Book Review
Title
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Denali: A Literary Anthology
Edited by Bill Sherwonit
Who must have this book: Anyone who wants to
add color to their trip to Denali National Park.
Who should have this book: Anyone who loves
Denali National Park.
ISBN: 089886710X
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I
picked this book up in Anchorage before a four-day stay in Denali
and read the first few chapters in and around Wonder Lake. I don’t
know that I would recommend spending any time in the park reading
but definitely think about reading this before visiting. The twenty-five
stories collected here are a great group of legends, adventures, and
explorations of the area that really can add to your stay in Denali.
The stories include many classic texts from some of the key people
in Denali history including James Wickersham, Charles Sheldon, Bradford
Washburn, and Adolf Murie. If nothing else, this book added several
new books to my wish list at amazon.com. And most of the stories come
from before the time of visitor centers, vending machines and crowds.
Read this story, then walk away from the park road and you will find
yourself very close to the days of old.
I would recommend this book to any reader who is planning
on visiting the park. It does add some color to your visit.
Overview
The book starts with a very short overview of the parks
history by Bill Sherwonit. It does a good job of giving a basic understanding
of the history and lay of the park. This is followed by a three native
Alaskan stories of the mountain. The third section holds four stories
from the age of early exploration from such notables as William Dickey
and Charles Sheldon. All of these excerpts give a good historical
backdrop for the Mountain and park area.
The fourth section of the book contains stories of climbing the mountain.
The selections are great for telling the story of Denali mountaineering
and contain the key classics from Cook’s climbing hoax to an
excerpt from -148 degrees about the first successful winter ascent
of McKinley.
The Fifth section is about the natural history of the area where five
pieces were put together to represent different species such as wolverine,
wolf, moose and of course bear.
The book raps up with five modern day adventures in the area. The
best thing about this section is that it shows that adventure and
discovery are not done in Denali. Even on a small scale, you or your
family can easily have a great adventure of discovery in the park,
just get off the road and hike beyond a hill.
Author
Bill Sherwonit is a veteran Alaskan writer who has numerous
books to his credit including; Denali:
the Complete Guide, To the Top of Denali,
Denali: a Literary Anthology, Iditarod: the Race to Nome, Wood-Tikchik:
Alaska’s Largest State Park, Alaska’s Accessible Wilderness
and many more. Also he teaches writing at the University of Alaska
Anchorage.
Other books by the Author
