express herself rationally without sounding argumentative. Her opinions are well laid-out and she refrains from any of the typical mud-slinging that one would come to expect from a book with a political bent, which actually makes it easier to think about the things she is saying rather than trying to defend or justify one's own opinions. Wonderfully written and thought provoking, I would recommend this to anyone who has an interest in recent political history but wants to avoid all of the childish bickering.

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Summary: A civic model for her generation
Review: Ms. Vowell is funny, cynical, and patriotic all at the same time. She uses her voice and her vote very effectively. A master of one-liners, she will make laugh but also think.