Book Review
Title
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Working on the Edge
by Spike Walker
Who must have this book: Anyone who is interested
in the Alaskan crab fishing industry - the world's most dangerous
occupation.
Who should have this book: Anyone who like
survival stories with men facing danger and hardship.
ISBN: 0312089244
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Unfortunately,
this book is now out of print. Thanks to the Discovery channels shows
like The Deadliest Job in the World and their Deadliest Seas series,
the career is getting exposure. This book puts you into the xxxxx
of the crab fishermen themselves and lets you know exactly what it
is like to work the crab pots in the middle of the Bering Sea.
The author does a great job of weaving his personal experiences with
the history and danger of the King Crab rush from 1976 to 1980. His
personal story is a great insight into the life of a crab fisherman
and he blends the stories of other fishermen and captains into his
narrative creating a very full picture of what it was like during
this boom years. Many sections are the result of interviews with fishermen
who survived tragedies aboard other boats, many of which the author
witnessed over the radio, listening to the maydays of doomed vessels.
The book stands as a time capsule to these few years when it was possible
for a hardworking, or just plain lucky, man to earn over $100,000
in two months. King Crabs became the new gold rush for Alaska and
much of this story echoes the stories of the gold rush. Men flocked
to Kodiak and Dutch Harbor to get a piece of the action, and just
like the gold rush, money that came easily was spent just as easily.
Every gold rush cliché could fit this story just as well.
This really is a fantastic book for anyone who has any interest in
the Alaskan crab fishing fleet. Check out Amazon, it is still possible
to get used copies. Hopefully it will come back into print as interest
builds. .
Author
Spike Walker is the Larry Kaniut of the Alaskan commercial
fishing industry. His book Working
on the Edge does a great job of describing the Alaskan
crab fishing industry. This other books include Coming
Back Alive and Nights of Ice.
Other books by the Author
