The Hard Way Around - The Passages of Joshua Slocum

Zusatztext “Enthralling. . . . Adroitly and economically told. . . . The best of books: a literary biography that also happens to be an adventure story.” — The New York Times Book Review “A rich portrait. . . . A fascinating true story.” — The Seattle Times   “A rich seafaring yarn.” — The Christian Science Monitor “As one would expect from Geoffrey Wolff! The Hard Way Around is an engrossing and energetically written life of a very tricky and complex character. Slocum has at last met! in the author of The Duke of Deception ! the biographer he has long deserved.” —Jonathan Raban! author of Passage to Juneau “Wolff captures the extraordinary life and nature of the man who in 1908 set sail from Martha's Vineyard for the Amazon and disappeared without trace.” — The Boston Globe   “Concise. . . . Wolff holds a straight course in describing a solo sailor.” — The Oregonian   “Engaging. . . . Wolff bores into Slocum's prose like a literary detective.” — The Wall Street Journal   “Wolff’s book! written in muscular! academic prose! fills in the gaps [and] focuses on the legend at the peak of his powers.” — Outside Magazine   “Hugely entertaining and informative. In an era of teenage sailors routinely circumnavigating the world within a safety net of satellite phones! GPS navigation! emergency call beacons and corporate sponsorship! Wolff skillfully illuminates! celebrates and further burnishes the eccentric life and legacy of Joshua Slocum—master of tall ships and The North Star of solo travelers.” —Eric Hansen! author of Stranger in the Forest   “Exhilarating. . . . A rewarding tale of life on the high seas.” — Kirkus Reviews Informationen zum Autor Geoffrey Wolff is the author of five works of nonfiction and six novels. In 1994 he received the Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in Bath, Maine. Klappentext In 1895 Joshua Slocum set sail from Gloucester! Massachusetts! in the Spray! a thirty-seven-foot sloop. More than three years later! he became the first man to circumnavigate the globe solo! and his account of that voyage! Sailing Alone Around the World! made him internationally famous. But scandal soon followed! and a decade later! with his finances failing! he set off alone once more-never to be seen again.In this definitive portrait of an icon of adventure! Geoffrey Wolff describes! with authority and admiration! a life that would see hurricanes! shipwrecks! pirate attacks! cholera! smallpox! and no shortage of personal tragedy.  The Tales He Could Have Told Joshua slocum's Sailing Alone Around the World (1900),his account of his audacious achievement as the first to complete a solocircumnavigation, is a tour de force of descriptive and narrative power. Histwo previous accounts of his voyages- The Voyage of the "Liberdade" (1890) and The Voyage of the "Destroyer" (1893)--are less remarkableonly for the huge shadow cast by his masterwork. To know what he achieved is tounderstand why the National Geographic Society, learning about Charles Lindbergh's solo transatlantic flight in 1927, elevated Lucky Lindy to a smallpantheon that included such notable voyagers as Dr. David Livingstone, SirGalahad, and Joshua Slocum. To read Slocum is to understand why GeorgePlimpton, in a charming personal essay about the most intriguing men and womenknown to history, wrote that Slocum would be one of the few he'd bring backfrom the grave to share a dinner and conversation. And what Plimpton knew ofhim didn't include the books that he'd been too busy to write. Slocum might have made a grand adventure story of daring, catastrophe, and self-salvage from the facts of his honeymoon voyage as masterof the Washington. Following his wedd...

Relazione

Enthralling. . . . Adroitly and economically told. . . . The best of books: a literary biography that also happens to be an adventure story.
The New York Times Book Review

A rich portrait. . . . A fascinating true story.
The Seattle Times
 
A rich seafaring yarn.
The Christian Science Monitor

As one would expect from Geoffrey Wolff, The Hard Way Around is an engrossing and energetically written life of a very tricky and complex character. Slocum has at last met, in the author of The Duke of Deception, the biographer he has long deserved.
Jonathan Raban, author of Passage to Juneau

Wolff captures the extraordinary life and nature of the man who in 1908 set sail from Martha's Vineyard for the Amazon and disappeared without trace.
The Boston Globe
 
Concise. . . . Wolff holds a straight course in describing a solo sailor.
The Oregonian
 
Engaging. . . . Wolff bores into Slocum's prose like a literary detective.
The Wall Street Journal
 
Wolff s book, written in muscular, academic prose, fills in the gaps [and] focuses on the legend at the peak of his powers.
Outside Magazine
 
Hugely entertaining and informative. In an era of teenage sailors routinely circumnavigating the world within a safety net of satellite phones, GPS navigation, emergency call beacons and corporate sponsorship, Wolff skillfully illuminates, celebrates and further burnishes the eccentric life and legacy of Joshua Slocum master of tall ships and The North Star of solo travelers.
Eric Hansen, author of Stranger in the Forest
 
Exhilarating. . . . A rewarding tale of life on the high seas.
Kirkus Reviews

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Geoffrey Wolff
• Editore: Vintage USA
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Tascabile
• Pubblicazione: 29.11.2011
• EAN: 9780307745453
• ISBN: 978-0-307-74545-3
• Pagine: 240
• Dimensioni: 132 mm x 203 mm x 19 mm
• Serie: Vintage Departures; Vintage Departures
• Categorie: Narrativa > Romanzi > Epistole, diari; Scienze umane, arte, musica > Storia; Viaggi > Reportage di viaggio, racconti di viaggio