The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell

Summary: Vowell’s series of essays relating to patriotism, history and colonialism is fascinating and makes me feel like I am not alone in the slight unease of being proud to be a United-Statesian. The prose is personal and contemporary. It feels like you’re speaking to a friend who just happens to be a nerdy history author.

Review: Please read this book. Especially, if you’re not into politics. It is smart without being stuffy and intellectual. It is funny, sweet, ironic and easy to read through. Take it apart, read it in its components, out of order, upside down. Books like this are fun to read at lunch when you want fifteen minutes of insight.

Rating: 9 sentences of the Gettysburg Address that you recited in the second grade

Random Sample: “From the Spanish exploration of Aztec cocoa and the Dutch invention of the chemical process for making cocoa, and down to the capitalist empire of Hershey, PA and the lifestyle marketing of  Seattle’s Starbucks’s, the modern mocha is a bittersweet concoction of imperialism, genocide, invention , and consumerism served with whipped cream on top. No wonder it costs so much.”

Wine-pairing: The Quiet American.  Graham Greene’s allegory to United States/British influence on Vietnam.