Lafayette in the Somewhat United States
By: Sarah Vowell / Narrated By: Sarah Vowell, John Slattery, Nick Offerman, Fred Armisen, Bobby Cannavale, John Hodgman, Stephanie March, Alexis Denisof
Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
The world’s unlikeliest narration had me ultimately enjoying the hell outta this one!
Let’s just say it: On the surface, Sarah Vowell should NOT be doing ANY narration. Her voice doesn’t come anywhere NEAR melodious. At first I thought, Oh. My. GOD! I’m going to haaaaate this. But I would’ve had to listen to it no matter what as it was one of a 3-way tie that was voted on as My Next Listen on our website. But still, I was in nooooo way looking forward to a little over 8 hours of a screechy, high-pitched, incredibly warbly voice spouting American history to me, of touting Lafayette as a true patriot and hero even as he was but an unpaid teenager when he left France to join in the American Revolution.
But the writing is sooooo funny, and it’s written sooooo well that Vowell has little to do but deliver it with her wry tones and smart-assed sense of humor. She traveled far and wide, engaged in enthusiastic road trips based on American history, witnessed MANY a battle reenactment, researched manuscripts like crazy. You name it, Vowell did it for Lafayette in The Somewhat United States. So kudos to her for bringing such a wide variety of sources to this story. All told in that, “…So there’s THAT…” tone of voice. I chuckled out loud quite a bit.
Plus, she doesn’t do it all. There IS the full cast of actors doing voices from history, and they’re all seasoned pros, and it’s readily apparent that they find Vowell’s material and conclusions to be hilarious as well. Her descriptions of the budding Bromance between George Washington and Lafayette are brought to life with their top notch narration. Truly chortle-worthy!
There’s such a blend here of the historical with the modern. We get the opinions of Vowell’s friends as they join her on her geeky road trips, and rather than detracting from the overall storyline, it all adds up to this audiobook being a very warm, a very human story that I could relate to. What other book will throw out specific battles of the Revolution with homages to Bruce Springsteen, with critiques of Elvis Presley’s eyebrows? It works, I tell you! It works!
DEFINITELY worth your, very precious, time! I just strooooongly suggest you listen to the sample and consider whether you think the warble adds to the charm and humor or not!
Besides which, the ending is very touching, and the naming of all things “Lafayette” is a grand tribute as we consider just how much the man did for our young country. (And FRANCE! We must consider whether their spending of all that money on us rather than on their own people added to the tragic and murderous unrest that followed).
SOOOO much to consider and to listen to!!!
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