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Title: The Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators, and the Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier
ISBN: 0143035347
Author:
Colin Woodard
Publicate Date: 2005-04-26
Publish: 2005-04-26
List Price: $16.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $7.25
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $2.36
Amazon Merchant Price: $10.88
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Great reporting.
Mr. Woodard takes on a large task wearing three distinct hats here: the historian, the environmentalist and finally the passionate insider. He approaches this project as a native son of a small isolated costal community and this experience frames the project and gives the reader access to what appears to be a closed world to those of us 'from away', in my case being far away in New York City.
The first half of the book explores the history of the Maine coast and provides a very interesting examination of the extremely difficult and often treacherous existence of the first settlers of the Maine coast. It's all documented in a thoroughly readable fashion: the first fishing colonies, settlers behaving badly towards the Native American communities, the rebelliousness of the settlers directed at the often unwanted influence from the southern New England colonists.
The writing is engaging, with just enough detail for the non-historian reader, with plenty of references appended.
The second part for the book deals with ecological concerns: the over-fishing in the Gulf of Maine and subsequent destruction of the fishing stock, the rise of lobstering and current issues confronting the remaining coastal fisherman as they attempt to mainatin their traditional livelihood while protecting the lobster population.
The last chapter addresses the profound challenges of gentrification of the coastal communities and touches briefly on community planning issues. I would have like to see this part of the book expanded, perhaps at the expense of some of the oceanographic details.
I approached this book as a seasonal visitor who has returned to Mt Desert Island almost annually since 1978 and also spent some time in York county vacationing. This book showed me how those two areas of the coast have very different histories, economic challenges and development issues.
I'm sure that when I return to the coast next summer, I will be seeing the people and places I visit with a much more informed and nuanced perspective. Of course, I will always be 'from away' but will now understand my place and how I am seen by the natives much more clearly.
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2: Superlative!
This is an absolute must read for any Maineac like me. Highly readable. Written with style, grace, flair and humor. The total opposite of a dense historical tome. Full of fascinating history. Quite wonderful.
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3: Maine History
This book is a page turner I couldn't put down. Beautifully written, it does a thorough job of concisely telling the history of coastal Maine and, by so doing, gives us a start on the history of New England. It takes us from the earliest settlers to today, and even if one has, as I have, lived on the coast of Maine for close to 40 years, one can learn from the book. Put it together with "Islanders" by Virginia Thorndike, and you have a picture of one of the last best places on earth. Please don't let these books persuade you to move here!
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4: The Lobster Coast....
is a all encompassing look at mid coast Maine, both present day and historically. It took me back to High School US history and made the French Indian wars come alive. Hear about modern day lobster pirates from of all places, "Friendship" invading a small island's lobster fields.
Look ahead for what is in store for a severely depleted fishery
then chuckle when a hidden camera reveals the secret life of lobster and captor. Great read, it belongs in your Maine libary.
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5: More Than Meets the Eye
After finishing the first short section, my first thought was that the book was a bit of a lightweight -- at best, a paperback to read while flying across the Atlantic. But when I got to the second section which filled in many of the historical gaps -- particularly the "why's" -- from Elizabethan England to the Pilgrims to the modern era, I realized how interesting this book really was. Anyone who enjoys travelogues will enjoy this book; perhaps you need to have visited Maine at least once or have some connection to the state, but if you do read it, you will learn much more about the history of the western world than the title suggests.
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