I found this good-condition hardcover in the Little Free Library on Park St. in Haverhill MA, and was delighted to have another release copy of this wonderful book.

Another hard-to-categorize read, this could go under "Travel" or "Memoirs" or "History," as it deals with tours to a number of sites associated with assassinated presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. Vowell's writing tone reminds me a bit of David Sedaris and a bit of Mary Roach, both of whom I adore, so I expect I'll be picking up more of Vowell's books.

There are loads of fascinating historical tidbits, amazing coincidences, and wacky asides - not to mention a list of places I'd like to visit someday! Whether she's trying to explain the plot of Sondheim's "Assassins" to fellow guests at a B&B or is taking her young nephew along on yet another cemetery visit ("Remember that word I taught you at Christmas? 'Decapitated'?"), she sounds like lots of fun - and in many ways a kindred spirit.

She talks about trying to track down historical sites and plaques - she says her family's taken to using "Seward plaque" as a phrase to indicate disappointment in a much-anticipated sight, since few of them share her enthusiasm for dry phrases on brass!

I loved her description of the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, which I have visited - it was like seeing it all again.

The ongoing crossings-of-paths between John Wilkes Booth's brother Edwin and Abraham Lincoln's son Robert makes a running theme through the book, eerie and surprising. Well, perhaps not that surprising - both men were well-known in their fields, and spent much of their time in the same major cities, so some crossover isn't really that unlikely, but it does seem to turn up a lot. And each of them winds up touching the lives of many other celebrities and historical figures too. (The scene in which a man shows interest in a pair of sculpted hands at a party asks whose they were and is told "Lincoln's"; the man - Edwin Booth - puts the sculpture down and moves away...)

Death masks, assassination sites, museums, plaques, road trips - history should always be so interesting. Small things, too - Vowell suggests that "if there's a recurring theme in Garfield's diaries it's this: I'd rather be reading." Makes me feel more empathy for the man than any amount of Presidential deeds.

I left this book on a bench in the entrance of Not Your Average Joe's restaurant on DW Hwy at around 5; hope the finder enjoys it!

*** Released as part of the 2016 E-less release challenge. ***