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"An impassioned mediation on American identity and its ebb and flow through the Capital's great waterway. As she walks the length of the Potomac River, clambering up its banks and sounding its depths, Charlotte Taylor Fryar examines the geography and ecology of Washington, D.C. with all manner of flora and fauna as her witnesses. The ecological traces of human inhabitancy provide her with imaginative access into America's past, for her true subject is the origin of our splintered nation and racially divided capital. From the gentrified neighborhood of Shaw to George Washington's slave labor camp at Mount Vernon, Potomac Fever maps the troubled histories of the United States by leading us along the less-trafficked trails and side streets of our capital city, steeped in the legacy of white supremacy and colonialism. In the end, Fryar offers hope for how 'we might grow a society guided by the ethics and values of the places we live.' A compelling synthesis of historical, environmental, and personal narrative, Potomac Fever exposes the roots of our national myths, awash in the waters of America's renowned river"--
About the author
Charlotte Taylor Fryar is a writer, historian, educator, and herbalist. She holds a PhD in American Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and lives in Glen Echo, Maryland, less than seven hundred feet from the banks of the Potomac River. Potomac Fever: Reflections on the Nation’s River is her first book.
Summary
An impassioned meditation on American identity and its ebb and flow through the Capital’s great waterway
As she walks the length of the Potomac River, clambering up its banks and sounding its depths, Charlotte Taylor Fryar examines the geography and ecology of Washington, D.C. with all manner of flora and fauna as her witness. The ecological traces of human inhabitancy provide her with imaginative access into America’s past, for her true subject is the origin of our splintered nation and racially divided capital.
From the gentrified neighborhood of Shaw to George Washington’s slave labor camp at Mount Vernon, Potomac Fever maps the troubled histories of the United States by leading us along the less-trafficked trails and side streets of our capital city, steeped in the legacy of white supremacy and colonialism. In the end, Fryar offers hope for how “we might grow a society guided by the ethics and values of the places we live.”
A compelling synthesis of historical, environmental, and personal narrative, Potomac Fever exposes the roots of our national myths, awash in the waters of America’s renowned river.
Foreword
Author appearances in Washington, DC; Baltimore, MD; Chapel Hill, NC; and Charlottesville, VANational print, public radio, and online media campaignsSignificant bound galley mailing to media, booksellers, and librarians. Additional digital review copy distribution to media, booksellers, and librarians through EdelweissAuthor statement available in press materialSimultaneous eBook publication and promotionPostcards availableEarly outreach and giveaway through LibraryThing Promotion through BLP’s social media channels and website: www.blpress.orgPromotion through the author’s website: www.charlottetaylorfryar.comEditor: Laura HartCover designer: Tree AbrahamMarketing and publicity efforts supported by Molly Mikolowski of A Literary LightCo-op available
