Among the Swamp People: Life in Alabama's Mobile-Tensaw River Delta First Edition, Edition Contributor(s): Key, Watt (Author), Mercer, Kelan (Illustrator) |
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ISBN: 081735932X ISBN-13: 9780817359324 Publisher: University Alabama Press
WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD! Click here for our low price guarantee Binding Type: Paperback Published: April 2018 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Nature | Ecosystems & Habitats - Lakes, Ponds & Swamps - Nature | Essays - Biography & Autobiography | Literary Figures |
Dewey: 976.121 |
Physical Information: 0.6" H x 6" W x 8" L (0.61 lbs) 208 pages |
Themes: - Geographic Orientation - Alabama - Cultural Region - Southeast U.S. - Cultural Region - South |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Colorful and lively personal essays about life in the wilds of Alabama's Mobile-Tensaw River Delta Among the Swamp People is the story of author Watt Key's discovery of the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta. "The swamp" consists of almost 260,000 acres of wetlands located just north of Mobile Bay. There he leases a habitable outcropping of land and constructs a primitive cabin from driftwood to serve as a private getaway. His story is one that chronicles the beauties of the delta's unparalleled natural wonders, the difficulties of survival within it, and an extraordinary community of characters--by turns generous and violent, gracious and paranoid, hilarious and reckless--who live, thrive, and perish there. There is no way into the delta except by small boat. To most it would appear a maze of rivers and creeks between stunted swamp trees and mud. Key observes that there are few places where one can step out of a boat without "sinking to the knees in muck the consistency of axle grease. It is the only place I know where gloom and beauty can coexist at such extremes. And it never occurred to me that a land seemingly so bleak could hide such beauty and adventure." It also chronicles Key's maturation as a writer, from a twenty-five-year-old computer programmer with no formal training as a writer to a highly successful, award-winning writer of fiction for a young adult audience with three acclaimed novels published to date. In learning to make a place for himself in the wild, as in learning to write, Key's story is one of "hoping someone--even if just myself--would find value in my creations." |
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