01-21-2009, 02:38 PM
Why do you pick up a book and read it? I'm sure the book purveyors would love the answer to this million dollar question.
In the case of "The Wordy Shipmates", it's because I liked "The Incredibles". Sarah Vowell plays the daughter, Violet. How does this let me know she's an author? It doesn't. But then she appeared on the DailyShow and it wasn't to talk about "The Incredibles" but rather to talk about her book on Lincoln. Pretty current, huh? Lincoln and Obama? Okay, the episode on Stewart's show was last year and I only got around to following up on getting the book this year. Except it wasn't the one on Lincoln. It was the one about the start of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, not to be confused with the colony out on Plymouth settled by the Pilgrims. My fall back statement is that it got good reviews and had a huge waiting list for it at the library.
"The Wordy Shipmates" starts off the Arabella and ten other ships sailing from England to Massachusetts. Like the Pilgrims twenty years before, these colonists are escaping religious persecution. It centers mostly on James Winthorp, the first governor of Massachusetts. It also delves into the founding of the Rhode Island colony and a little bit about Salem, too.
It's a far ranging book with plenty of Vowell's observations about modern day affairs and the legacy of the early settlers efforts. They might not be pleased to know about the Mayflower water park. Do you think they would like to know that Ronald Reagan cribbed a lot of his speaches from Winthorp, especially the gleaming city on a hill analogy.
This book filled in some of the blanks I had in american history. If I remembered correctly, the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock and then we fought the War of Independance. But if you look at the dates, there is almost a hundred and fifty years between those two events. In a very quirky and entertaining manner, "The Wordy Shipmates" fills in some of those holes. You'll learn a wealth of American trivia.
In the case of "The Wordy Shipmates", it's because I liked "The Incredibles". Sarah Vowell plays the daughter, Violet. How does this let me know she's an author? It doesn't. But then she appeared on the DailyShow and it wasn't to talk about "The Incredibles" but rather to talk about her book on Lincoln. Pretty current, huh? Lincoln and Obama? Okay, the episode on Stewart's show was last year and I only got around to following up on getting the book this year. Except it wasn't the one on Lincoln. It was the one about the start of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, not to be confused with the colony out on Plymouth settled by the Pilgrims. My fall back statement is that it got good reviews and had a huge waiting list for it at the library.
"The Wordy Shipmates" starts off the Arabella and ten other ships sailing from England to Massachusetts. Like the Pilgrims twenty years before, these colonists are escaping religious persecution. It centers mostly on James Winthorp, the first governor of Massachusetts. It also delves into the founding of the Rhode Island colony and a little bit about Salem, too.
It's a far ranging book with plenty of Vowell's observations about modern day affairs and the legacy of the early settlers efforts. They might not be pleased to know about the Mayflower water park. Do you think they would like to know that Ronald Reagan cribbed a lot of his speaches from Winthorp, especially the gleaming city on a hill analogy.
This book filled in some of the blanks I had in american history. If I remembered correctly, the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock and then we fought the War of Independance. But if you look at the dates, there is almost a hundred and fifty years between those two events. In a very quirky and entertaining manner, "The Wordy Shipmates" fills in some of those holes. You'll learn a wealth of American trivia.
So much for the flickr badge idea. Dammit