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A review by toggle_fow
Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell
2.0
Today I learned that somewhere in between "history" and "tumblr post" there's this thing called "narrative nonfiction."
Also, I learned that I loathe narrative nonfiction.
Before I go on, caveats:
So. First of all. The style and voice. A quick skim of Sarah Vowell reviews will mostly give you the word "irreverent." A lot of people "like her voice," apparently. This is the first Vowell book I've read, and I started it expecting a historical book in the style of every other historical book ever. Thus ambushed, I was taken aback by the author's "voice," which I almost felt that I recognized. There was a haunting echo of those tumblr posts. You know the ones.
At the beginning this playful, I'm-so-funny, informal prose just rubbed me the wrong way. Using words like "preggers" to describe Lafayette's wife? Gross. I thought I was going to hate the entire book. But, hey. I like those tumblr posts, most of the time. I adapted to Vowell's style unexpectedly quickly, and she is funny sometimes. If this short-lived discomfort had been my only problem, I would have rated Lafayette in the Somewhat United States much higher.
Unfortunately, I've also got this problem called Not Enough Lafayette. You think this book is about Lafayette, right? That's an understandable assumption, in my opinion. Not so. Really, it's just an account of the Revolutionary War using Lafayette as the prism through which we view the events of the war. There is a short account of his earlier life, and some brief, sketchy allusions to his sadder later years, but mostly once Cornwallis surrenders it's like, And then the war ended and Lafayette went home to France. The End.
Personally, as a Lafayette enthusiast who picked up this book because it displays Lafayette's name prominently on the cover because it is supposedly about Lafayette. . . I expect more. Even during the war years (i.e. the entire book) Lafayette only pops into the narrative for short visits. This book is as equally about George Washington as it is about Lafayette, if you measure by the percentage of prose dedicated to each. Unsatisfactory.
In a similar vein, honestly my biggest issue with this book: Too Much Sarah.
I feel like I'm on a first name basis with Sarah now, since I've heard so much about her. I'm familiar with a posse of her friends, and their views on topics as random as Thomas Edison and Quakerism. I've heard about her educational background. Sarah's family members. Her modern-day political views. The scholastic interests of her teenage nephew. Her ten zillion mildly topical field trips taken while researching this book, all described and dwelt upon in loving memoir-worthy, philosophical detail.
Do you know how many of these things I know about Doris Kearns Goodwin? Or David McCullough? Or even Ron Chernow? NONE, OBVIOUSLY. BECAUSE HISTORIANS DON'T SPEND ENTIRE CHAPTERS OF THEIR HISTORICAL BOOKS TALKING ABOUT THEMSELVES. And that, friends, is how I like it. Frankly, I don't give a one (1) frick about Sarah, and I resent all the time I was forced to spend reading about her in order to dredge out precious Lafayette-centered anecdotes.
You're all invited to the vigil I'll be holding for all my brain cells that are now unavailable to store Lafayette facts, because they're taken up with Sarah Vowell facts. RIP.
Probably, for some people, this kind of thing serves to humanize and enliven boring, dry historical details? I can definitely imagine there being people out there who would find this kind of human interest New Yorker-y memoir-ism to be a refreshing break among painfully detailed 500-page history tomes. Unfortunately, those people aren't me.
Honestly, if you want to hear about the American Revolution as it would probably be verbally narrated to you over brunch by a humorous, well-informed (though slightly self-absorbed and biased) friend, then you would probably like this book. It's not a bad book. It's just incredibly not my thing.
I will henceforth try to make better life choices, one of which will be to scrupulously avoid "narrative nonfiction."
Also, I learned that I loathe narrative nonfiction.
Before I go on, caveats:
1. I did waffle between 2 and 3 stars, so take it as a 2.5 maybe.
2. I love the Marquis de Lafayette more than my own life, and this book did have some good Lafayette content so that was enjoyable.
So. First of all. The style and voice. A quick skim of Sarah Vowell reviews will mostly give you the word "irreverent." A lot of people "like her voice," apparently. This is the first Vowell book I've read, and I started it expecting a historical book in the style of every other historical book ever. Thus ambushed, I was taken aback by the author's "voice," which I almost felt that I recognized. There was a haunting echo of those tumblr posts. You know the ones.
At the beginning this playful, I'm-so-funny, informal prose just rubbed me the wrong way. Using words like "preggers" to describe Lafayette's wife? Gross. I thought I was going to hate the entire book. But, hey. I like those tumblr posts, most of the time. I adapted to Vowell's style unexpectedly quickly, and she is funny sometimes. If this short-lived discomfort had been my only problem, I would have rated Lafayette in the Somewhat United States much higher.
Unfortunately, I've also got this problem called Not Enough Lafayette. You think this book is about Lafayette, right? That's an understandable assumption, in my opinion. Not so. Really, it's just an account of the Revolutionary War using Lafayette as the prism through which we view the events of the war. There is a short account of his earlier life, and some brief, sketchy allusions to his sadder later years, but mostly once Cornwallis surrenders it's like, And then the war ended and Lafayette went home to France. The End.
Personally, as a Lafayette enthusiast who picked up this book because it displays Lafayette's name prominently on the cover because it is supposedly about Lafayette. . . I expect more. Even during the war years (i.e. the entire book) Lafayette only pops into the narrative for short visits. This book is as equally about George Washington as it is about Lafayette, if you measure by the percentage of prose dedicated to each. Unsatisfactory.
In a similar vein, honestly my biggest issue with this book: Too Much Sarah.
I feel like I'm on a first name basis with Sarah now, since I've heard so much about her. I'm familiar with a posse of her friends, and their views on topics as random as Thomas Edison and Quakerism. I've heard about her educational background. Sarah's family members. Her modern-day political views. The scholastic interests of her teenage nephew. Her ten zillion mildly topical field trips taken while researching this book, all described and dwelt upon in loving memoir-worthy, philosophical detail.
Do you know how many of these things I know about Doris Kearns Goodwin? Or David McCullough? Or even Ron Chernow? NONE, OBVIOUSLY. BECAUSE HISTORIANS DON'T SPEND ENTIRE CHAPTERS OF THEIR HISTORICAL BOOKS TALKING ABOUT THEMSELVES. And that, friends, is how I like it. Frankly, I don't give a one (1) frick about Sarah, and I resent all the time I was forced to spend reading about her in order to dredge out precious Lafayette-centered anecdotes.
You're all invited to the vigil I'll be holding for all my brain cells that are now unavailable to store Lafayette facts, because they're taken up with Sarah Vowell facts. RIP.
Probably, for some people, this kind of thing serves to humanize and enliven boring, dry historical details? I can definitely imagine there being people out there who would find this kind of human interest New Yorker-y memoir-ism to be a refreshing break among painfully detailed 500-page history tomes. Unfortunately, those people aren't me.
Honestly, if you want to hear about the American Revolution as it would probably be verbally narrated to you over brunch by a humorous, well-informed (though slightly self-absorbed and biased) friend, then you would probably like this book. It's not a bad book. It's just incredibly not my thing.
I will henceforth try to make better life choices, one of which will be to scrupulously avoid "narrative nonfiction."