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Product Details
Simon & Schuster Audio, October 2008
Unabridged Audio Download
ISBN-10: 0743578201
ISBN-13: 9780743578202
Description
New York Times bestselling author Sarah Vowell explores the Puritans and their journey to America in The Wordy Shipmates. Even today, America views itself as a Puritan nation, but Vowell investigates what that means -- and what it should mean. What was this great political enterprise all about? Who were these people who are considered the philosophical, spiritual, and moral ancestors of our nation? The people she finds are highly literate, deeply principled, and surprisingly feisty. Their story is filled with pamphlet feuds, witty courtroom dramas, and bloody vengeance. Along the way she asks:
• Was Massachusetts Bay Colony governor John Winthrop a communitarian, a Christ-like Christian, or conformity's tyrannical enforcer? Answer: Yes!• Was Rhode Island's architect, Roger Williams, America's founding freak or the father of the First Amendment? Same difference.
• What was the Puritans' pet name for the Pope? The Great Whore of Babylon.
Sarah Vowell's special brand of armchair history makes the bizarre and esoteric fascinatingly relevant and fun. She takes us from the modern-day reenactment of an Indian massacre to the Mohegan Sun casino, from old-timey Puritan poetry, to a Mayflower-themed waterslide. The Wordy Shipmates is rich in historical fact, humorous insight, and social commentary by one of America's most celebrated voices. Thou shalt enjoy it.
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NewsBlaze, July 23, 2011
...indebted to Russell Shorto's and to DelanceyPlace.com for this meditation. A recent DelanceyPlace essay about The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell invited me to think how readily we have bent history to suit ideology. Take the issue of ...
Student Operated Press, July 21, 2011
...The Center of the World and to DelanceyPlace.com for this meditation. A recent DelanceyPlace essay about The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell invited me to think how readily we have bent history to suit ideology. Take the issue of ...
Stranger, October 14, 2009
...stomaching the morally questionable rise of modern civilization requires some perspective. Fortunately, nobody understands this necessity better than Sarah Vowell. She approaches the brutal stories of America with equal parts morbidity and ...
Daily Vanguard, October 14, 2009
...s Books at Cedar Hills 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd. Wed, 7 p.m. Free It might be Sarah Vowell’s unusual voice that grabs your attention, but it’s her wit and intelligence that will keep you hooked. The writer, known for her knowledge of ...
Ahwatukee Foothills News, October 7, 2009
...expand their businesses and link hearts in the community. Details: Johnnie, (480) 275-2121. Registration: www.85044.theheartlinknetwork.com. Sarah Vowell book signing: 7 p.m., Changing Hands Bookstore, 6428 S. McClintock Drive. Tempe. She ...
Gambit Weekly, October 6, 2009
...Vowell Movement: Sarah Vowell's The Wordy Shipmates Add to favorites ALSO IN THE GAMBIT PICKS ALSO IN EVENTS NOLA Project: Finer Noble Gases and White Bitch Who's Buying? — Booking Music ...
Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 15, 2009
...a veil. 'Reading Lolita' has been translated into 32 languages and has won many awards. MARCH 11-12, 2010: Sarah Vowell, author of 'Assassination Vacation' (an account of a road trip to visit tourist sites honoring slain presidents) and 'The ...
University Daily, March 5, 2009
... Section: La Vida Page 1 of 1 Media Credit: Ken Muir Sarah Vowell reads excerpts from her book on Tuesday in the Allen Theatre. Author, social observer and Disney voice actress Sarah Vowell performed a reading from her most recent book and ...
Santa Barbara Independent, March 4, 2009
...Sarah Vowel at the Arlington Theatre 2007 The study of history has filled Sarah Vowell?s life with stories, imbued her acts with meaning and poetry, and -- this is the trade off for inspiration -- given her the feeling that Theodore ...
Santa Barbara Independent, February 27, 2009
...Sarah Vowell Early on in her fifth and latest book, The Wordy Shipmates, public radio personality and New York Times op-ed columnist Sarah Vowell writes, ?The United States is often called ...
Santa Maria Times, February 27, 2009
...Sarah Vowell, author of four bestselling books and a contributing editor for public radios This American Life, will read from her recently released fifth book, The Wordy Shipmates, at 7 p ...
Syracuse Online, February 20, 2009
...Last fall, when Sarah Vowell was on the to promote her new book, The Wordy Shipmates, she joked that she was so depressed about the shaky economy that she turned to transcripts of FDR ...
Santa Maria Times, February 13, 2009
...Sarah Vowell, author of four bestselling books and a contributing editor for public radios This American Life, will read from her recently released fifth book, The Wordy Shipmates, at 7 p ...
Chicago Sun-Times, December 28, 2008
...was Long After Midnight at the NinoBien: A Yanqui's Missteps in Argentina by Brian Winter. Joanne Collings Sarah Vowell's The Wordy Shipmates takes the reader on one narrative detour after another, yet she always circles back to her key ...
Longview Daily News, December 21, 2008
...work, all of her books are beautifully written novels with deeper philosophical questions that are worth anyones time. Wordy Shipmates, by Sarah Vowell. Vowell is a wonderful writer with a great sense of the absurd who turns her talents ...
Sarah Vowell's Books
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Unfamiliar FishesBestselling author Sarah Vowell takes listeners on a historical journey to the tropical paradise of Hawaii, a place where American ideals went to die.Read More -
Assassination VacationSarah Vowell takes us on a journey to the pit stops of American political murder and how they have been used for fun, profit, and political advantage.Read More
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The Partly Cloudy PatriotSarah Vowell travels through the American past and, in doing so, investigates the dusty, bumpy roads of her own life. In this insightful and funny...Read More
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Take the CannoliIn her moving and wickedly funny collection, Sarah Vowell tackles identity, politics, religion, art, and history with biting humor.Read More
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