Book 71: Take the Cannoli

Ah, now THIS is the Sarah Vowell I love, who keeps me snickering and thinking and reading in my every spare moment. The Wordy Shipmates left me feeling a little... bored sometimes, so it's nice to return to her usual style of shorter essays.




The essays are about America, and American culture, and being an American. And one is about living in the Netherlands.

The one that gives this book its title, Take the Cannoli, is about Vowell's one-time obsession with The Godfather movies. I had never seen The Godfather, and of course I always felt left out and incomplete when even a Meg Ryan movie (You've Got Mail) was quoting this movie all over the place. Finally, I got The Godfather trilogy from swapadvd.com, and I managed to watch the first movie.

It was just as Vowell said: comforting. Because there are rules in that world. Straight-forward, easily decoded rules. It makes some sort of sense. It’s a really nice fantasy, that you can always deal with problems by threats and force and violence, (assuming your reasonable offer is rejected).

Since I hate confrontations and have a fear of people being mad at me, the idea of having a relative or friend or Connection who could take care of my troubles for me is really appealing. I wouldn’t have to think of how to phrase, “Neighbor, it is not okay for you to keep your portable basketball hoop abutted up to my driveway. You need to keep your things at YOUR house.” Instead, Tony and Fabrizio (or whoever) could pay them a little visit and then all the neighbors would dutifully respect the boundaries of our property lines. I wouldn’t have to be involved at all!

But of course there is a dark side to the world of offers they can't refuse: women are totally second-class citizens in that place. The men all cheat and lie. Plus the small detail of that line of work having high mortality and incarceration rates.

I was pleasantly surprised that it was set in the 1940s rather than the 1970s. I was also surprised at how un-creepy Al Pacino used to be. Now I can finally see why ladies used to find him attractive.

So, thanks, Sarah Vowell, for entertaining me yourself AND finally getting me to watch the most iconic of mafia movies. Some day I will probably watch The Godfather II and III. Maybe even this year. As soon as I find 6 or 7 hours free.