What a country!

Hello cyber-world,
I hope you all had a good weekend. I know that I did. It turned out to be more active than I thought it would be. While being active is good, it also means I wasn't able to read as much as I had hoped. Oh well. The road to hell can be paved with good intentions. Well Onward we go!

Review
Assassination Vacation
One of my many interests is American History (yeah folks there's more to me than comic books, who knew?). Although there has been only 200 years or so of the American experiment I think that there has been several interesting undercurrents/events. Author Sarah Vowell mixes her own quirky voice with an examination of the assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. Her travel tour of various sites throughout the country is morbidly fun. I found myself laughing at several of her own personal misadventures, like traveling by speedboat in Florida or visiting the Mutter Museum of Medical Curiosities.

Vowell spends about half the book on the Lincoln Assassination and who can blame her. Her attention to all angles is to be commended considering she is not a historian. She not only covers the assassinations themselves but the overall effects that these events had on all those involved. I particularly found fascinating her discussion of the life of Edwin Booth who lived for almost 30 years after his brother John. Her turns on the deaths of Garfield and McKinley are not nearly as comprehensive. However since I didn't know much about these presidents everything was interesting. Vowell shrewdly fills the latter chapters with characters like Emma Goldman and Teddy Roosevelt. Whereas Garfield and McKinley were not given the chance to do anything as presidents their deaths did have meaning. Garfield's death led into the gilded age, which consumed the 1880s and 90s; McKinley gave way to Teddy Roosevelt, one of the most energetic/adventurous presidents in American history.

I liked the fact that Vowell focuses on history rather than babble on about some search for meaning. (I looking at you Elizabeth Gilbert) By sprinkling funny/touching/ironic moments sparingly Vowell avoids self-indulgence. Her dorky interest in morbid historical sites is endearing rather than strange. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read an interesting twist on American History.

What's In My Bag
Books
Downsize This!
Essential Spider-Man Vol. 1

Comic
Echo #2

Magazine
Wizard

Comic Pull List: Captain Britain And Mi 13 #3, Detective Comics #846, Goon #26, Green Arrow Black Canary #10, I Kill Giants #1, Jokers Asylum The Penguin #1, Powers #29, Secret Invasion #4, Trinity #6, Wonder Woman #22

Check Out Count: A good mix.

Well, I hope you all have an excellent week. I'll try not to die in a pool of my own sweat. Yours, Book Slave.