Why do Americans see themselves as exceptional and ride that exceptionalism into war in Iraq? "Answer: Because Henry VIII had a crush on a woman who was not his wife." Still, Vowell gets a lot right. But this breeziness also produces some simplistic arguments. Not long into The Wordy Shipmates, her new book on colonial New England and its aftereffects, we encounter not only such Puritan stalwarts as John Cotton and John Winthrop but also "The Brady Bunch," "Happy Days" and "The Simpsons." This approach yields a book that is as easy to read as The Fonz is to watch - a book sprinkled with the sort of phrases and punctuation (exclamation points for example!) commonly found in text messages. So she writes about the past with the irreverence of late-night television. Sarah Vowell, a regular contributor to Chicago Public Radio's "This American Life," wants to make history go down easy. variety, and if you're foolish enough to steer them toward the colonial period, they start not just to sneeze but to retch. From The Washington Post's Book World/ Reviewed by Stephen Prothero Many young people today are allergic to history, even of the U.S.
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