The Great Alaska Earthquake, Genie Chance, and the Shattered City She Held Toget
paperback, 336 pages
Published March 16, 2021 by Random House Trade Paperbacks.
I LOVE Jon Moallem’s essays, but this just wasn’t what I was looking for. It goes very deep into the personalities of a few characters, and what I really wanted was a non-fiction book about the Alaska earthquake. I wanted more detail about historical events, and what I got was a lot of detail about Genie Chance and her fellow Anchorage residents. Ultimately, I just got bored.
"Information is a form of comfort."
For anyone who has lived through a major disaster of any sort, this is a great read. Even if you haven't been through an earthquake specifically, there's enough parallels for what comes immediately after that you'll find a lot to identify with. This book opens with an innocuous town event held a month before the earthquake hit. You meet a lot of the main players early on, and are provided with a thoughtful introduction for each by the author. While ultimately an informative piece about one of the worst earthquakes ever, the story is presented in such a way that you feel like you're there with the characters in the room or on the road which made it an engaging read. Even the one-off people who play an important but short-lived role are given short "where are they now" summaries outlining highlights of their …
"Information is a form of comfort."
For anyone who has lived through a major disaster of any sort, this is a great read. Even if you haven't been through an earthquake specifically, there's enough parallels for what comes immediately after that you'll find a lot to identify with. This book opens with an innocuous town event held a month before the earthquake hit. You meet a lot of the main players early on, and are provided with a thoughtful introduction for each by the author. While ultimately an informative piece about one of the worst earthquakes ever, the story is presented in such a way that you feel like you're there with the characters in the room or on the road which made it an engaging read. Even the one-off people who play an important but short-lived role are given short "where are they now" summaries outlining highlights of their life after the earthquake, which I appreciated. Highly recommend giving this book a Chance (ha) when it comes out.
Disclaimer: I received a free ARC of this book through Goodreads Giveaways.
