Going to extremes

by Joe McGinniss

Hardcover, 1980

Status

Available

Genres

All Topics

Biography & Memoir

Nonfiction

Collection

Michael Lieberman Collection

Publication

New York : Knopf : distributed by Random House, 1980.

Description

From a drunken housewife who barely escapes being caught in adultery to the author's soul-stirring encounter with one of the earth's last scenes of natural splendor, Going to Extremes succeeds in encompassing the surreal qualities and mind-bending contradictions of Alaska today. What Joe McGinniss found on his extraordinary odyssey was a world of stark contrasts. He introduces us to the people-from pot-smoking high-school principals to TV-watching Eskimos-and their problems: rampant drinking, divorce, human disintegration, and the oil-inspired greed and waste. And he recaptures both the power and the beauty of a land still untamed and undefiled, and the endurance of a spirit of independence and adventure that finds Alaska its natural home. A deeply moving, personal book, in turns wry, witty, cutting and bedazzling, Going to Extremes is, quite simply, a thoroughly rewarding experience.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member ireed110

I tend to read everything I find about Alaska. I've decided that I must have lived there in a previous life, because I am fascinated by this state. I hate the cold, though.

This book was published in 1980, just after the completion of the Pipeline, and much of the focus in the book is directed at

the impact that the construction has had. There is a lot of speculation, too, about what it's presence will bring. It's interesting to me that everyone's thinking in social and economic directions -- no one ever dreamed of other repercussions, though, like the Exxon Valdez. In a place known for it's unspoiled beauty and wildlife, I'm surprised. Hindsight really is 20/20, isn't it?

Joe McGinness spent a year (I think) travelling all over this large, strange state. He visited all of the major cities, many of the small towns, and even took a good long hike through the Brooks Range. What I really liked about this book was that he took on everything -- this wasn't about just the Pipeline, or about how cold it is, or how beautiful --he spent time in so many different places, finding all of their individual quirks. It's the first book I've read that manages to get so in depth about so many different aspects of life in Alaska.

I was bothered by the not-always-so-subtle Us and Them attitude when it came to the native people (still lumped into a single group called Eskimos at that time). While Mr McGinness described overt racial tension in Barrow, his own impressions were apparent in his descriptions of bars full of drunken Eskimos and troublemakers, and about their inability to handle their new-found Pipeline wealth. This book is clearly about the White Man's Alaska. I'm troubled by this.

All in all I found this to be a well-written and never boring travelogue -- better than average, actually. The historical perspective adds not just a little interest to the whole. I recommend this book to any fellow Alaskaphile.

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LibraryThing member groendog

A little dated now this is one of the most interesting and readable books about Alaska around. Not a travel book so don't read it for tips on where to go or how to tie the bells to your backpack.

LibraryThing member HenryGalvan

This book is actually very good. It is about a man who wanted to see what Alaska is really like. It covers his exploits in the capital with the locals and in the frozen small villages.

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