While Wordy Shipmates was certainly interesting, I was not as impressed with it as I thought I would be going into it. Vowell writes the book as if it were one long essay--no chapter breaks, no index, no bibliography. Her casual, rambling style made the book difficult to put down: not because it was so enthralling, but because there were no good stopping points and I was afraid I'd completely lose my place and have to go back and re-read portions of the book to figure out what was going on if I put it down.

The Wordy Shipmates is about a particular topic close to my heart: the Puritans of Massachusetts. Vowell focuses on four famous Puritans in particular: John Winthrop, Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson...and one other I can't recall at the moment. Perhaps John Cotten. The most interesting sections of the book, to me, were the first third and the last fourth, where Vowell focuses on Winthrop and Hutchinson, respectively. While some of the anecdotes were interesting and some points Vowell makes are thought-provoking (such as the fact that the well-read, education-happy Puritans are a far cry from the emotional Christian fundamentalists of today who tend to mistrust public schools and higher education) the book did not excite me overall. It was a quick read and worth my time for what I got out of it, but I just expected something more. Perhaps I'll pick up Vowell's Assassination Vacation and give her a second chance. ( )

This was a very hit-or-miss reading experience for me. Some passages are lovely, but there are some giant sinkholes of "and then, and then, and then" storytelling, like a middle-school history report.Worth reading, if only for the first 50 and last five pages. ( )

Sarah Vowell has perfected a kind of geeky, dry and deadpan humor that is only enhanced by her lispy voice (which is exactly why I had to listen to this on unabridged audio). But, that said, do not think that this tale of America's Puritan beginnings is any less researched and serious than, say, Nathaniel Philbrick's Mayflower.

Vowell explores the Puritan settlement in New England using many of their own words (thus, the title - Wordy Shipmates). She tells us a well-researched story liberally including quotes from journals, letters and documented court cases. On audio, they have used several male actors' voices for the different men she is quoting. She injects her characteristic wit and personal anecdotes along the way. The point of her book, imo, is to show us that "there's nothing new under the sun" and that our national behaviors of today can seen way back in the early part of the 16th century.

It's fascinating ...and very entertaining. I think one would have to have interest in early American history though to enjoy this. ( )

I listened to part of this and really ejoyed the author's sense of humor, but this is just not my style of reading material. Too much historical information and fact. ( )

This wasn't as good as Vowell's other books. While witty, it didn't seem to have the depth of humor that her other titles did. I was also put off by the fact that there were no separate chapters.