Against the Tide : The Fate of the New England Fisherman

by Carey, Richard Adams; Foster, Harry

• ISBN13: 9780395765302
• ISBN10: 0395765307
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-06-01
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Summary

The world of the independent fisherman is a world of constant peril, of arcane folkways and expert knowledge, of calculated risk and self-reliance -- and of freedom won daily through backbreaking, solitary work. It's a way of life deep in the American grain. Richard Adams Carey spent a year with four New England fisherman, hauling traps, seeding clam beds, learning their work and why they do it. He tells of their luck, good and bad, on the water; of the winds and tides that toy with their boats and their lives; of the currents of history and the squalls of fisheries law and politics that continually threaten to swamp their livelihood. Reminiscent of the work of both John McPhee and Bill McKibben, Against the Tide is narrative journalism at its best, a masterly profile of four working men that on every page opens into something more: maritime history, marine ecology, and the poetic celebration of a special American place.

Author Biography

Richard Adams Carey was born in Connecticut and educated at Harvard College. After his graduation he went to work in a northwestern sawmill, and he has since divided his time between Alaska and New England.

Table of Contents

Prologue	1	(11)
Siegfried's Fabulous Horde	12	(34)
Ivy Day in the Committee Room	46	(29)
Not as Bad as They're Crying It to Be	75	(24)
The Ghost of Harry Hunt	99	(24)
Wampum	123	(17)
Piss and Vinegar	140	(6)
The Solace of Outward Objects	146	(9)
Terminator Run	155	(23)
Always Hopefully	178	(23)
A Sea of Troubles	201	(17)
Another Fire Drill	218	(26)
The True Atlantic House	244	(40)
In Cod We Trust	284	(36)
Men's Lives	320	(36)
Epilogue	356	(11)
Glossary	367	(2)
Notes	369	(7)
Bibiography	376	(4)
Acknowledgments	380