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this book is brand new and was shipped to me right away - thank you
The Wordy Shipmates condemns the narrowness those who promulgate and perpetuate myopic belief systems that accentuate propriety while, simultaneously, denigrating the quality of life that those systems create. As much as I appreciate Sarah's squeeky-voiced delivery when heard on electronic media, I found The Wordy Shipmates to be much more informative than Sarah's usual fare while still maintaining the ironic edge that makes her work so entertaining. Her examination of the desire of America's Puritanical founders to create a "city on a hill" and the european's, inexorable march, through legislation and disease, as their desire "helps" (tramples) the indigenous population and, spares not each other's individual and religious freedoms, is insightful.
also the jokes are only funny if you were born before theeighties this book was read for an english project. you would have to have profuse amoumts of knowledge about this ti.e period to begim to understand it.
Fascinating, powerfully educating, and just plain wonderful. This is the best way possible to look at history. You got to admire a guy to fights tooth and nail for freedom of religion in a Puritan colony.
This is definitely one of them, and I fully intend to read everything that Vowell has penned. Somehow, Vowell manages to bring them to life (probably more so than any historical text I've ever read) with both understanding and respect and even love (and a true eye for human character), but also a cautionary and deeply, justifiably critical eye. There's very few pleasures like an accessible, engaging, page-turning, humorous nonfiction book.
While Vowell is in love with Winthrop, I found myself falling for Roger Williams, despite his immature behavior. Grade: A+ Her book on the obsessively-literate "Jesus-freaks" that established the Massachusetts Bay Colony is as charming as it is thought-provoking.
She details the lives of John Winthrop, Roger Williams, John Cotton, and Anne Hutchinson and how they formed not only their colony but laid the foundation of the United States.
It would seem that the point of the book is first and foremost to be an enjoyable read, secondly to educate on the pilgrims, and finally to show off just how witty she can be. She uses her slow winding trip through the history of the pilgrims to make a few points; but she isn't using it as a story to drive home some deeply held point about anything. I think all three aspects are accomplished masterfully. Sarah Vowell is so witty and writes so cleverly about the subject. She does tend to meander through the story, but I think that is the nature of the story she is telling.
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