"In The Partly Cloudy Patriot, Sarah Vowell travels through the American past and, in doing so, investigates the dusty bumpy roads of her own life. In this collection of personal stories Vowell ponders a number of curious questions: Why is she happiest when visiting the sites of bloody struggles like Salem or Gettysburg? Why do people always inappropriately compare themselves to Rosa Parks? Why is a bad life in sunny California so much worse than a bad life anywhere else? What is it about the Zen of foul shots? And, in the title piece, why must doubt and internal arguments haunt the sleepless nights of the true patriot? "--BOOK JACKET.