Summary of Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 I had intended to spend the first act of 1776, a musical about the Declaration of Independence, ignoring the stage and staring at Abraham Lincoln's box from my balcony seat. But I was sucked into the play, and I spent the second act in the Lincoln Museum basement.

#2 The play gives the audience a sense of the anguish, embarrassment, and disappointment Adams and Jefferson felt when they yielded to the southerners’ demands. This country was formed for the white, not for the black man, John Wilkes Booth reportedly wrote on the day he shot Lincoln.

#3 The contents of John Wilkes Booth’s pockets also get the glass case treatment. At Ford’s Theatre, I looked at the five photographs of women in his pockets when he died, and I couldn’t help but believe that I had picked up new insight into his character.

#4 I love reading the Second Inaugural speech, which was delivered at the end of the war. It is full of sarcasm and writing, and it shows how Lincoln thought and governed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jun 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822515932

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

Book preview

Insights on Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I had intended to spend the first act of 1776, a musical about the Declaration of Independence, ignoring the stage and staring at Abraham Lincoln's box from my balcony seat. But I was sucked into the play, and I spent the second act in the Lincoln Museum basement.

#2

The play gives the audience a sense of the anguish, embarrassment, and disappointment Adams and Jefferson felt when they yielded to the southerners’ demands. This country was formed for the white, not for the black man, John Wilkes Booth reportedly wrote on the day he shot Lincoln.

#3

The contents of John Wilkes Booth’s pockets also get the glass case treatment. At Ford’s Theatre, I looked at the five photographs of women in his pockets when he died, and I couldn’t help but believe that I had picked up new insight into his character.

#4

I love reading the Second Inaugural speech, which was delivered at the end of the war. It is full of sarcasm and writing, and it shows how Lincoln thought and governed.

#5

The plot to kill Abraham Lincoln started out as a plot to kidnap him. It was a group of Confederate spies who moved freely between North and South during the Civil War because they were famous actors.

#6

The plan to kidnap Lincoln and exchange him for