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Loading... Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author,Who Went in (original 2011; edition 2011)by Donovan Hohn
Work InformationMoby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them by Donovan Hohn (2011)
  
No current Talk conversations about this book.   ) nancynova | Dec 17, 2021 |  This book documents his trail of the bath toys, and takes him to the factory that made them, a trip across the Pacific on a container ship and across the northwest passage in search of them. (  ) PDCRead | Apr 6, 2020 |  ) pdill8 | Dec 13, 2019 | It's a bit too long and wordy (75 pages less would be about right). But meandering as it does through culture, toymaking, weather-vs-climate, polar ice, environmentalism, ocean currents, transoceanic shipping and childrens toys, this is a fascinating look at one of those great universal stories: 28800 plastic bath toys are lost at sea during shipping between China and Seattle, and then wash up on beaches for the next couple of decades. It's a nicely explored book, well researched and well told. I learned a lot more than I thought I would, though there were also sections when I could loosely skim 15 or 20 pages and not care about what I missed. Hohn is at his best when describing people and objects; he's really witty and fun. This makes the meandering worthwhile. ( ) patl | Feb 18, 2019 | ) Abbey_Harlow | Oct 5, 2017 |
 In a book that works as a lively travelogue as well as a voyage of discovery and a philosophical inquiry of sorts (How did toy animals evolve into children’s playthings? And why are beloved, clichéd toy ducklings yellow when most species are not?) Mr. Hohn begins by taking a series of public ferries from Washington to Alaska, commenting as he goes about the ups and downs of that journey. Has as a supplementAwardsDistinctions
When the author heard of the mysterious loss of thousands of bath toys at sea, he figured he would interview a few oceanographers, talk to a few beachcombers, and read up on Arctic science and geography. But questions can be like ocean currents: wade in too far, and they carry you away. His accidental odyssey pulls him into the secretive world of shipping conglomerates, the daring work of Arctic researchers, the lunatic risks of maverick sailors, and the shadowy world of Chinese toy factories. This work is a journey into the heart of the sea and an adventure through science, myth, the global economy, and some of the worst weather imaginable. With each new discovery, he learns of another loose thread, and with each successive chase, he comes closer to understanding where his castaway quarry comes from and where it goes. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)551.462Natural sciences and mathematics Earth sciences & geology Geology, Hydrology Meteorology Surface features of the earth Oceans Mediterranean; Black seaLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.33)
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