by John McPhee
Macfarlane Walter & Ross, 1990
Comments: Lately I've been reading more about sailing and seamanship, so I was intrigued when I found this book by John McPhee about the American merchant marine. I've enjoyed some of his other work and knew it would be well done. McPhee is an accomplished writer and storyteller with a journalistic sensibility, somewhat in the same tradition as Tom Wolfe, but more committed to crafting a story that conveys an experience, rather than presenting an opinion.
In this book he takes a voyage to South America aboard an American Merchant Marine vessel, a container ship named the Stella Lykes that visits numerous ports to deliver and/or take-on cargo. The story is largely about the mechanics of a commercial ship, the characters that run it, and the experiences of sailing to foreign ports in sometimes dangerous waters. Beyond that he's also telling a story about the American Merchant Marine system -- its history, how it works, and why it's in decline. He provides a snapshot of how an institution that once helped make America great has become a shadow of its former self as we've ceded the bulk of the world's shipping to foreign agents. It's a sort of paean to an American tradition that will likely soon be lost.
Copy Notes: Hardback, first edition
