ISBN: 1557289999 9781557289995

Category: Literary Collections / Essays

Page count: 308

<p>Laurence Gonzales began his successful publishing career in 1989 with the publication of <i>The Still Point</i> and later <i>The Hero’s Apprentice</i> (1994), both with the University of Arkansas Press. From these collections of essays he went on to write for renowned magazines in addition to publishing several books, including the best selling <i>Deep Survival</i>. His journalism garnered two National Magazine Awards, and his latest nonfiction book, <i>Surviving Survival</i>, was named by <i>Kirkus</i> as one of the best books of 2012.</p> <p>This new collection of essays shows us the sometimes hair-raising, sometimes heart-wrenching writing that Gonzales has become known for. This “compelling and trustworthy guide” (<i>Booklist</i>) takes us from a maximum-security prison to a cancer ward, from a mental institution to the World Trade Center. Among the essays included is “Marion Prison,” a National Magazine Award finalist, with its intimate view inside the most maximum security prison in America. “House of Pain” takes the reader into the life of a brain surgeon at Chicago’s Cook County Hospital, a grim world that few ever see. “Rites of Spring,” another National Magazine Award finalist, follows Gonzales and his wife on their journey through cancer, not once, but twice.</p> <p>Other stories venture above the Arctic Circle, flying deep into the Alaskan wilderness among grizzly bears and trumpeter swans; explore aerobatics in high-performance aircraft; and eulogize Memphis and Miami as American cities that mourn their fates in uniquely different ways.</p>