Braving home : dispatches from the Underwater Town, the Lava-Side Inn, and other extreme locales / Jake Halpern.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Halpern, Jake

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Halpern, Jake--Travel--United States.

Halpern, Jake.

Travel.

Home.

Psychological aspects.

United States.

Home--United States--Psychological aspects--Case studies.

United States--Description and travel.

United States--History, Local.

Local history.

United States--Biography.

Genre:

Biographies.

Case studies.

Physical Description:

240 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 2003.

Summary:

Funny, moving, and utterly unique, Braving Home introduces us to five unforgettable modern American pioneers. When Jake Halpern was a cub reporter, he became obsessed with stories about "some outlandish and often hellish place inhabited by a handful of stalwarts who refused to leave." His fellow reporters joked with him and nicknamed him the Bad Homes Correspondent. But the more he learned about these people, the more he was drawn to them. Determined to understand their fierce devotion to home, Halpern set off on a journey to five of the most punishing towns in America. Braving Home is his irresistible portrait of these hometowns and his friendships with their most loyal residents. In North Carolina, he meets a retired mill worker who single-handedly manned his hometown in the wake of a devastating flood. In Alaska, Halpern works for a spunky woman who runs a video store/tanning salon and delivers newspapers to an "indoor town" -- a lone snowbound high-rise at the foot of a glacier. At the base of a Hawaiian volcano, he stays with a hermit whose house, formerly an inn, is surrounded by molten lava. In Malibu, nestled among the glitterati, a long-time "hillbilly" teaches him the traditions of fire-fighting. Finally, on a barrier island off the coast of Louisiana, a legendary storm rider tells of surviving hurricanes -- even if it means tying one's hair to a tree. Throughout his journey, Halpern explores the value of rootedness in an age when American society is more mobile than ever. Along the way, he discovers why no amount of lava, wind, fire, or water can tug these unforgettable people from their roots.

Contents:

Introduction: The Bad Homes Correspondent 1

The Underwater Town: Princeville, North Carolina 10

Tower of the Arctic: Whittier, Alaska 50

The Lava-Side Inn: Royal Gardens Subdivision, Hawaii 86

Canyon of the Firefighting Hillbillies: Malibu, California 126

Island of the Storm Riders: Grand Isle, Louisiana 168.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-237).

ISBN:

0618155481

OCLC:

51223708

Online:

Publisher description