Washington schlepped here : walking in the nation's capital

by Christopher Buckley

Hardcover, 2003

Status

Available

Publication

New York : Crown Journeys, c2003.

Description

The father of our country slept with Martha, but schlepped in the District. Now in the great man's footsteps comes humorist and twenty-year Washington resident Christopher Buckley with the real story of the city's founding. Well, not really. We're just trying to get you to buy the book. But we can say with justification that there's never been a more enjoyable, funny, and informative tour guide to the city than Buckley. His delight as he points out things of interest is con-tagious, and his frequent digressions about his own adventures as a White House staffer are often hilarious. In Washington Schlepped Here, Buckley takes us along for several walks around the town and shares with us a bit of his other Washington. They include Dante's Paradiso (Union Station); the Zero Milestone of American democracy (the U.S. Capitol); the Almost Pink House (the White House); and many other historical (and often hysterical) journeys. Buckley is the sort of wonderful guide who pries loose the abalone-like cliches that cling to a place as mythic as D.C. Wonderfully insightful and eminently practical, Washington Schlepped Here shows us that even a city whose chief industry is government bureaucracy is a lot funnier and more surprising than its media-ready image might let on. From the Hardcover edition.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member bookworm12
This walking guide is part of the Crown Journeys series, books written by well-known authors about the cities in which they live. It reads like a Bill Bryson travel book, high praise if you know my feelings on Bryson.

It’s full of fun anecdotes about the people who designed and built D.C., which
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I knew very little about before reading this. It’s a slim volume, so there’s not a lot of room for depth, but it’s a quick glimpse at how the city developed in the way it did.

The second half of the book takes on a slightly more serious feel as Buckley wanders through Arlington Cemetery and some of the city’s somber monuments. The sections on the Holocaust Museum and the struggle to get the Vietnam War Memorial built were particularly good. The story of the competition for the Vietnam War memorial design is so similar to The Submission it gave me chills. I had no idea it was so controversial.

BOTTOM LINE: It’s more entertaining than a regular travel guide, but it still has helpful info. I love seeing a city I’m visiting through the eyes of someone who lives there, so I enjoyed it. Read it if you’re planning a trip to D.C.
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Language

Barcode

7800
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