Cold Running River (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780472082384)

At a mere glance, Cold Running River has obvious regional and environmental appeal, but it goes far beyond those interests. Besides the fact that the Pere Marquette is a well-known, National Scenic River, and besides the fact that ecosystem management is a monumentally important and far-reaching topic, this book happens to read like a cold river runs: fast, refreshing, exuberant. It is special because David Cassuto has a beautiful way with the English language. Only he can make a chapter on lamprey eel infestation a gripping read. His style is so affecting, so warm, so "Norman Macleany"-you might be sitting on the river's bank, hearing the locals tell their tales of the river's history. That's what this book is: the river's history. It follows the miraculous course of the Pere Marquette: from its tumultuous glacial birth; to its devastation in the nineteenth century by unsustainable logging practices; to its recovery due to benign neglect. Cassuto approaches the river as both microcosm and metaphor; the controversies surrounding it speak to environmental and human dilemmas the world over.

Author: David Nathan Cassuto
ISBN-10: 0472082388
ISBN-13: 9780472082384
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Language: English
Published: 01/01/1994
Pages: 162
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.61lbs
Size: 9.01h x 6.02w x 0.56d

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 01/15/1994 pg. 895
Library Journal 01/01/1994 pg. 106
Publishers Weekly 01/03/1994 pg. 79
Library Journal 02/01/1994