The true story of the US Forest Service's firefighters, the Smokejumpers, who parachuted into a remote forest fire in Montana on August 5th 1949. Three hours later, twelve of them were dead or fatally burned.
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The true story of the US Forest Service's firefighters, the Smokejumpers, who parachuted into a remote forest fire in Montana on August 5th 1949. Three hours later, twelve of them were dead or fatally burned.
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Seller's Description:
Good. Good condition. Good dust jacket. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains. Bundled media such as CDs, DVDs, floppy disks or access codes may not be included.
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Seller's Description:
Acceptable. Hardcover The item is fairly worn but still readable. Signs of wear include aesthetic issues such as scratches, worn covers, damaged binding. The item may have identifying markings on it or show other signs of previous use. May have page creases, creased spine, bent cover or markings inside. Packed with care, shipped promptly.
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Seller's Description:
Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used textbooks may not include companion materials such as access codes, etc. May have some wear or limited writing/highlighting. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Seller's Description:
Very Good in Very Good jacket. 8vo. xiv, 301pp, bw ills. Or boards in jacket. Near new. In August 1949 a crew of 15 Smokejumpers parachuted into the Montana wilderness-less than 2 hours later all but 3 of them were dead or fatally burned. Here, finally, a master storyteller gives the Mann Gulch fire its due as tragedy.
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Seller's Description:
Near Fine in Near Fine jacket. pp.301 clean tight copy minuscule edge and corner wear d/j price slipped frontpiece has top cut off where former owner name was Size: 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall.
I was an English major in college (before I switched to computer science), so I had to read a LOT of books. I still read about 100 books a year. Of all the books I have ever read, this one is my favorite. The author, Normal MacLean, was an English professor and only wrote two books, A River Runs Through It and this one. This book is a true story about the death of a group of expert firefighters in the famous Mann Gulch fire. MacLean had been a firefighter in his youth, and he took his time on this book, to make sure he got all the details just right. He thought of it as a kind of a mystery - why did these experts die? - so he tells the story as a mystery story. He gives you a clue early on, and if you understood the significance of it, you could figure things out for yourself, but (unless you are a firefighter) your probably won't know what the clue tells you. So Maclean takes you through all of the facts that he discovered, and you gradually come to know more and more. Finally, he returns to the clue that he gave you early on, and now, and the end of the story, its significance jumps out at you. Wow! You finally understand! Simply GREAT writing.
TENLEY T
Nov 8, 2012
Excellent clean condition
No disappointment here,was very happy with all aspects of this purchase
ebwhite
Jul 22, 2010
Will change your life
Every great artist must confront death, and the tragic form is the ultimate means of doing so. Norman MacLean was a scholar of that as a professor at the U of Chicago for many years. After he retired and the death of his wife, he wrote his first tragedy, a paean and eulogy to the memory of his younger brother, Paul, "A River Runs Through It". Eloquent, both painful and humorous, It quickly became a modern classic. MacLean spent the remainder of his elderly life researching this story, and the mystery, of the tragic death of a number of young fire jumpers in 1949 in Montana. It is part detective story, part study of the mathematics of forest fire, but ultimately a non-fiction tragedy where his art turns the, all to often, catastrophe (another Greek word) of loss into personal, deeply meaningful, tragedy and ultimately redemption. It is the greater tragedy because MacLean died before completing it. I cannot begin to give it high enough praise.
