Publishers Weekly
04/24/2023
More than 2,000 shipwrecks have been caused by the “collision of tide and current” that occurs where the Columbia River, which forms much of the border between Washington and Oregon, empties into the Pacific Ocean, according to this immersive mix of history and travelogue. Journalist Sullivan (Untouchable) centers the narrative on his attempt to cross the Columbia River Bar, the area where ships make the dangerous transition between river and ocean, in a kayak. Interwoven with the weather analysis, safety training, and strategic mapping Sullivan and his friend Ray did in the months before they turned 70 to prepare for the journey are insights into how Clatsop tribespeople made the passage in “immense, sixty-five-foot-long canoes that could carry more than fifty paddlers” and accounts of the many ships and sailors lost to the waterway’s unpredictable tides, towering waves, and hidden sandbars. Even modern freighters rely on specially trained bar pilots” to guide them through the area, Sullivan notes. Driven by “a wish for some unpronounceable rite of passage that could only happen in the late stage of life,” Sullivan and Ray, both survivors of childhood abuse, viewed their mission “as a salvage operation, one involving the recovery of something lost in childhood and reconciliation with the ghosts of our fathers.” Vividly evoking Sullivan’s deep fascination with the Pacific Northwest and thirst for friendship and adventure, this is a thrill ride. (June)
From the Publisher
Praise for Graveyard of the Pacific:
“Vividly evoking Sullivan’s deep fascination with the Pacific Northwest and thirst for friendship and adventure, this is a thrill ride.” —Publishers Weekly
“A riveting story of maritime tragedies and a personal passage… It is Sullivan’s gripping, vividly detailed accounts of nautical disasters at the Columbia Bar that make the book such an achievement… The author’s personal story—from growing up with an abusive father to his 2021 attempt to cross the Bar by trimaran—courses through the book like an intermittent current… A strikingly rendered tale of the hard and lasting costs of courage.” —Kirkus (starred review)
“The point where the Columbia River spills into the Pacific Ocean has long been known as the ‘Graveyard of the Pacific’ for all the deadly shipwrecks that have occurred there over the centuries... Sullivan challenges himself to traverse these turbid waters in a fragile trimaran… Defying nature’s fury, Sullivan also faces down his own demons… Ultimately, the struggle to cross both physical and emotional bars defines for Sullivan manhood in the contemporary world.” – Booklist
SEPTEMBER 2023 -- AudioFile
If listeners are initially disoriented by this audio, it's because the title is deceptive: It's as much a memoir as it is maritime history. This split personality is emphasized by the narration of Lynch Travis, who is much more comfortable with the personal elements of the story. Author Sullivan and a friend embark in a kayak on a perilous journey over the Columbia River Bar, which becomes a metaphor for the struggles they both faced living with abusive fathers. Travis recounts these reflections with emotion and warmth, giving them real power. However, his slow pace and occasional stumbles are less convincing in the well-researched sections that chronicle the region's history as a swallower of ships and sailors. D.B. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2023-03-11
A riveting story of maritime tragedies and a personal passage.
The Columbia River, writes Oregon-based journalist and former Rolling Stone contributing editor Sullivan, is “the most vital natural feature west of the Rocky Mountains.” He continues, “only the Missouri/Mississippi system exceeds it in annual runoff, and there are years when the Columbia’s flow is greater….The Columbia is unique among all rivers of the world…in the combination of its close proximity to the ocean and the tall mountain ranges that feed it all along the way there.” But it is the Columbia Bar, site of the river’s harrowing collision with the sea, that earned it the sobriquet “Graveyard of the Pacific.” In the fascinating introduction, the author chronicles the geological origins of the Columbia and its many tributaries and torturous route to the sea. Yet it is Sullivan’s gripping, vividly detailed accounts of nautical disasters at the Columbia Bar that make the book such an achievement for the three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee. The author digs deep to recount the most famous disasters at the Bar from the 18th to the 20th centuries, punctuating them with skillfully distilled biographies of notable figures of this period. The author’s personal story—from growing up with an abusive father to his 2021 attempt to cross the Bar by trimaran—courses through the book like an intermittent current. Well written and affecting, it risks becoming a mere framing device—until the compelling final chapter. Clearly, Sullivan wants to offer more than a dramatic historical account of shipwrecks and rescue operations, including his narrative of the hoped-for catharsis of a 69-year-old adventurer. In a touching coda about his friend and fellow sailor, their exploits, and their shared survival from lifelong traumas, the author finds a path to reconciliation and a reaffirmation of manhood that defies our caustic modern labels.
A strikingly rendered tale of the hard and lasting costs of courage.
