Geek Lit (?): Layfayette In The Somewhat United States

Author Sarah Vowell has a unique voice both in reality and in her reality.  The former is pretty easy to prove:  she’s not only an NPR regular contributor, but she voiced the teenage daughter in The Incredibles.

However, her passion is American history.  Vowell’s books detail some facet of history, and does so as she travels around, getting material, and recounting not only the history person or event, but also how she researched the topic, making it as much a travelogue as a history book.  Her latest is Lafayette in the Somewhat United States.  After the cut is my review and, well, SPOILERS?  It’s history.  Two hundred year old history.  We won the Revolutionary War.  Let’s move on.

The Entertainment Industry To Nitpickers: Historical Accuracy Is For Chumps!

Awards season.  A prominent director releases a movie that garners some Oscar nominations.  Controversy arises among some, though.  The movie is based on the life of a man many Americans think of as a hero, but who in his own time has proven to be somewhat controversial.  It seems some have found the movie has taken a few liberties with past events, and since said past events are based on real, living people, this is a cause for concern among some people.

I am speaking, of course, of Steven Spielberg’s 2012 movie Lincoln.