Review by Booklist Review
The point where the Columbia River spills into the Pacific Ocean has long been known as the "Graveyard of the Pacific" for all the deadly shipwrecks that have occurred there over the centuries. Unlike many river systems, the Columbia lacks a delta, so its massive flow blasts straight into the Pacific, punching head-on into the ocean's powerful west winds and formidable tides, shaping ever-shifting sandbars. Given the enormous fur, lumber, and agricultural output of the Columbia basin, ships must come and go through this maelstrom despite the evident dangers. Sullivan (The Curse of Oak Island, 2018) challenges himself to traverse these turbid waters in a fragile trimaran powered by sail and pedal. Finding just the right weather conditions to cross the Columbia Bar is the trickiest part of this journey. Defying nature's fury, Sullivan also faces down his own demons that stem from childhood abuse from his father and a deeply conflicted relationship with his career-focused mother. Ultimately, the struggle to cross both physical and emotional bars defines for Sullivan manhood in the contemporary world.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
More than 2,000 shipwrecks have been caused by the "collision of tide and current" that occurs where the Columbia River, which forms much of the border between Washington and Oregon, empties into the Pacific Ocean, according to this immersive mix of history and travelogue. Journalist Sullivan (Untouchable) centers the narrative on his attempt to cross the Columbia River Bar, the area where ships make the dangerous transition between river and ocean, in a kayak. Interwoven with the weather analysis, safety training, and strategic mapping Sullivan and his friend Ray did in the months before they turned 70 to prepare for the journey are insights into how Clatsop tribespeople made the passage in "immense, sixty-five-foot-long canoes that could carry more than fifty paddlers" and accounts of the many ships and sailors lost to the waterway's unpredictable tides, towering waves, and hidden sandbars. Even modern freighters rely on specially trained bar pilots" to guide them through the area, Sullivan notes. Driven by "a wish for some unpronounceable rite of passage that could only happen in the late stage of life," Sullivan and Ray, both survivors of childhood abuse, viewed their mission "as a salvage operation, one involving the recovery of something lost in childhood and reconciliation with the ghosts of our fathers." Vividly evoking Sullivan's deep fascination with the Pacific Northwest and thirst for friendship and adventure, this is a thrill ride. (June)
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Review by Library Journal Review
The Columbia River Bar, where the Columbia River flows into the Pacific Ocean, has been dubbed the "Graveyard of the Pacific," as thousands of ships and many lives have been lost to its treacherous waters. Journalist and Pulitzer Prize nominee Sullivan (The Curse of Oak Island) recounts the tales of many of these wrecks, illuminating the stories of the people involved. Sullivan is something of a daredevil himself. When he and his friend Ray were both in their late 60s, they attempted to cross the Columbia River Bar in kayaks; their story forms the framework of this book. Sullivan intersperses riveting historical accounts with memories from his and Ray's pasts, detailing the abuse and dysfunctional relationships that shaped both of their lives. Sullivan's examination of how toxic masculinity affected generations of family members is entirely affecting. Lynch Travis narrates in a heartfelt and somber way, but his inconsistent pronunciations of well-known place names might take listeners out of the story. While Travis's pacing is also occasionally awkward, he successfully conveys Sullivan's sincerity. VERDICT A fascinating examination of nautical history and poisonous masculinity that would have benefited from a more practiced narrator.--B. Allison Gray
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A riveting story of maritime tragedies and a personal passage. The Columbia River, writes Oregon-based journalist and former Rolling Stone contributing editor Sullivan, is "the most vital natural feature west of the Rocky Mountains." He continues, "only the Missouri/Mississippi system exceeds it in annual runoff, and there are years when the Columbia's flow is greater….The Columbia is unique among all rivers of the world…in the combination of its close proximity to the ocean and the tall mountain ranges that feed it all along the way there." But it is the Columbia Bar, site of the river's harrowing collision with the sea, that earned it the sobriquet "Graveyard of the Pacific." In the fascinating introduction, the author chronicles the geological origins of the Columbia and its many tributaries and torturous route to the sea. Yet it is Sullivan's gripping, vividly detailed accounts of nautical disasters at the Columbia Bar that make the book such an achievement for the three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee. The author digs deep to recount the most famous disasters at the Bar from the 18th to the 20th centuries, punctuating them with skillfully distilled biographies of notable figures of this period. The author's personal story--from growing up with an abusive father to his 2021 attempt to cross the Bar by trimaran--courses through the book like an intermittent current. Well written and affecting, it risks becoming a mere framing device--until the compelling final chapter. Clearly, Sullivan wants to offer more than a dramatic historical account of shipwrecks and rescue operations, including his narrative of the hoped-for catharsis of a 69-year-old adventurer. In a touching coda about his friend and fellow sailor, their exploits, and their shared survival from lifelong traumas, the author finds a path to reconciliation and a reaffirmation of manhood that defies our caustic modern labels. A strikingly rendered tale of the hard and lasting costs of courage. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
