Author Description

in the Partly Cloudy Patriot, Sarah Vowell Travels Through The American Past And, In Doing So, Investigates The Dusty, Bumpy Roads Of Her Own Life. In This Insightful And Funny Collection Of Personal Stories Vowell -- Widely Hailed For Her Inimitable Narratives On Public Radio's this American Life -- Ponders A Number Of Curious Questions: Why Is She Happiest When Visiting The Sites Of Bloody Struggles Like Salem Or Gettysburg? Why Do People Always Inappropriately Compare Themselves To Rosa Parks? Why Is A Bad Life In Sunny California So Much Worse Than A Bad Life Anywhere Else? What Is It About The Zen Of Foul Shots? And, In The Title Piece, Why Must Doubt And Internal Arguments Haunt The Sleepless Nights Of The True Patriot? her Essays Confront A Wide Range Of Subjects, Themes, Icons, And Historical Moments: Ike, Teddy Roosevelt, And Bill Clinton; Canadian Mounties And German Filmmakers; Tom Cruise And Buffy The Vampire Slayer; Twins And Nerds; The Gettysburg... the New Yorker sarah Vowell, A Contributing Editor To This American Life, On National Public Radio, Knows That She's Not A Fair-weather Patriot -- At Least Not The Kind Thomas Paine Disparaged In The First Installment Of The American Crisis Papers, Which Was Written In The Fall Of 1776, When Washington's Troops Were Retreating. But She Can't Get Behind The Idea Of Citizenship As Sing-along That Has Been Prevalent Since September 11th. the Partly Cloudy Patriot (simon & Schuster), Her Latest Book, Is A Collection Of Radio Segments And Magazine Pieces. Vowell, A Charismatic Misanthrope, Repeats The Mantra We The People, We The People To Keep From Freaking Out On The Humid, Overstuffed Subway. She Also Thinks About The Civil War All The Time, Every Day, Vacations In Salem, And Takes Walking Tours Of Thomas Jefferson's Paris Years. Fashioning Herself As Clinton's Crabby Little Cheerleader, She Admits A Guilty Pleasure In Voting. Of The Booth: I Love It In There. I