The Wordy Shipmates

By: Sarah Vowell

Narrated by: Sarah Vowell

The Wordy Shipmates is New York Times best-selling author Sarah Vowell's exploration of the Puritans and their journey to America to become the people of John Winthrop's "city upon a hill" - a shining example, a "city that cannot be hid."

To this day, America views itself as a Puritan nation, but Vowell investigates what that means - and what it should mean. What was this great political enterprise all about? Who were these people who are considered the philosophical, spiritual, and moral ancestors of our nation? What Vowell discovers is something far different from what their uptight shoe-buckles-and-corn reputation might suggest. The people she finds are highly literate, deeply principled, and surprisingly feisty. Their story is filled with pamphlet feuds, witty courtroom dramas, and bloody vengeance. Along the way she asks:

Was Massachusetts Bay Colony governor John Winthrop a communitarian, a Christlike Christian, or conformity's tyrannical enforcer? Answer: Yes!

Was Rhode Island's architect, Roger Williams, America's founding freak or the father of the First Amendment? Same difference.

What does it take to get that jezebel Anne Hutchinson to shut up? A hatchet.

What was the Puritans' pet name for the Pope? The Great Whore of Babylon.

Sarah Vowell's special brand of armchair history makes the bizarre and esoteric fascinatingly relevant and fun. She takes us from the modern-day reenactment of an Indian massacre to the Mohegan Sun casino, from old-timey Puritan poetry, where "righteousness" is rhymed with "wilderness," to a Mayflower-themed waterslide. Throughout, The Wordy Shipmates is rich in historical fact, humorous insight, and social commentary by one of America's most celebrated voices. Thou shalt enjoy it.

©2008 Sarah Vowell (P)2008 Simon & Schuster

Could of Been much better

This book is roughly equal thirds of history, clever and funny comments on that history, and the author's comments on modern political events in light of the history. The first is interesting, the second is entertaining, and the third you just hold your nose and get through.

The political circumstances in and surrounding the founding of the Massachusetts colony and the players in it are an important and very often misunderstood part of our history. This book has interesting insights to the period and personnel of early Boston. The author makes numerous clever comments about the happenings of the time and strange way we commemorate things.

If you were not already aware that the original Native Americans fared very poorly at the hands of the conquering Europeans this book will set you straight. Much of that information provided in regards to Indian treatment is not really related to the subject at hand.

The author's commentary on how little we actually teach history and the sanitized and grossly inaccurate portrayals that are popular culture is humorous for a while but gets tedious after a while. One more mention of the Brady Bunch sitcom would have done me in.

Finally the commentary on modern politics is typical liberal academia stuff. The conservatives are a bunch of idiots and the left are the second coming of god, that is if the author believed in god, which she tells us on no uncertain terms that she does not. If you are interested on how both the right and the left have misused the rights of the American people listen to "Legacy of Ashes". Listen to this book if you want to learn about Early New England. The political stuff is the price you have to pay to get the knowledge. It is a shame this could have been a really good book.

You've Got to Hear Her!

There are books that are terrific in print as well as in Audio. But here it really makes a difference! You simply cannot experience Sarah Vowell without hearing her voice. This book I recommend just slightly second to "Assassination Vacation". Great history lesson, a slightly skewed view of the world, and lots of humor. I thoroughly enjoyed learning something!

This book is for the humor inclined history buff.

What did you love best about The Wordy Shipmates?

I was very impressed with the research. I loved the sarcasm and the connection with present day. Truly entertaining.

Great fun!

First of all, Sarah Vowell has a fun voice to listen to, which makes what could be a rather dull topic a little more fun. If you're a history buff, you'll like this!

Interesting and funny

Sarah Vowell is one of a kind. Who else could make the Pilgrims and the Puritans really, really interesting and really, really funny? What's amazing about the book is that while being entertaining, the author presents interesting and serious ideas about religion, education, foreign policy, philosophy, racism and a variety of other very serious topics.As a matter of fact, I listened to it twice straight through so I could absorb the ideas that are tossed off casually, sometimes as the punch lines in a paragraph. Her prose and her voice are inseparable, I think. I can't imagine anyone else reading her material.

Good content, poor narration

I don't usually enjoy books read by the author, because simply, they are authors, not voice over actors. This is a perfect example of that thinking. I am very interested in the content, but Sarah Vowell is not a good narrator. She tries, bless her heart, but her narration reminded me so much of that kid who had to read out loud in the 5th grade that it detracted from the content. By the time I quit listening, she was on a tangent so vast that she wasn't talking about letters anyway.

Vowell Nailed It Again

Once again, Vowell has managed to bring American history to life, "as only Sarah Vowell can". (Sorry, I just had to say that)
She has brought up some of the most compelling issues surrounding the first european settlers, particularly their religious and philosophic debates with each other and those outside their particular brand of puritanism. She is helped in the narration by the usual cast of Upper West Siders (Bogosian, Keener, et al) which helps keep the book moving along nicely.

Vowell is an amateur historian in the classic sense. She is not formally trained, but her vast knowledge comes from her own curiosity about this country's origins. She ably bounces forward and back in time, commenting freely on current events and viewing the past with a decidedly contemporary lens. She threads in her views on current politics, just as she did in "Assassination Vacation" and "The Partly Cloudy Patriot". She is developing a terrific way to view and understand history - as one other review (Baron's) said, "History as reported by the Daily Show". That says it all.

This book is for the humor inclined history buff.

What did you love best about The Wordy Shipmates?

I was very impressed with the research. I loved the sarcasm and the connection with present day. Truly entertaining.

Funny & Educational

I love sarah Vowell and this is one of her best. Highly recommend her as an author and narrator, and her books. Hope she writes more!

An engaging and enjoyable book!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I've recommended it to many friends who have an interest in nonfiction and history.

What does the narrator bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I really liked Sarah's voice and contributions from other celebrities.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Nope. My brain cannot handle too much heavy info. I'd enjoy it for a while, and set it aside to ponder.