Swimming in the Volcano
by Bob Shacochis
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"Winner of the American Book Award for his collection of stories Easy in the Islands and the Prix de Rome for The Next New World, Bob Shacochis returns to the islands with a first novel possessed of the same beauty as the places and people of the Caribbean." "The volcano at the heart of the island of St. Catherine has smoldered as ominously and impotently as its politics for years, but lately things seem to be heating up. Mitchell Wilson, an American expatriate and economist for the Ministry show more of Agriculture, becomes unwittingly embroiled in an internecine war between rival factions of the government. Into this potentially eruptive scene enters a woman, Johanna, whom Mitchell once loved and lost but who remains an enchanting and powerful temptation - one he will not resist." "At once a beguiling love story and a superbly sophisticated political novel about the fruits of imperialism in the twentieth century, Swimming in the Volcano is as brutally seductive a novel as the world it evokes. Triumphantly compassionate, and imbued with Shacochis's insight into human affairs that "ranks with the best of Conrad and Hemingway," here is a commanding performance by "one of the most talented young writers working in America today.""--Jacket. show lessTags
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I get whipsawed by the tragicomedy.
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National Book Award Finalists - Fiction
377 works; 12 members
Author Information
10+ Works 840 Members
Bob Shacochis is an American author and journalist. He was born in Pennsylvania on September 9, 1951, and grew up in McLean Virginia. He was educated at the University of Missouri, and the Iowa Writer's Workshop at the University of Iowa. He currently teaches creative writing at Florida State University. Shacochis's first collection of stories, show more Easy in the Islands won the National Book Award for first work of fiction. His second collection, The Next New World was awarded the Prix de Rome from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His novel, Swimming in the Volcano was a finalist for the 1993 National Book Award. Shacochis has been a contributing editor for Outside and Harper's, and has been a columnist and writer for several national publications, including GQ magazine. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Original publication date
- 1993
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- Members
- 94
- Popularity
- 342,329
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.17)
- Languages
- English, French
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 4
