Assassination Vacation

I’m feeling much better today. My allergies / head cold aren’t bothering me that much. I had a pretty busy day at work and the movement helps me feel better. I don’t know if it really makes sense or not, but sometimes I feel worse if I just sit around when I feel sick.

I’ve been reading Jonathan Lathem’s “The Fortress of Solitude” and its been pretty slow going. The story, so far, focuses on a white kid growing up in a predominantly black part of Brooklyn, NY in the mid to late 1970’s. Latham’s other books I’ve read always had some surreal aspects that helped keep my interest up when the prose draged. There’s very little of that here. There is honesty to the descriptions of what the kids do and how they interact that’s pretty interesting. But there’s something about the book that just doesn’t really make me want to pick it up.

So while I didn’t feel well, we went over to Borders and bought Sarah Vowell’s latest book “Assassination Vacation.” There’s something about the way she writes that I like and after three days I’m almost done with the book. The book follows her trips exploring the Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley presidential assassinations. She has a pretty good sense of humor and I’ve liked all of the other books we have by her.

I’d heard some of her radio essays on public radio’s "This American Life." I mainly listened to hear stuff by David Sedaris; but I’d hear her stuff too. It wasn’t until she did the voice of Violet in the movie “The Incredibles” that I was reminded of her work and went out and bought some.