Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

I have an ex who, at least while we were dating and before then, LOVED Sarah Vowell. When I asked said literate then-boyfriend for a list of books I should read, of course he included her. I know her from her segments on This American Life; sometimes I like them and sometimes I don't, so I'm not sure what to expect from this book.

...Yeah, this sounds exactly like one of her pieces for This American Life: somewhat funny, some good one-liners, an insightful way of describing things, but...I don't know. Get to it faster? Try less to make your witty metaphors? Whatever it is that bothers me about her radio pieces is here, too.

I also find the book extremely dated: it's not so much about listening to the radio, but about listening to the radio in 1995. She carries a Nirvana / Kurt-just-died-woe-is-us theme through the book, and often quotes the hateful talk radio (by the way, I like to read because it's NOT hateful talk radio) that was going on then... not much different from today, actually. And it just all went on for WAY too long.

By the way, when did the diary format become a thing in book writing? Granted, this book is 20 (!) years old, so it's not like it's part of a *recent* trend, but still... Radio On, The Year of Living Biblically, The Know-It-All, So Many Books, So Little Time, Nick Hornby's book recommendation books...

There's perhaps some irony that Vowell expresses these feelings for Garrison Keillor: "I know people who love this man....Why, why, why do I hate him so? Hate every breath he draws, every last tinkle of every last ivory he sings over? Garrison Keillor, obviously adored by thousands, rubs me raw." Yeah, I know how that feels.