Sarah Vowell's 2002 book of essays, The Partly-Cloudy Patriot, is one of those books that you find yourself alternating between laughing at and nodding along to. Filled as it is with the angst that I suspect many of us have felt since 9/11 and during its various aftermaths, Vowell's musings on America, its history and its culture resonated - and at the same time, her quirky delvings into bizarre little nooks and crannies of American life are enough to bring on a fit of laughter that will draw stares from across the T-car.
From Tom Cruise's hair to Al Gore's "Love Canal moment" in campaign 2000, from "The Patriot" to Tom Landry to Salem's Gallows Hill and the lunchroom in Carlsbad Caverns, Vowell's wry, witty humor and knack for a good story carry this book along nicely. I quite enjoyed it.
