Overview

When journalist Jessica DuLong ditched her dotcom desk job to ply the waters of the Hudson River as engineer of a rusty antique fireboat, she found a taste of home in a maritime community that was quickly disappearing. In this heartfelt and marvelously illuminating book, she weaves together stories of life on the water with tales from Hudson Valley history.

Published to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's historic voyage up the river that bears his name, My River Chronicles is a journey with an extraordinary guide. Once Jessica DuLong started toiling in the engine room of Fireboat John J. Harvey, she never looked back. The more time she spent with the boat's finely crafted machinery, the more she wondered what America is losing in our shift away from hands-on work. Her service pumping water to fight blazes at Ground Zero following the September 11, 2001 attacks reinforced in her mind the importance of blue-collar skills. Masterfully grounding her own experiences with narratives from the river's rich history, she introduces us to seventeenth-century explorers, nineteenth-century canal builders, and a cast of present-day characters--including a salvage diver hunting sunken tugboats, a foundryman who casts iron in the old way, and a distiller who crafts bourbon from local corn--that reminds us how colorful and dynamic the Hudson continues to be. What emerges is a celebration of labor (and leisure) from a woman who straddles blue-collar and white-collar worlds and turns a phrase as deftly as she does a wrench.

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9781416586982

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If you've ever wondered what we're missing by sitting at computers in cubicles all day, follow Jessica DuLong when she loses her desk job and embarks on this unlikely but fantastic voyage. Deeply original, riveting to read, and soul-bearingly honest, My River Chronicles is a surprisingly infectious romance about a young woman falling in love with a muscle-y old boat. As DuLong learns to navigate her way through a man's world of tools and engines, and across the swirling currents of a temperamental river, her book also becomes a love letter to a nation. In tune with the challenges of our times, DuLong reminds us of the skills and dedication that built America, and inspires us to renew ourselves once again. - Trevor Corson, author of The Story of Sushi and The Secret Life of Lobsters

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