Season of Dead Water - Softcover

Helen Frost

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0932576826 ISBN 13: 9780932576828

Publisher: Breitenbush, 1990

Synopsis

A collection of writings and poems centered around the ecology of Alaska's Prince William Sound. The tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in 1989, spilling its cargo of about 11 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound. These writings are concerned with the after-effects of that spill. Edited, and with an introduction, by Helen Frost. --- In full dark blue cloth-covered boards with gilt-stamped spine titling. Volume housed in grey cloth-covered slipcase.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

In this impassioned response to the 1989 Exxon oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound, Frost has compiled 44 poems and essays (many previously published) that seek "some small but enduring truth" as they explore the magnitude of the disaster; its impact on the environment and the lives of local residents; the economic and political implications; and, finally, the collective guilt we share "as members of a human community that has profoundly injured its surroundings." Frost, a writer who has lived in Alaska, has enlisted a wide range of contributors, including writers such as Wendell Berry and Nancy Willard; local leaders and residents (from a village chief to an eighth-grade Fairbanks student); and members of the clean-up and rescue efforts. Unfortunately, many of the poems rely on hyperbole and didacticism (Carolyn Kizer's Suppressing the Evidence is a case in point). Far more pk inspiring are the prose pieces, several of which use matter-of-fact images to chilling effect: "There are oiled loons making their calls, oiled otters and babies . . . dead deer floating in the water."
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

The Exxon Valdez oil spill tragedy is the theme of this collection of poetry, stories, and mini-essays, written by authors ranging from a local village chief and an eighth-grader to Jean-Michel Cousteau and Pulitzer Prize-winning poets. The authors' message is clear: the spill was a terrible cost to civilization and should never be paid again. (Part of the proceeds from sales of this book will go to the Oil Reform Alliance.) Despite the inevitable unevenness of such a collection, several pieces are compelling, particularly those by Charles Wohlforth, John Wahl, Wendell Berry, and village chief Walter Meganack. The authors do not pretend to offer answers, but their questions are provocative. Highly recommended for school and public libraries.
- Branden B. Johnson, Columbia
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Breitenbush
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0932576826
• ISBN 13: 9780932576828
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 130