Red Summer: The Danger, Madness, and Exaltation of Salmon Fishing in a Remote Alaskan Village | 
 enlarge | Author: Bill Carter
Publisher: Scribner
Category: EBooks
List Price: $17.99
Buy New: $9.99
You Save: $8.00 (44%)
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 34686
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Dewey Decimal Number: 597
ASIN: B0018PCIH4
Publication Date: May 13, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
A vivid, unforgettable account of the danger, pain, and joy of working on a salmon fishing boat and living in a small village on the farthest edge of AlaskaSet in the tiny Native village of Egegik on the shores of Alaska's Bristol Bay, Bill Carter's Red Summer is the thrilling story of one man's journey from novice to seasoned fisherman over the course of four beautiful, brutal summers in one of the earth's few remaining wild places. As millions of salmon race toward their annual spawning grounds, Carter learns the ancient, backbreaking trade of the set net fisherman, one of the most exhilarating and dangerous jobs in the world.Housed in a dilapidated shack with no hot water and boarded-up windows that keep the bears at bay, Carter spends his days battling the elements on the river and his nights drinking whiskey with a memorable group of hardworking, hard-living characters. There's Sharon, the tough, charismatic woman who runs Carter's fishing crew; Carl, her stoic but warmhearted colleague; and a half-dozen local fishermen, many born and raised in this unforgiving place. Their stories -- harrowing, touching, full of humor -- all underscore the credo of the village's fishermen: Do the work or leave.Carter's crew is imperiled a number of times as tides rise, nets are snagged, and the weight of too many fish threatens to sink their boat. Written with gusto and honesty, Red Summer brims with astonishing human experience and joins the grand tradition of books written by great American outdoorsmen-writers such as Ernest Hemingway, Edward Abbey, Peter Matthiessen, and Sebastian Junger. Red Summer will appeal not only to fishermen, naturalists, adventurers, and armchair anthropologists alike but also to anyone who has ever yearned, however privately, to escape the bonds of modern civilization.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Red Summer: A Working Man's Review !!!! December 22, 2008
Buy this book immediately for your father. Much of America is based not in cities but in small rural communities where a man or woman's value is not measured in dollars and cents but in how hard that individual works. These are the backbone of America that split their own firewood to heat their home. Yes...the people that rototill, fertilize, and plant their own gardens for food. Young and old the people that conduct hard, brutal, day in day out physical labor. This book is the bible of those of us who work that hard. If you are a fan of the "Deadliest Catch" you will love this book. However unlike the "Deadliest Catch" this book is written by the individual that actually does the hard work...While this mind numbing labor takes place in just a few months it feeds families for an entire year. Add to this diary of back breaking fishing extremely insightful passages on the working man's view of the Green movement and global warming and you have a winner. When I purchased this book it was a classic case of don't judge a book by it's cover...This book is a keeper!!! Every book that I buy is passed on to others at some point...this book will be handed down to my daughters to be handed down to their daughters. It is that good !!!
 Sockeye Running: A primer on set netting July 24, 2008
For the beginning Bristol Bay net fisherman, this is a good book and it doesn't matter if you are going to be a boat based (drifter) or shore based (set netter). It gives a good flavor of the commitment, friendships and hardships faced by the set netters and adds a lot of personal characters traits to the plot. I drifted for a number of years and it provided me an insight into their side of the fishery and brought back a lot of good (and bad) memories. A good don't want to set it down kind of read that made it through our whole family. (Dave Neault)
Bill brought to life what few have ever experienced. July 17, 2008
I read Bill's book, "Red Summer" and did not put it down until I finished it. I have first-hand knowledge as to how I know Bill brought the characters and way of living to life; not because I was there but because Sharon, the main "character" is my cousin. He captured my cousins' (David and Ron as well) personalities and lives just as I have known them to be.
I knew my cousin Sharon chose a hard life after she and I graduated from high school (I went to college and she went fishing; this was 1979 and she has done so to this day) but I never knew just how hard that life was for her, and I never, ever heard a complaint about it.
Bill wrote of his life with Sharon as his captain, and with the folks of Egegik, in such a way that you feel as though you are right there with them all. He brings you in from the first page and you feel saddened at the end because you want to read more!
Thanks Bill for writing of your experiences so descriptively that I felt I had spent wonderful, miserable, exciting, tiring, and rewarding summers with my cousin.
- Barb
 Good Read As To The Action, the Rest is A Matter of Personal Taste July 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The book divides itself between the commercial salmon fishing trade, on the one hand, and environmental politics/philosophy/policy on the other. When addressing the former, the writing is crisp and clear. There is lots of action, fascinating characters, and plenty to hold your attention -- just a good, solid read. He really puts you into the place, the action, and the people. When it shifts to environmental politics, philosophy, and policy, it helps a great deal if you share the author's point of view. A journalist by trade, he has strong opinions. If you don't agree, you can skip those parts and get back to the action, which is well worth the time.
Egegik, AK - The Real Thing June 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'd like to witness to the accuracy of Carter's portrayal of Egegik summers and the fishing men (and some hardy women) do there.
I worked eight summers in Egegik (1994-2001), starting in the cannery, set-netting for two summers and drift fishing for four. I lived and worked with two long time Egegik families (one not so much a family, but a clan). Carter has squarely captured the joy, exhaustion, laughter, anger, dissipation, recklessness, heroism, bawdiness, and adventure of Egegik summers. Everything he writes in his book is true and he does not exagerate (hard as that may seem!). The people he writes about (many I also knew) are just as lost, wild, mean, strong, and gripping as he portrays them.
Carter's book isn't the last word about Egegik summers (there are many many books that could be written about the drift fishing, the cannery workers, the fish and game officers, and more), but it'd dead on accurate for the territory it covers. His book shows why so many of us went back summer after summer and still dream of doing so now that we've moved on to the rest of our lives.
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