Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell (2005, Abridged, Compact Disc)

Isn't "quirky" a wonderful word? Even if you can't define it, you know it when you see it. Or in this case, when you HEAR it. I want to make it clear that this is a review of the Audiobook (6-CD Set) of Sarah Vowell's "Assassination Vacation," not the printed version. When I checked the "official" synopsis of her book/audio book, the very first words were: "Quirky essayist Sarah Vowell."

Here's a quote from my blog:
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It started out innocently. A guy at work asked me if I would like to read "Assassination Vacation" by Sarah Vowell. Admitting I had never heard of it or of her, I asked for more information. He told me that it was an interesting book about the assassinations of the various United States presidents, and further admitted that I couldn't actually read the book, I would have to listen to it. He had just finished—and was offering to lend me—a six-CD set which contained the words in the book being read by the author.

"Sounds interesting" I admitted in turn.

"Well, it may be difficult getting past the author's voice."

"Why?"

"She's a little squeaky..."

I've never actually listened to an "audio book," but I had a leap of intuition. I decided that if the material were interesting enough, I might after a while start ignoring the medium — her voice — and be intrigued by the message. And, in fact, that's exactly what happened. As I write this on Sunday evening, Lincoln is dead and Garfield is dead. McKinley isn't looking at all well, and I have some disturbing premonitions. By the time you see it on Wednesday, there is little or nothing we will have been able to do to save...
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What I was referring to at the end of that quote was Kennedy. But when I came to the end, I found that Kennedy only got a brief mention, and only in the context of the Lincoln coincidences that have been making the internet rounds forever. So, if you're a Kennedy assassination conspiracy monger, this is not the book for you.

It IS the book for you if you have even a smidgen of curiosity that was squelched by your history classes and that may have broken through since that yoke was removed. Assassination Vacation has been a very interesting history lesson. Other than the bare facts I remembered from days of yore, i.e., John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, I knew almost none of the details. As for Garfield, the term "disappointed office seeker" has new meaning to me. And her portrait of the "Dry Tortugas" gave me a bit of insight into geography as well.

In addition to the history, I got something else from this as well. Another quote from my blog:
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Audiobooks are great! I "read" a book I would never have otherwise discovered, and I did it at the expense of a few hours of not listening to the radio while commuting. I furthermore discovered that the reader of the audiobook doesn't have to be great. Not only did I grow acclimated to the author's voice, I found one of the most distracting aspects of the experience to be the short (and occasionally monosyllabic) interjections of the "guest readers" whom I suspect were engaged for their marquee value rather than for their thespian tendencies.

Since discovering that it's the book, not the reader, I've made a decision:

Q: You're going to start reading your blog to us, aren't you?
A: I'm afraid so.

Q: Where's my torch? Where's my pitchfork

Item received was not as described. I was supposed to receive an audio book. What I got was a cheap paperback. Seller offer to refund my money after I sent back the paperback, but made no mention of covering the cost of the shipping. If the seller offers to make good on this transaction by sending the audio book, I will retract this review, but until then I would caution anyone from doing business with them.