Men's Lives
by Peter Matthiessen
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An eloquent portrayal of a disappearing way of life of the Long Island fishermen whose voices--humorous, bitter and bewildered--are as clear as the threatened beauty of their once quiet shore.Tags
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Matthiessen's account of commercial fishermen on eastern Long Island had an elegaic tone when I first read it shortly after it appeared almost 30 years ago. I spent summers in the late 1950s and most of the 1960s in and near the communities he focused on, in Springs, Amagansett, etc., and so many of the places and family names are familiar to me. I haven't been back there since about 1982 but rereading this book has aroused my curiosity so perhaps a short visit is in order to see the state of of the fishery there.
Apart from my personal connections, this book is startlingly relevant today, as various groups debate the state of marine wildlife and the wisest steps to take to conserve sea life. A very good read.
Apart from my personal connections, this book is startlingly relevant today, as various groups debate the state of marine wildlife and the wisest steps to take to conserve sea life. A very good read.
Men's Lives is a eulogy for a few generations of fishermen and a fishing community on the South Fork of Long Island. From the late 19th century to the 1960s motorless dories were launched from the beach, setting nets that were hauled in by horse teams and then winches on cars. Motors were added to the dories, but by the 1980s striped bass conservation measures, poor fishing and employment opportunities in other industries were driving off the newest generation of would-be fishermen.
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48+ Works 13,947 Members
Peter Matthiessen was born in Manhattan, New York on May 22, 1927. He served in the Navy at Pearl Harbor. He graduated with a degree in English from Yale University in 1950. It was around this time that he was recruited by the CIA and traveled to Paris, where he became acquainted with several young expatriate American writers. In the postwar years show more the CIA covertly financed magazines and cultural programs to counter the spread of Communism. While in Paris, he helped found The Paris Review in 1953. After returning to the United States, he worked as a commercial fisherman and the captain of a charter fishing boat. His first novel, Race Rock, was published in 1954. His other fiction works include Partisans, Raditzer, Far Tortuga, and In Paradise. His novel, Shadow Country, won a National Book Award. His novel, At Play in the Fields of the Lord, was made into a movie. He started writing nonfiction after divorcing his first wife. An assignment for Sports Illustrated to report on American endangered species led to the book Wildlife in America, which was published in 1959. His travels took him to Asia, Australia, South America, Africa, New Guinea, the Florida swamps, and beneath the ocean. These travels led to articles in The New Yorker as well as numerous nonfiction books including The Cloud Forest: A Chronicle of the South American Wilderness, Under the Mountain Wall: A Chronicle of Two Seasons of Stone Age New Guinea, Blue Meridian: The Search for the Great White Shark, The Tree Where Man Was Born, and Men's Lives. The Snow Leopard won the 1979 National Book Award for nonfiction. He died from leukemia on April 5, 2014 at the age of 86. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Distinctions
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1986
- Important places
- USA; New York, USA; Long Island, New York, USA
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Statistics
- Members
- 170
- Popularity
- 192,148
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.65)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
- 1
