Reviews
Olsen makes you feel the impact the eruption had on the landscape and the people and makes you look around at our gorgeous surroundings with a renewed respect and awe.... I did think about my experience years ago reading The Perfect Storm and how that book really transcended its regionality. It seems like this has potential to do the same., As Steve Olson reminds us in his vividly reported new history . . . what happened on May 18, 1980, in the primordial thickets of the Pacific Northwest, was an enormous, multi-faceted event. . . This engaging book maneuvers deftly along the way toward impact., Olson and his truly groundbreaking Eruption join a rarefied pantheon, where readers can come to understand the most dramatic geological event of our time. This book, as welcome as it is amazing in the depth of its background and the strength of its storytelling, will stand as a stirring and stilling accomplishment., This first-class, meticulously crafted piece of reportage was as exciting as it was informative--and will long stand as a classic of descriptive narrative of the biggest American volcanic eruption of all our lifetimes--or so we all hope!, Olson makes you feel the impact the eruption had on the landscape and the people and makes you look around at our gorgeous surroundings with a renewed respect and awe.... I did think about my experience years ago reading The Perfect Storm and how that book really transcended its regionality. It seems like this has potential to do the same., Steve Olson has brought new dimensions to my experience of the mountain.... [He] masterfully delineates the personal histories, cultural assumptions, values, visions, and preconceptions that were brought to bear on the mountain that day. He has the gift of clarity and an enviable ability to find and make drama, present the human narrative, and engage his readers on multiple levels., Both illuminating and entertaining, in theory Eruption is a book about the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, but like all good non-fiction contains so much more. I didn't expect to learn about the forestry and the railroad industries or the history of the Forest Service and environmental conservancy in the Pacific Northwest. [Books like Eruption] change the way you look at the world around you and leave you curious to learn more. Obviously this will be a strong PNW title, but it also deals with universal themes that will appeal to readers all over the country., A first-class, meticulously crafted piece of reportage that is as exciting as it is informative--and will long stand as a classic of descriptive narrative of the biggest American volcanic eruption of all our lifetimes--or so we all hope!, In his evocative and convincing new book, author Steve Olson reveals that the eruption--the most powerful natural disaster to ever strike the US--is much more than a horror show....He has a bigger picture in mind, one of the eruption's role as a touchstone for an evolving society and natural world., Vividly retells the story of the May 1980 disaster and questions whether more might have been done to keep the 57 people who died out of harm's way., Olson brings cinematic structure to descriptions of the events surrounding the eruption of Mount St. Helens....[A] detailed and human-centered look at a terrible disaster., I loved Steve Olson's Eruption. I felt as if I was reading a script with fade-ins of biographical info of the mountain, alternating with hard science, personal stories and a palpable current of anguish.... Though I chose villains, and others will, too, no-one is pure, proving once again the extremes of human greed and arrogance and fear., In Mr. Olson's telling, [the survivors'] stories read like urgent fiction....These vignettes lend a human face to an event that has become associated largely with geology., Olsen makes you feel the impact the eruption had on the landscape and the people and makes you look around at our gorgeous surrounds with a renewed respect and awe.... I did think about my experience years ago reading The Perfect Storm and how that book really transcended its regionality. It seems like this has potential to do the same., This book is so spectacular that I can't stop reading it, even though I should be reading books that are already out, or due out soon, or even writing publisher orders. But I can't tear myself away. Of course, this book is right up my alley: historical narrative nonfiction that meanders down various related paths. The author has done a masterful job--an A+!!, Steve Olson has brought new dimensions to my experience of the mountain. [He] masterfully delineates the personal histories, cultural assumptions, values, visions, and preconceptions that were brought to bear on the mountain that day. He has the gift of clarity and an enviable ability to find and make drama, present the human narrative, and engage his readers on multiple levels., Olson intercuts stories of victims including David Johnston, the volcanologist who was monitoring the explosion, with an account of its impact on science--such as popularizing the use of lidar. With 1,500 potentially active volcanoes worldwide, this is an urgent reminder of the need for advances in the field., Eruption is everything a non-fiction book should be. Marvelous storytelling mixed with a great cast of characters, fascinating science and little-known history. Anyone with even a passing interest in the Pacific Northwest or volcanoes will love this book. I read it in three long, satisfying gulps, and like all great books its stories linger in the mind long after you've read the last page.
