An American River: From Paradise to Superfund, Afloat on New Jersey's Passaic by Thompson, Kate
An American River: From Paradise to Superfund, Afloat on New Jersey's Passaic by Thompson, Kate

An American River: From Paradise to Superfund, Afloat on New Jersey's Passaic

We were afraid of its impenetrable darkness. Afraid of its industrial smell. We were afraid of the...
$30.47 AUD
$30.47 AUD
Please hurry! Only 555 left in stock
Author: Kate Thompson
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Subtotal: $30.47

Free Shipping (Orders $60 USD or More)

An American River: From Paradise to Superfund, Afloat on New Jersey's Passaic by Thompson, Kate

An American River: From Paradise to Superfund, Afloat on New Jersey's Passaic

$30.47
An American River: From Paradise to Superfund, Afloat on New Jersey's Passaic by Thompson, Kate

An American River: From Paradise to Superfund, Afloat on New Jersey's Passaic

$30.47
Author: Kate Thompson
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Description
We were afraid of its impenetrable darkness. Afraid of its industrial smell. We were afraid of the things that lived beneath its surface and the things that had died there. We were afraid of spotting a hand or a head bobbing in the rafts of garbage that floated by. We were afraid of submerged intake valves that sucked water into the factories along the banks. We were afraid of the river's filth. It wasn't the kind of filth that came from playing with your friends. It was grownup filth. The kind that scared the blue out of water and coated the riverbank with oily black goo. It was the kind of filth you could taste, the kind that could make you sick, maybe even kill you. We were afraid of getting splashed with river water or of touching river rocks. We were afraid of falling in or-God forbid-going under. We were afraid of the river's anger at being so befouled, and afraid, most of all, of the revenge we felt certain the river would exact.

New Jersey's Passaic River rises in a pristine wetland and ends in a federal Superfund site. In An American River, author and New Jersey native Mary Bruno kayaks its length in an effort to discover what happened to her hometown river. The Passaic's wildly convoluted course invites detours into the river's flood-prone natural history, New Jersey's unique geology, the corrupt practices of the Newark chemical plant that produced Agent Orange and poisoned the river with dioxin, and into the lives of an unforgettable cast of characters who have lived and worked along the Passaic and who are trying, even now, to save it. Part natural history, part personal history, part rollicking adventure, the book is a narrative meditation on the wonder of nature, the enduring ties of family, and the power of water and loss. "My great grandmother liked to say, 'Don't shit in the nest, '" writes Bruno. "The Passaic River is an object lesson in what can happen when we ignore that simple, salty advice."

"An American River is an intricate and satisfying braid of memoir, history, science, nature writing, and acute social observation. This is an invigorating and hopeful book, and its sense of wonder is infectious. It's not, I think, too great a stretch to say that it holds its own on the shelf alongside Walden, Silent Spring and A Sand County Almanac."

Jonathan Raban Author of Driving Home: An American Journey

Author: Kate Thompson,Mary Bruno
Publisher: DeWitt Press
Published: 05/21/2012
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 9.02h x 5.98w x 0.67d
ISBN: 9780615601793

About the Author
Mary Bruno is an American writer and editor. After earning a master's degree in aquatic ecology she worked as a staff writer, contributing editor or editorial director for a variety of print and online publications, including Newsweek and New York Woman magazines, ABCNEWS.com and Seattle Weekly. Her essays and fiction have appeared in the collections A Road of Her Own: Women's Journeys in the West (2002) and Green Time (2003). Bruno grew up in North Arlington, New Jersey. She lives on Vashon Island in Washington State.


This title is not returnable
Shipping & Return

Returns Policy

You may return most new, unopened items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.).

You should expect to receive your refund within four weeks of giving your package to the return shipper, however, in many cases you will receive a refund more quickly. This time period includes the transit time for us to receive your return from the shipper (5 to 10 business days), the time it takes us to process your return once we receive it (3 to 5 business days), and the time it takes your bank to process our refund request (5 to 10 business days).

If you need to return an item, simply login to your account, view the order using the "Complete Orders" link under the My Account menu and click the Return Item(s) button. We'll notify you via e-mail of your refund once we've received and processed the returned item.

Shipping

We can ship to virtually any address in the world. Note that there are restrictions on some products, and some products cannot be shipped to international destinations.

When you place an order, we will estimate shipping and delivery dates for you based on the availability of your items and the shipping options you choose. Depending on the shipping provider you choose, shipping date estimates may appear on the shipping quotes page.

Please also note that the shipping rates for many items we sell are weight-based. The weight of any such item can be found on its detail page. To reflect the policies of the shipping companies we use, all weights will be rounded up to the next full pound.

Review

Related Products

Example product title
$30.47 AUD
$30.47 AUD
Example product title
$30.47 AUD
$30.47 AUD
Example product title
$30.47 AUD
$30.47 AUD
Example product title
$30.47 AUD
$30.47 AUD
Example product title
$30.47 AUD
$30.47 AUD
Example product title
$30.47 AUD
$30.47 AUD
Example product title
$30.47 AUD
$30.47 AUD
Example product title
$30.47 AUD
$30.47 AUD
Example product title
$30.47 AUD
$30.47 AUD
Example product title
$30.47 AUD
$30.47 AUD

Recently Viewed Products