Audiobook Review: The Wordy Shipmates, by Sarah Vowell

I've long been a fan of Sarah Vowell. Her earlier works ( Assassination Vacation and The Partly Cloudy Patriot) deal closely with subjects I also adore -- namely, American history -- and so were a natural fit for me. More recently, Vowell turned her attention to Hawaii with  Unfamiliar Fishes , a subject about which I originally had little to no interest... but her book convinced me otherwise. To me, she has become the kind of skilled writer that can take a subject of any level of dryness and morph it into something witty, fun and downright delectable.

I went back recently and picked up The Wordy Shipmates on audio at my local library (though I also own the book in hardcover) in an effort to continue to get to know this author that I've always loved.* Her subject of choice this time around? None other than the Puritans, that miserly, no-fun lot that first settled our precious American shores. Well, except for the Native Americans, of course. And they weren't always no-fun, actually. And they didn't all wear black with silly white hats, either.

These are the myths that Vowell sets out to de-bunk, and she does so successfully. Puritan writing can be dry as all get-out (have you ever actually read Winthrop's extensive sermons?), but Vowell, in her usual style, treats this material with an irreverent attitude that makes it all seem... approachable, somehow. Add in the fact that she reads her own audiobooks, and Vowell's story, as well as her humor and dry, sarcastic wit, come to life in every sense of the word. Then consider a delightful cast of additional readers, including (but certainly not limited to) Peter Dinklage as the voice of Roger Williams, that outcast who ultimately founded that bizarre little state, Rhode Island.

Though this was not my favorite of Vowell's works (I find her style to be more impactful in essays than in full-length histories), I can honestly say that any writer capable of teaching us about the Puritans through a careful examination of The Brady Bunch pilgrim episode is clearly a writer worth reading. Especially when said writer manages to pull it off successfully -- which Vowell does here. The Wordy Shipmates is a delightful, if sometimes overly detailed read, and the audio version is even better. After all, who doesn't want to hear Sarah Vowell and Peter Dinklage tell us about Puritan politics? Amiright?

*The Wordy Shipmates actually came out before Unfamiliar Fishes, but I didn't read them in order.

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Watch Sarah Vowell on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show, which is probably one of the best things ever:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Sarah Vowell
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

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Thoughts from other bookworms:
Bookrageous Podcast
S. Krishna's Books
Jenny's Books
Unputdownables

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You might also like:
Unfamiliar Fishes
Assassination Vacation
The Partly Cloudy Patriot


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The Wordy Shipmates | Sarah Vowell, nar. Sarah Vowell & Cast | Simon & Schuster Audio | 9781590514634 | $29.99 Audio CD | 6 CDs, 7 hrs | October 2008 | Buy from an independent bookstore near you