The Partly Cloudy Patriot is a book published in 2002, and is a collection of essays about American history and the author's own reflections on such issues, by Sarah Vowell, a contributing editor for the WBEZ / Public Radio International program This American Life. The chapters include scenes from Vowell's vacations in history tourism, an open letter to Bill Clinton about his presidential library, and stories about her own past. Also in these readings is a script about her story and love for a young man thousands of miles away named Ray. The audiobook features music by They Might Be Giants and a cast including: Conan O'Brien as Abraham Lincoln Seth Green as Congressman Mike Synar Stephen Colbert as Al Gore David Cross as Theodore Roosevelt Paul Begala as George W. Bush Michael Chabon as Walt Whitman Norman Lear as "Kevin" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Partly_Cloudy_Patriot Vowell is a New York Times' bestselling author of six nonfiction books on American history and culture. Her most recent book is Unfamiliar Fishes (2011), which traces the growing influence of American missionaries in Hawaii in the 1800s and the subsequent takeover of Hawaii's property and politics by American sugar plantation owners, eventually resulting in a coup d'état, restricted voting rights for nonwhites, and annexation by the United States. A particular focus is on 1898, when the U.S. "annexed Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Guam, and invaded Cuba, and then the Philippines, becoming a meddling, self-serving, militaristic international superpower practically overnight." [from the dust jacket] The title of the book is an allusion to a quotation from the aged David Malo, who had been the first Native Hawaiian ordained to preach and Hawaii's first superintendent of schools: If a big wave comes in, large and unfamiliar fishes will come from the dark ocean, and when they see the small fishes of the shallows they will eat them up. The white man's ships have arrived with clever men from the big countries. They know our people are few in number and our country is small, they will devour us. [pp. 138--139] Vowell's earlier book, The Wordy Shipmates (2008), examines the New England Puritans and their journey to and impact on America. She studies John Winthrop's 1630 sermon "A Model of Christian Charity" -- and the bloody story that resulted from American exceptionalism. And she also traces the relationship of Winthrop, Massachusetts' first governor, and Roger Williams, the Calvinist minister who founded Rhode Island -- an unlikely friendship that was emblematic of the polar extremes of the American foundation. Throughout, she reveals how American history can show up in the most unexpected places in modern American culture, often in unexpected ways. Her book Assassination Vacation (2005) describes a road trip to tourist sites devoted to the murders of presidents Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley. Vowell examines what these acts of political violence reveal about American national character and contemporary society. She is also the author of two essay collections, The Partly Cloudy Patriot (2002) and Take the Cannoli (2000). Her first book Radio On: A Listener's Diary (1997), is her year-long diary of listening to the radio in 1995. Her writing has been published in The Village Voice, Esquire, GQ, Spin, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the SF Weekly, and she has been a regular contributor to the online magazine Salon. She was one of the original contributors to McSweeney's, also participating in many of the quarterly's readings and shows. In 2005, Vowell served as a guest columnist for The New York Times during several weeks in July, briefly filling in for Maureen Dowd. Vowell also served as a guest columnist in February 2006, and again in April 2006. In 2008, Vowell contributed an essay about Montana to the book State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Vowell

• published: 08 Jan 2014
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