Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Somewhat Relevant

Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell

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Sarah Vowell brings history to life. She presents stories of history as though you’re her neighbor and the craziest thing just happened to her and she just has to tell you about it. It’s fun even when it’s tragic. What I really enjoyed about Lafayette in the Somewhat United States  was the connection between Lafayette’s actions and our current situation. Drawing these lines from our founding fathers to policies that are still in place and the ways they affect us is a powerful tool that reminds […]

Practical Tactical Brilliance

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  Sarah Vowell’s books defy easy classification, which can make it annoying when people ask you about them. They are part history, part travelogue, part personal essay and yet that still does not seem to cover it. Her latest book, just out in paperback, concerns the relationship between the United States and the Marquis de Lafayette, the Frenchman whose support was so key during the American Revolution. Vowell begins fifty years after the start of the war, when Lafayette returned to the United States for […]

“Oui oui, mon ami, je m’appelle Lafayette! The Lancelot of the revolutionary set!”

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Guyyyyys this book. It took me almost three months to read it, when I expected to finish it in a couple of days! I just didn’t like it very much, and I’m not sure why. It might be that it was the first Sarah Vowell book I’ve listened to on audiobook, but I don’t think so. I listen to a lot of audiobooks, and I love Sarah Vowell’s voice (not to mention the voices of her many stellar audiobook guests, including John Slattery as Lafayette, […]



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