Sarah Vowell Gets Wordy at BookPeople

Sarah Vowell is one of those talented people whose job description covers a lot of territory (radio journalist, columnist, humorist, actress) and she’ll be at BookPeople tomorrow night – because she’s an author, too, of course. Vowell’s newest book, The Wordy Shipmates, documents and explores the lives of the 17th Century Puritans in a way that ends up being entertaining, educational and ever-so relevant to the craziness going on in politics today. Go ahead and add “magical historian” to her resume, too.

Vowell is well-known for her contributions to Chicago Public Radio’s This American Life and has written several books dealing with the foibles, flaws and identity crises of the good ol’ USA. All her work has a similar effect, because somehow Vowell’s distinctive speaking voice (it sounds simultaneously child-like and wise) comes through in her writing and matches her oft-underlying theme - this cockamamie country is exasperating sometimes, but it’s also a fascinating place that you can’t help but love.

As she did in Assassination Vacation and The Partly Cloudy Patriot, Vowell has created a pastiche of pop culture and historical fact that is held together with wry humor and bits of memoir. The Wordy Shipmates tries to figure out where America got the idea that we’re so darn special (she discusses the origins of the City upon a Hill reference that politicians are fond of), and leaves you with a better understanding of the good intentions that have sometimes led the nation astray.

It’ll surely be worth braving the crowds at BookPeople to see our favorite history teacher do her thing... See you there, country mates!