The Partly Cloudy PatriotFrom This American Life contributor and self-described “history nerd” Sarah Vowell comes a collection of humorous and personal essays investigating American history, pop culture, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In this insightful and funny collection of personal stories Vowell travels through the American past and in doing so ponders a number of curious questions: Why is she happiest when visiting the sites of bloody struggles like Salem or Gettysburg? Why do people always inappropriately compare themselves to Rosa Parks? Why is a bad life in sunny California so much worse than a bad life anywhere else? What is it about the Zen of foul shots? And, in the title piece, why must doubt and internal arguments haunt the sleepless nights of the true patriot? Her essays confront a wide range of subjects, themes, icons, and historical moments: Ike, Teddy Roosevelt, and Bill Clinton; Canadian Mounties and German filmmakers; Tom Cruise and Buffy the Vampire Slayer; twins and nerds; the Gettysburg Address, the State of the Union, and George W. Bush's inauguration. The result is a teeming and engrossing book, capturing Vowell's memorable wit and her keen social commentary. |
Contents
What He Said There I | 1 |
The First Thanksgiving | 9 |
Ike Was a Handsome | 17 |
God Will Give You Blood to Drink in a Souvenir | 31 |
The New German Cinema | 43 |
PopAShot | 61 |
California as an Island | 67 |
Dear Dead Congressman | 79 |
Tom Cruise Makes Me Nervous | 125 |
Underground Lunchroom | 131 |
Wonder Twins | 141 |
Mounties | 147 |
The Partly Cloudy Patriot | 155 |
State of the Union | 173 |
The Strenuous Life | 181 |
Acknowledgments | 197 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
actually Al Gore American asked basketball Buffy Bush called campaign Canadian cave Clinton Concord High cowboy Cruise Cruise's Doug dress e-mail election favorite feel film flag funny George Gettysburg Gettysburg Address girl going Gore Gore's Graham happened hear high school inauguration Jerry Maguire jock Katherine Harris Kevin kids Landry learned Letterman Lincoln live look Love Canal Luther and Johnny mother Mounties movie National Park nerd never night Nixon North Dakota once parents Park Service Partly Cloudy Patriot person play Pop-A-Shot president remember Republican Rosa Parks Salem SARAH VOWELL shot sister Sitting Bull stand story talk Teddy television tell Theodore Roosevelt there's thing thought tion told Tom Cruise Tom Landry tour twin Underground Lunchroom vote walk Washington watching Witch Wonder Twins word wrote York