Due to the blue funk engendered by the ravages of Katrina and the bureaucratic bungling that followed (gee, who would have thought it would be possible for my opinion of the Bush administration to sink any lower?), I've fallen behind on keeping you abreast of the new in nonfiction. So, here 'tis:
Get out your woolies and brew up the cocoa before you settle in with this chilly selection, continuing after the jump (that's bloggy language for "click on the link for the long version of this entry"):
Mark Bowen, Thin Ice: Unlocking the Secrets of Climate in the World's Highest Mountains (Henry Holt, November). Kirkus says: “Mountain-climbing journalist Bowen accompanies researchers as they dig atop glaciers at the Earth's equator and gives an in-depth report on the field of climatology.” Focusing on climatologst Lonnie Thompson, who “makes a great character to fashion a book around,” says Kirkus,
The author intersperses stories of Thompson's treks with discussions of scientific infighting, congressional debates, struggles for funding, the health and history of the Earth's atmosphere and on and on. The work's structure bears a passing resemblance to Moby-Dick, part adventure tale, part densely annotated guide to Thompson's profession. Bowen covers an enormous amount of ground in impressive, accessible detail. For those interested in global warming, the hard facts, backed by prodigious amount of investigation, will be most welcome.
Kirkus concludes: “a tremendous work of research, with plenty of entertaining adventure and colorful characters to boot.”
Jill Fredston, Snowstruck: In the Grip of Avalanches (Harcourt, November). Publishers Weekly (PW) says:
Co-director, with her husband, Doug Fesler, of the Alaska Mountain Safety Center, the author is an expert on both the beauty and dangers of snowy mountain ranges. Combining the expressive reverence for nature evident in an earlier work, Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic's Edge, with her own experiences, Fredston sounds a wake-up call to those who ski, hike or drive snow machines through snow-packed peaks and passes. Avalanches, she says, are not completely unpredictable, and can be avoided by reading the snow scrupulously and picking routes carefully. Drawing also on her husband's research on the history of avalanches in Alaska, Fredston describes how she and Fesler teach those who enjoy the mountains the best ways to minimize their risk. She presents harrowing accounts of rescue efforts the two have led, highlighting fatal accidents that might have been avoided. Fredston details, for example, the death of her friend Todd, an experienced skier, whose joy in the sport overcame caution when he and his comrades embarked on a last run that sparked a deadly avalanche. Fredston conveys the emotional toll too many mountain deaths have taken on the couple as well as their sense of mission to prevent future tragedies.
David A. Kearns, Where Hell Freezes Over: A Story of Amazing Bravery and Survival
(Thomas Dunne Books, November ). From PW:
Though Kearns's gripping debut is not the first account of the crash of the Martin PBM seaplane George 1 in Antarctica in December 1946, his is the most recent and most complete, unfolding with page-turning immediacy. The plane was part of Operation Highjump, a mammoth U.S. Navy survey expedition that set out to photomap Antarctica under the leadership of hardy polar perennial Adm. Richard E. Byrd. The George 1 crashed in a whiteout, and three of the nine crewmen died. The others survived their injuries and two weeks of Antarctic weather, thanks to personal ingenuity, hardihood, courage, the leadership of Capt. Henry Caldwell and the salvaging of adequate food. Their radios didn't work, but a shoestring search-and-rescue operation finally spotted their smoke signals. All were flown out safely and returned home, although pilot Ralph LeBlanc lost his legs. Copilot Bill Kearns lived to become the author's father. With intimate access to surviving sources, plus a depth of personal commitment, the author makes a compelling addition to survival literature.
Edward Beauclerk Maurice, The Last Gentleman Adventurer: Coming of Age in the Arctic (Houghton Mifflin, November). Once more, from PW:
Maurice was a 16-year-old boy from a struggling British family when a missionary from the Canadian Arctic paid a visit to his boarding school in 1930. Impressed by an accompanying film about life in the frozen territories, Maurice immediately sought employment as an apprentice with the Hudson's Bay Company and was sent to a remote trading post, where news from the outside world was often limited to a short weekly radio broadcast. He was so young, the local Inuit tribe nicknamed him "The Boy," but, as revealed over the course of this charming memoir, he was gradually able to win their trust and admiration. Eventually placed in charge of his own post, Maurice—having already learned the Inuit language—became increasingly involved in the daily lives of the local tribe members. His accounts of their dramatic romantic entanglements are understatedly amusing, as is the dry observation that he himself has been selected by one of the women as a suitable mate. Maurice, who died in 2003, recounts his youthful adventures in a graceful style reminiscent of the great 20th-century explorers. Though his tale is somewhat more subdued than their exploits, it proves just as engrossing.
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