Life on the Mississippi: an epic American adventure
(Book)
Author:
Published:
New York, NY : Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster, 2022.
Format:
Book
Physical Desc:
397 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
Status:
Ashland Adult Nonfiction
917.7 BUC
Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * “Audacious…Life on the Mississippi sparkles.” —The Wall Street Journal * “A rich mix of history, reporting, and personal introspection.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch * “Both a travelogue and an engaging history lesson about America’s westward expansion.” —The Christian Science Monitor
The eagerly awaited return of master American storyteller Rinker Buck, Life on the Mississippi is an epic, enchanting blend of history and adventure in which Buck builds a wooden flatboat from the grand “flatboat era” of the 1800s and sails it down the Mississippi River, illuminating the forgotten past of America’s first western frontier.
Seven years ago, readers around the country fell in love with a singular American voice: Rinker Buck, whose infectious curiosity about history launched him across the West in a covered wagon pulled by mules and propelled his book about the trip, The Oregon Trail, to ten weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Now, Buck returns to chronicle his latest incredible adventure: building a wooden flatboat from the bygone era of the early 1800s and journeying down the Mississippi River to New Orleans.
A modern-day Huck Finn, Buck casts off down the river on the flatboat Patience accompanied by an eccentric crew of daring shipmates. Over the course of his voyage, Buck steers his fragile wooden craft through narrow channels dominated by massive cargo barges, rescues his first mate gone overboard, sails blindly through fog, breaks his ribs not once but twice, and camps every night on sandbars, remote islands, and steep levees. As he charts his own journey, he also delivers a richly satisfying work of history that brings to life a lost era.
The role of the flatboat in our country’s evolution is far more significant than most Americans realize. Between 1800 and 1840, millions of farmers, merchants, and teenage adventurers embarked from states like Pennsylvania and Virginia on flatboats headed beyond the Appalachians to Kentucky, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Settler families repurposed the wood from their boats to build their first cabins in the wilderness; cargo boats were broken apart and sold to build the boomtowns along the water route. Joining the river traffic were floating brothels, called “gun boats”; “smithy boats” for blacksmiths; even “whiskey boats” for alcohol. In the present day, America’s inland rivers are a superhighway dominated by leviathan barges—carrying $80 billion of cargo annually—all descended from flatboats like the ramshackle Patience.
As a historian, Buck resurrects the era’s adventurous spirit, but he also challenges familiar myths about American expansion, confronting the bloody truth behind settlers’ push for land and wealth. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 forced more than 125,000 members of the Cherokee, Choctaw, and several other tribes to travel the Mississippi on a brutal journey en route to the barrens of Oklahoma. Simultaneously, almost a million enslaved African Americans were carried in flatboats and marched by foot 1,000 miles over the Appalachians to the cotton and cane fields of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, birthing the term “sold down the river.” Buck portrays this watershed era of American expansion as it was really lived.
With a rare narrative power that blends stirring adventure with absorbing untold history, Life on the Mississippi is a muscular and majestic feat of storytelling from a writer who may be the closest that we have today to Mark Twain.
The eagerly awaited return of master American storyteller Rinker Buck, Life on the Mississippi is an epic, enchanting blend of history and adventure in which Buck builds a wooden flatboat from the grand “flatboat era” of the 1800s and sails it down the Mississippi River, illuminating the forgotten past of America’s first western frontier.
Seven years ago, readers around the country fell in love with a singular American voice: Rinker Buck, whose infectious curiosity about history launched him across the West in a covered wagon pulled by mules and propelled his book about the trip, The Oregon Trail, to ten weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Now, Buck returns to chronicle his latest incredible adventure: building a wooden flatboat from the bygone era of the early 1800s and journeying down the Mississippi River to New Orleans.
A modern-day Huck Finn, Buck casts off down the river on the flatboat Patience accompanied by an eccentric crew of daring shipmates. Over the course of his voyage, Buck steers his fragile wooden craft through narrow channels dominated by massive cargo barges, rescues his first mate gone overboard, sails blindly through fog, breaks his ribs not once but twice, and camps every night on sandbars, remote islands, and steep levees. As he charts his own journey, he also delivers a richly satisfying work of history that brings to life a lost era.
The role of the flatboat in our country’s evolution is far more significant than most Americans realize. Between 1800 and 1840, millions of farmers, merchants, and teenage adventurers embarked from states like Pennsylvania and Virginia on flatboats headed beyond the Appalachians to Kentucky, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Settler families repurposed the wood from their boats to build their first cabins in the wilderness; cargo boats were broken apart and sold to build the boomtowns along the water route. Joining the river traffic were floating brothels, called “gun boats”; “smithy boats” for blacksmiths; even “whiskey boats” for alcohol. In the present day, America’s inland rivers are a superhighway dominated by leviathan barges—carrying $80 billion of cargo annually—all descended from flatboats like the ramshackle Patience.
As a historian, Buck resurrects the era’s adventurous spirit, but he also challenges familiar myths about American expansion, confronting the bloody truth behind settlers’ push for land and wealth. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 forced more than 125,000 members of the Cherokee, Choctaw, and several other tribes to travel the Mississippi on a brutal journey en route to the barrens of Oklahoma. Simultaneously, almost a million enslaved African Americans were carried in flatboats and marched by foot 1,000 miles over the Appalachians to the cotton and cane fields of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, birthing the term “sold down the river.” Buck portrays this watershed era of American expansion as it was really lived.
With a rare narrative power that blends stirring adventure with absorbing untold history, Life on the Mississippi is a muscular and majestic feat of storytelling from a writer who may be the closest that we have today to Mark Twain.
Copies
Location
Call Number
Status
Last Check-In
Ashland Adult Nonfiction
917.7 BUC
Available
May 24, 2023
Location
Call Number
Status
Last Check-In
Cable Adult Nonfiction
917.7 BUC
Available
Jan 23, 2024
Manitowish Waters Adult Nonfiction
917.7 Buc
Available
May 24, 2023
Phelps Adult Nonfiction
910 BUC
Available
Jan 24, 2023
Shell Lake Adult Nonfiction
917.7 BUCK
Available
Nov 28, 2023
Superior Adult Nonfiction
917.7 B855L
Due May 16, 2024
Washburn Adult Nonfiction
917.7 BUC
Available
May 23, 2023
More Details
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781501106378, 1501106376
Notes
General Note
Includes index.
Description
A modern-day Huck Finn, Buck casts off down the river accompanied by an eccentric crew of daring shipmates. Over the course of his voyage, Buck steers his fragile wooden craft through narrow channels dominated by massive cargo barges, rescues his first mate gone overboard, sails blindly through fog, clashes with overzealous period reenactors, and much more. In addition, he charts his own geographical and emotional journey while also delivering a richly satisfying work of history that brings to life a lost era. The role of the flatboat in our country's evolution is far more significant than most Americans realize. Decades before we struck out for the Western territories, we migrated Southwest en masse. Between 1800 and 1840, millions of farmers, merchants, and hopeful pioneers embarked from states like Pennsylvania and Virginia on wooden flatboats headed beyond the Appalachians to places like Kentucky, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The mighty river currents carried waves of settlers and tons of cargo from farms to ports, populating new territories and revolutionizing the American landscape. As Buck points out, the inland rivers of the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys were in fact America's first western frontier. With a rare and captivating narrative power that blends armchair adventure with absorbing untold history, Life on the Mississippi is a muscular and majestic feat of storytelling from a writer who may be the closest to Twain that we have today.
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)
Buck, R. (2022). Life on the Mississippi: an epic American adventure. New York, NY, Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Buck, Rinker, 1950-. 2022. Life On the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure. New York, NY, Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Buck, Rinker, 1950-, Life On the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure. New York, NY, Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster, 2022.
MLA Citation (style guide)Buck, Rinker. Life On the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure. New York, NY, Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster, 2022.
Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
38efdeb4-e96b-cfed-8ef6-7b0a695fff6b
Record Information
Last Sierra Extract Time | Apr 25, 2024 03:24:15 PM |
---|---|
Last File Modification Time | Apr 25, 2024 03:24:32 PM |
Last Grouped Work Modification Time | Apr 26, 2024 04:50:31 PM |
MARC Record
LEADER | 03412nam 2200421 i 4500 | ||
---|---|---|---|
001 | sky305632872 | ||
008 | 220218t20222022nyuab e 001 0 eng d | ||
020 | |a 9781501106378|q (hardcover) | ||
020 | |a 1501106376|q (hardcover) | ||
040 | |a MvI-NWLS|b eng|e rda|c MvI-NWLS|d cu |d UtOrBLW|d SKYRV | ||
043 | |a n-usm-- | ||
082 | 0 | |a 910 | |
100 | 1 | |a Buck, Rinker,|d 1950-|e author. | |
245 | 1 | 0 | |a Life on the Mississippi :|b an epic American adventure /|c Rinker Buck. |
264 | 1 | |a New York, NY :|b Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster,|c 2022. | |
264 | 4 | |c ©2022 | |
300 | |a 397 pages :|b illustrations, maps ;|c 25 cm | ||
336 | |a text|b txt|2 rdacontent | ||
337 | |a unmediated|b n|2 rdamedia | ||
338 | |a volume|b nc|2 rdacarrier | ||
500 | |a Includes index. | ||
520 | |a A modern-day Huck Finn, Buck casts off down the river accompanied by an eccentric crew of daring shipmates. Over the course of his voyage, Buck steers his fragile wooden craft through narrow channels dominated by massive cargo barges, rescues his first mate gone overboard, sails blindly through fog, clashes with overzealous period reenactors, and much more. In addition, he charts his own geographical and emotional journey while also delivering a richly satisfying work of history that brings to life a lost era. The role of the flatboat in our country's evolution is far more significant than most Americans realize. Decades before we struck out for the Western territories, we migrated Southwest en masse. Between 1800 and 1840, millions of farmers, merchants, and hopeful pioneers embarked from states like Pennsylvania and Virginia on wooden flatboats headed beyond the Appalachians to places like Kentucky, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The mighty river currents carried waves of settlers and tons of cargo from farms to ports, populating new territories and revolutionizing the American landscape. As Buck points out, the inland rivers of the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys were in fact America's first western frontier. With a rare and captivating narrative power that blends armchair adventure with absorbing untold history, Life on the Mississippi is a muscular and majestic feat of storytelling from a writer who may be the closest to Twain that we have today. | ||
600 | 1 | 0 | |a Buck, Rinker,|d 1950-|x Travel|z Mississippi River. |
610 | 2 | 0 | |a Patience (Flatboat) |
650 | 0 | |a Flatboats|z Mississippi River|x History. | |
651 | 0 | |a Mississippi River|x Travel. | |
651 | 0 | |a Mississippi River|x History. | |
655 | 7 | |a Travel writing.|2 lcgft | |
907 | |a .b21089723 | ||
940 | |a MARCIVE 08/2022 | ||
945 | |y .i34821302|i 30215000342111|l phanf|s -|h |u 5|x 1|w 0|v 1|t 100|z 220801|j 01-24-2023 17:07|r m|a 910 BUC | ||
945 | |y .i34830649|i 36120004340349|l suanf|s -|h 240516|u 7|x 3|w 1|v 5|t 100|z 220808|j 12-27-2023 22:43|r m|a 917.7 B855L | ||
945 | |y .i34832154|i 30115000276550|l caanf|s -|h |u 6|x 1|w 1|v 0|t 100|z 220809|j 01-23-2024 16:41|r m|a 917.7 BUC | ||
945 | |y .i34832713|i 39576101084907|l asanf|s -|h |u 7|x 1|w 0|v 0|t 100|z 220809|j 05-24-2023 14:28|r m|a 917.7 BUC | ||
945 | |y .i3484787x|i 30195000395204|l mwanf|s -|h |u 4|x 1|w 0|v 1|t 100|z 220818|j 05-24-2023 20:34|r m|a 917.7 Buc | ||
945 | |y .i34854204|i 30075000681599|l waanf|s -|h |u 8|x 3|w 0|v 2|t 100|z 220824|j 05-23-2023 16:09|r m|a 917.7 BUC | ||
945 | |y .i34884889|i 30062000597033|l slanf|s -|h |u 5|x 3|w 0|v 2|t 100|z 220915|j 11-28-2023 21:26|r m|a 917.7 BUCK | ||
998 | |h c|e l |f eng|a as|a ca|a mw|a ph|a sl|a su|a wa |