Sarah Vowell of NPR's This American Life indulges her obsession with death and history to write this book exploring presidential assassinations. She road trips around the country visiting museums, libraries, historic sites and plaques while gathering information for the nerd fest that is this book. She shares quirky details as if they related to living breathing people, and convinces her friends to join her (and drive her around) on her quest to find the information that makes history interesting.
Vowell's writing speaks to my favorite thing about history: the fact that people lived day to day lives despite the roles for which they are remembered. She points out that on a historical house tour, the size of Jefferson Davis’ bed and his sleeping habits are discussed with as much enthusiasm as his role in the Civil War. I love reading about history in a way that humanizes it and takes it away from the typical textbook survey.
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