Sarah Vowell

In conversation with Daniel Handler.

As a humorist, commentator, and writer, Sarah Vowell approaches American history with wit and whimsy. Many also know Vowell's voice from her frequent contributions to Public Radio's This American Life. In her most recent book, The Wordy Shipmates (2008), Vowell writes about the Puritans who settle Massachusetts in a way that makes a seemingly dry subject endlessly entertaining. She says, "I seem to write about subjects elderly right wingers care about in a manner that is palatable to their bleeding-heart offspring." Her other books include Take the Connoli: Stories from the New World, The Partly Cloudy Patriot, and Assassination Vacation, which follows her road trip to sites dedicated to assassinated US presidents. David Sedaris calls Sarah Vowell the pioneer of a new category, "funny historian." Her many pieces for This American Life, where she has been a contributing editor since 1996, range in subject from traveling the Trail of Tears with her sister to her own Goth makeover. Her distinctive voice also earned her the part of the introverted teenager, Violet Parr, in Pixar's award-winning animated film The Incredibles. Vowell's writing has appeared in numerous publications, including The Village Voice, Esquire, GQ, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Weekly, and the online magazine Salon.

Daniel Handler is an author, screenwriter, and accordionist whose novels include The Basic Eight, Watch Your Mouth, and Adverbs. Under the alias "Lemony Snicket," he is the author of the internationally acclaimed thirteen volumes of A Series of Unfortunate Events. Daniel Handler's many City Arts & Lectures conversations have included those with Michael Chabon, Adam Gopnik, Stephin Merritt and Amy Sedaris.