I enjoy sarah vowell , particularly when she is ranting (and when is she not.)
Only someone who really cares could get that angry
would not appeal, I think, to some one of differing views, though it is an interesting overview of mid90's culture
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Sarah Vowell spends all of 1995 listening to the radio wherever she goes. She tunes in to college stations, classic rock, talk radio, National Public Radio, and even the CBC. Along the way she comments on the music and personalities that populate the radio landscape, on the current events being discussed and shaped by said personalities, and how radio connects to her own experiences and memories.

These snippets were all right. My copy of the book had a weird formatting thing where apparently the printing neglected the first page of each month, so most months started in the middle of a diary entry. And because this was written in 1995 and published in 1996, it talks about Clinton’s impeachment trial. For this reason and for the discussion of right-wing voices in the mainstream media, this book ended up being more timely than I thought it would be. In terms of the rest, it might go well with other books about music; if a Vowell fan is more into history than music, she may not be interested in this book as much. ( )

A critical examination, in diary form, of the state of radio in 1995. Vowell listened to the radio daily for the entire year and described what she heard and what it meant to her. The topics she discusses include Rush Limbaugh, the anniversary of the suicide of Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love, the Oaklahoma City bombing, the opening of the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame, NPR, the NEA, Clinton era politics and much more.
This was Vowells first book. As usual her writing is intelligent, witty and insightful. While not as engrossing as her later works I'd still recommend this -- esp to music lovers and NPR listeners. ( )

I really love Sarah Vowell. It's interesting to read this (I believe it was her first book) after reaing her more recent works. It is definitely less polished and while the journal style makes sense because of the book's concept, i think it restrained her too much leading to some pretty boring stretches.

However, as a music junkie, I really appreciated most of her commentary on the state of radio (around 1994-1995!) and found the book pretty entertaining as a time capsule from those years.

I'm sure any Sarah Vowell fan - or anyone who was listening to a lot of music in the mid-90's would enjoy this book. ( )