The day before Christmas Eve, one of our reference librarians spent the morning weeding the 900s. I normally don't scan the weeds, but the 900s contain a lot of material of interest to old history and New Journalism buffs like me, so I took a quick look at her cart. I'm glad that I did as John McPhee's Looking for a Ship caught my eye. I'd already read a couple of his other works, Close Encounters with the Archdruid and Curve of Binding Energy, and figured I couldn't go wrong with another of McPhee's titles; I was right!
As a dyed-in-the-wool Walter Mitty type, Looking for a Ship had all the features I crave: hardware, travel, historical context, and lots of detail. McPhee uses the experiences of seamen and their ship to tell the story of the decline and fall of the the United States' maritime industry.
The author gets on a ship by joining licensed second mate Andy Card in his quest for one of the rapidly dwindlng ship board berths. Card finally gets a mate's job on the SS Stella Lykes, bound from Charleston for ports on the western coast of South America. Along the way, McPhee becomes acquainted with the ancient ship's master, Paul McHenry Washburne, whose 50+ years of sea-stories kept this reader fascinated right to the surprising, but thought-provoking finish.
As a long-time McPhee fan I opened Looking for a Ship with high expectations. I wasn't disappointed. I'll drop it in the book return slot tomorrow morning; it will be back on the shelf soon!
c Waterloo Public Library 2006
As a dyed-in-the-wool Walter Mitty type, Looking for a Ship had all the features I crave: hardware, travel, historical context, and lots of detail. McPhee uses the experiences of seamen and their ship to tell the story of the decline and fall of the the United States' maritime industry.
The author gets on a ship by joining licensed second mate Andy Card in his quest for one of the rapidly dwindlng ship board berths. Card finally gets a mate's job on the SS Stella Lykes, bound from Charleston for ports on the western coast of South America. Along the way, McPhee becomes acquainted with the ancient ship's master, Paul McHenry Washburne, whose 50+ years of sea-stories kept this reader fascinated right to the surprising, but thought-provoking finish.
As a long-time McPhee fan I opened Looking for a Ship with high expectations. I wasn't disappointed. I'll drop it in the book return slot tomorrow morning; it will be back on the shelf soon!
c Waterloo Public Library 2006
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