★ 04/02/2018
Travel writer Adams (Meet Me in Atlantis) wonderfully recounts, and emulates, the 1899 voyage organized by railroad tycoon Edward Harriman to survey the coast of Alaska. Using the writings of Harriman and his team of natural scientists—including John Muir, at that time the leading writer on the “relatively new” subject of wilderness protection—Adams follows along the Harriman expedition’s trail to compare what it found during its two-month, 3,000-mile adventure to present-day Alaska. Making “every important stop” that the Harriman team did, Adams details the state’s natural beauty, as well as the changes that have taken place since. For example, the town of Ketchikan, which in 1899 consisted only of a salmon cannery and a few buildings, is now Alaska’s sixth-largest city, and Yakutat, whose “total isolation” had made it known for “attracting the most extreme dropouts,” is now Alaska’s “unlikely surf capital.” He also gives an excellent account of the history and impact of the oil industry and climate change on Alaska: “The thinning ice that promises a potential boom for Nome’s economy and global shipping companies dooms Shismaref to near-certain disaster.” Adams gives readers an eye-opening look at the past and present history of a fascinating region. Agent: Daniel Greenberg: Levine, Greenberg, Rostan Literary. (May)
Great nonfiction . . . takes a topic you thought you knew well and makes it new again. . . . [Adams’s] storytelling is guaranteed to make you want to get off your beach towel and book passage somewhere in the great wild north.”
—Outside
“A literary companion to Google Earth.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Adams gives readers an eye-opening look at the past and present history of a fascinating region.”
—Publishers Weekly(starred review)
“Adams writes with his signature sense of humor, but shows a real sense of respect for the sometimes odd people who populate the Last Frontier.”
—Los Angeles Times
“[Adams’s] writing illuminates this massive and magical land, and will have you booking your next trip ASAP.”
—Fodor's Travel
"Tip of the Iceberg, with its fresh descriptive writing, strong character development, and presentation of contemporary Alaska within a historical framework, is a valuable contribution to our state's literature. Long-time Alaskans as well as newcomers and visitors will find much to appreciate here.”—Anchorage Daily News
“Armchair travelers, Alaskan history buffs, and anyone who just wants a solid, involving adventure read will relish the 'you are there' atmosphere created through Mark Adams's journeys.”
—Midwest Review of Books
“A captivating true story . . . Featuring lush descriptive writing and an unusual cast of characters you won't soon forget.”
—Bustle
“A fascinating journey through Alaska.”
—New York Post
“[An] informative and entertaining history-cum-travelogue.”
—Shelf Awareness
“An eye-opener.”
—People
"A pleasing mix of travelogue and history, and the many colorful characters—human and otherwise—keep the pages turning."
—Charleston City Paper
“Tourists will certainly enjoy reading about both the past and the present, and the breezy, self-deprecating tone makes for an obvious vacation diversion.”
—Booklist
“An entertaining and informative trip around Alaska’s coastline.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Whether you’ve already fallen in love with Alaska, or simply intend to in the future, Tip of the Iceberg was written for you. Mark Adams is an adventurous traveler’s ideal guide to the breathtaking natural history—and colorful human history—of one of America’s most fascinating corners.”
—Susan Casey, author of Voices in the Ocean: A Journey into the Wild and Haunting World of Dolphins
“With Tip of the Iceberg, Mark Adams gave me, in spades, what I always hope to find in a book: the chance to effortlessly learn something extraordinary. I was constantly laughing, shaking my head in astonishment, and trying to slow down so I wouldn’t finish it too fast. Some of my favorite people show up in this book, from John Muir to John Burroughs, but Adams himself may be the most unforgettable character.”
—Candice Millard, author of Hero of the Empire
“Tip of the Iceberg radiates a warmth we don't usually associate with up north. Adams finds nuggets of gold everywhere, and spins a story as expansive as Alaska itself.”
—Sam Kean, author of Caesar’s Last Breath
More Praise for Mark Adams
“The lively, skeptical but open-minded travel writer Mark Adams . . . takes readers along to four plausible sites, without quackery and with a contagious spirit of curiosity, interviewing scores of experts and fanatics, and painting pictures that will make even the most levelheaded traveler yearn to repeat his fantastic itinerary.”
—The New York Times Book Review on Meet Me in Atlantis
“Few mythical places exert a more powerful pull on the imagination than Atlantis, and here the fabled lost city has found its perfect chronicler. Adventurous, inquisitive, and mirthful, Mark Adams gamely sifts through the eons of rumor, science, and lore to find a place that, in the end, seems startlingly real indeed—like a vivid dream surfacing from the weird and murky depths of human consciousness.”
—New York Times bestselling author Hampton Sides on Meet Me in Atlantis
“Always entertaining, Meet Me in Atlantis also introduces a significant amount of Platonic philosophy and devotes generous space to legitimate archaeology like that in Akrotiri. Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect is Adams’s knack for clever descriptions of places and people.”
—The Daily Beast on Meet Me in Atlantis
“A serious (and seriously funny) travelogue, a smart and tightly written history, and an investigative report into perhaps the greatest archaeological discovery in the last century.”
—National Geographic on Turn Right at Machu Picchu
“Adams deftly weaves together Inca history, Bingham's story, and his own less heroic escapade. . . . Those favoring a quirkier retelling [of Bingham's exploits] will relish Mr. Adams's wry, revealing romp through the Andes.”
—The Wall Street Journal on Turn Right at Machu Picchu
“With a healthy sense of humor . . . Adams unearths a fascinating story, transporting his readers back to 1911, when Yale professor Hiram Bingham III hiked the Andes and stumbled upon one of South America's most miraculous and cloistered meccas.”
—NPR.org on Turn Right at Machu Picchu
04/01/2018
In 1899, railroad magnate Edward H. Harriman organized a summer voyage into wild Alaska. He converted a steamship into a luxury "floating university," sailing north with some of America's best-known scientists and writers, including Sierra Club founder John Muir, who'd visited Alaska several times before and was considered an expert on its glaciers but was initially uncertain about joining Harriman owing to their political differences. Travel writer Adams (Meet Me in Atlantis) retraces the Harriman expedition via the state's intricate public ferry system and the Alaska Marine Highway. More than 100 years later, Alaska maintains its sublime wilderness, attracting millions of tourists yearly, who take Inside Passage cruises, docking in remote, picturesque Alaskan towns flanked by snow-capped peaks. Adams travels 3,000 miles, following the Harriman itinerary through the Inside Passage and continuing into the Aleutians and the Arctic Circle. He compares the accounts of the Harriman expedition to what he uncovers on his own journey. Along the way, he encounters the state's eclectic population, including its well-known bears. VERDICT Recommended for general readers interested in Alaska's environment and history. [See Prepub Alert, 12/4/17.]—Gary Medina, El Camino Coll., Torrance, CA
2018-02-13
An entertaining and informative trip around Alaska's coastline, one man's "event of a lifetime."Adventure writer and journalist Adams (Meet Me in Atlantis: My Quest to Find the Sunken City, 2015, etc.) returns to the successful narrative strategy he employed in his previous books, melding history and travel writing in a winning combination. Here, he follows in the footsteps of Edward H. Harriman's 1899 expedition to northern Alaska. The Union Pacific tycoon refitted a steamship and invited a who's who of "extraordinary gentlemen" to accompany him, including John Muir, John Burroughs, George Bird Grinnell, C. Hart Merriam, and a young photographer, Edward Curtis, "who had guided Merriam and Grinnell to safety after they'd gotten lost while hiking on Mount Rainier in 1898." Adams journeyed alone, making his way to Bellingham, Washington, to board the Kennicott, setting out by sea, air, and land on Alaska's 3,000-mile Marine Highway. The author is a terrific guide and an even better historian. Chapters juxtapose his and the 1899 expedition members' experiences at each stop, from Anchorage and Haines to Nome and "Land's End," remote Shishmaref, located 30 miles south of the Arctic Circle on "a long sandbar, an elongated peanut two and a half miles long and less than a half mile wide at its narrow waist." There, a resident told Adams that the "seasons have changed" and that "it's taking longer for the ocean to freeze. Traditionally, it freezes in October. Last year it froze in January." This environmental theme runs throughout the narrative. Alaska's "frozen kingdom," writes the author, is "dissolving like a popsicle in the sun." In Gustavus (pop. 434), a golf course is "on land that had been underwater during the Harriman Expedition." Because of "isostatic rebound," the melting ice in Glacier Bay makes formerly depressed land rise up. Adams populates his story with hilarious tales and revealing encounters with guides, scientists, and a couple frisky brown bears.Simultaneously uplifting, inspiring, and dispiriting.
Plug Mark Adams into your ears as he travels Alaska, retracing the steps of the Edward Harriman expedition in 1899. Adams is a genial, informative, and amusing guide, both as an author and a narrator. Harriman refitted a ship and took all his famous friends—John Muir, George Bird Grinnell, and Edward Curtis, just for starters—to explore the west coast of North America up to the Arctic Circle. Adams uses ferries and small planes, rides a bike with a bell in isolated areas where bears roam, hires a guide to kayak in Glacier Bay to keep safe from bears, and gets endlessly bitten by bugs. He is a city slicker, so his experiences of life in isolated areas are wryly funny, but he obviously likes people. Warming winters and disappearing glaciers are more serious observations. A.B. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Plug Mark Adams into your ears as he travels Alaska, retracing the steps of the Edward Harriman expedition in 1899. Adams is a genial, informative, and amusing guide, both as an author and a narrator. Harriman refitted a ship and took all his famous friends—John Muir, George Bird Grinnell, and Edward Curtis, just for starters—to explore the west coast of North America up to the Arctic Circle. Adams uses ferries and small planes, rides a bike with a bell in isolated areas where bears roam, hires a guide to kayak in Glacier Bay to keep safe from bears, and gets endlessly bitten by bugs. He is a city slicker, so his experiences of life in isolated areas are wryly funny, but he obviously likes people. Warming winters and disappearing glaciers are more serious observations. A.B. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
