Sarah Vowell interview

Today's odd pairing: writer Sarah Vowell and Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Christopher Walla. Salon published today Walla's interview with the writer, who's promoting her new book "Assassination Vacation." Vowell voiced Violet (the angsty teen daughter) in The Incredibles, reads her essays on NRP, and also wrote the great essay collection "Take the Cannoli," which featured the titular story about studying abroad and being too embarassed to visit Corleone, Sicily, for fear of being outed as a Godfather-loving (actually, Godfather-addicted)American tourist. That essay also recounts Vowell's being abroad during the L.A. riots and feeling conflicted about violence, America, and family--all themes she implicitly connects to her Godfather obsession. Vowell's a wonderfully unfocused writer, meandering from experience to pop culture reference back to experience to op-ed mode.

Anyway, sit through the day pass thing and check out the interview. Vowell talks a lot about her new book, which I haven't read and which concerns itself with historical markers commemorating (?) presidential assassinations. But as is her style, Vowell does plenty of free associating. Here's a taste:

There are certain public radio interviewers who are never going to ever ask me about the "O.C." section of the Garfield chapter [where Vowell links the utopian Oneida community, referred to in old letters as "the O.C.," to the Thursday-night teen drama] because they don't know what it is, or if they do, they're not going to admit to it. And then there are Morning Zoo guys who don't really want to get into the Spanish-American War. So it is kind of interesting going on all these different kinds of shows talking to all these different kinds of people.

And this book tour is different. Since I did "The Incredibles" I have these totally adorable 8- or 9-year-old girls coming to get their Violet stuff signed, and I get to talk to them about how their friends and them play and they always want to be Violet. It's so reassuring, especially because when I was known almost entirely for working on public radio, my audience was all from public radio, which meant that they were all kind of old. And it's kind of terrifying when you're, say, 35 and your audience is like 65. And then you wonder who is going to support your projects after your audience is dead.

Also, Pitchfork today reports on Kraftwerk's soon-to-be-released double live album, which looks to be great. No summer dates in Ohio :( so I might need to figure out a way to be in Detroit for their June 2 show there. Sixty-year-old guys playing twenty-minute disco-synth songs sung in German...be there!