Sarah Vowell exposes the glorious conundrums of American history and culture with wit probity and an irreverent sense of humor. With <I>Assassination Vacation</I> she takes us on a road trip like no other--a journey to the pit stops of American political murder and through the myriad ways they have been used for fun and profit for political and cultural advantage. <br> From Buffalo to Alaska Washington to the Dry Tortugas Vowell visits locations immortalized and influenced by the spilling of politically important blood reporting as she goes with her trademark blend of wisecracking humor remarkable honesty and thought-provoking criticism. We learn about the jinx that was Robert Todd Lincoln (present at the assassinations of Presidents Lincoln Garfield and McKinley) and witness the politicking that went into the making of the Lincoln Memorial. The resulting narrative is much more than an entertaining and informative travelogue--it is the disturbing and fascinating story of how American death has been manipulated by popular culture including literature architecture sculpture and--the author's favorite--historical tourism. <br> Though the themes of loss and violence are explored and we make detours to see how the Republican Party became the Republican Party there are lighter diversions into the lives of the three presidents and their assassins including mummies show tunes mean-spirited totem poles and a nineteenth-century biblical sex cult. <br> <B>IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE:</B> <br> <B>Conan O'Brien</B> Robert Todd Lincoln <br> <B>Eric Bogosian</B> John Wilkes Booth<br> <B>Stephen King</B> President Abraham Lincoln<br> <B>Dave Eggers</B> Mike Ryan <br> <B>Catherine Keener</B> Gretchen Worden <br> <B>Jon Stewart</B> President James A. Garfield<br> <B>Tony Kushner</B> John Humphrey Noyes<br> <B>Brad Bird</B> Charles Guiteau & Emma Goldman<br> <B>Daniel Handler</B> President William McKinley<br> <B>Greg Giraldo</B> President Theodore Roosevelt <br> <B>David Rakoff</B> Leon Czolgosz