Call number
NWC 508 NIS
Collection
Publication
Sasquatch Books (2016), Edition: Reprint, 256 pages
Description
"The story of the land in the Northwest flows from the cataclysmic ice-age floods. So it only follows that the stories of the people in this terrain are inextricably linked to the aftereffects of that great deluge. These are the genesis stories of a region. Included are the controversy over the provenance and ownership of a meteor that fell to earth in rural Oregon; the mystery of the aurora borealis as observed by 18th-century explorer David Thompson; the town in the northeastern Washington that drew immigrant artisans from Italy because of its deposits of terra cotta clay; and a recounting of the great floods of 15,000 years ago that shaped the land of what is now Washington, Oregon, and Idaho"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member Gwendydd
There is a lot of interesting information here, but I found this to be a very frustrating book. It is a collection of essays about the Pacific Northwest - geology, botany, art history. What aggravated me is that none of the essays have an argument or a thesis - they just ramble on about some stuff.
One of the essays particularly encapsulates this point: he is talking about a plant that has roots that Native Americans eat in various forms. He talks about working with a biologist who is trying to answer questions about these plants. The problem is that he never really explains what the question is. Apparently botanists find these plants to be really mysterious... but he doesn't say why.
I learned some interesting things from this book, but it just felt like a random string of facts.
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Maybe this is my academic background biting me in the rear, but when I'm reading non-fiction, I need an argument (or at least a question!) to guide me through the writing. I need to know where the author is going and what they are trying to say. As far as I can tell, all Nisbet is trying to say is "there's some interesting stuff in the Pacific Northwest." One of the essays particularly encapsulates this point: he is talking about a plant that has roots that Native Americans eat in various forms. He talks about working with a biologist who is trying to answer questions about these plants. The problem is that he never really explains what the question is. Apparently botanists find these plants to be really mysterious... but he doesn't say why.
I learned some interesting things from this book, but it just felt like a random string of facts.
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Awards
Washington State Book Award (Finalist — 2016)
Pages
256
ISBN
1632170809 / 9781632170804
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