Hotshot - by River Selby (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"A beautiful reflection on justice, the environment, the self, and much more."--George Saunders

The fierce debut memoir of a female firefighter, Hotshot navigates the personal and environmental dangers of wildland firefighting

From 2000 to 2010, River Selby was a wildland firefighter whose given name was Anastasia. This is a memoir of that time in their life--of Ana, the struggles she encountered, and the constraints of what it means to be female-bodied in a male-dominated industry. An illuminating debut from a fierce new voice, Hotshot is a timely reckoning with both the personal and environmental dangers of wildland firefighting.

By the time they were nineteen, Selby had been homeless, addicted to drugs, and sexually assaulted more than once. In a last-ditch effort to find direction, they applied to be a wildland firefighter. Two years later, they joined an elite class of specially trained wildland firefighters known as hotshots. Over the course of five fire seasons, Selby delves into the world of the people--almost entirely men--who risk their lives to fight and sometimes prevent wildfires. Simultaneously hyper visible and invisible, Selby navigated an odd mix of camaraderie and rampant sexism on the job and, when they challenged it, a violent closing of ranks that excluded them from the work they'd come to love.

Drawing on years of firsthand experience on the frontlines of fire and years of research, Selby examines how the collision of fire suppression policy, colonization, and climate change has led to fire seasons of unprecedented duration and severity. A work of rare intimacy, Hotshot provides new insight into fire, the people who fight it, and the diversity of ecosystems dependent on this elemental force.

Review Quotes

Praise for Hotshot:

"Selby molds personal and ecological acceptance into a moving narrative about fire and humanity . . . With visceral prose, they bring readers directly to the heat and intensity of the front lines day and night . . . Shot through with their own challenges of bulimia, alcoholism, and relationships, the story is one of power and resilience, of someone struggling to make a life for themself in the inhospitable and challenging career of wildland firefighting. Spliced within it are historical and scientific examinations of firefighting in the American West. Deeply researched, these segments provide context for the book, but it is the narrative that is most gripping. With fortitude and admirable vulnerability, Selby brings readers directly into a tumultuous time and place. Like fire, this book burns hot."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"A fierce examination of identity, climate change, and the shortcomings of U.S. fire policy . . . Poetic, wise, and haunting, this seamless blend of memoir and science writing leaves a mark."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"What a wonderful, compassionate, sharply observed, beautifully researched, open-hearted book. Selby has lived a big, courageous life, and that largesse is evident on every page, in the form of the rigor and curiosity of the narrative voice. Ostensibly about fire-fighting, Hotshot turns out to be a beautiful reflection on justice, the environment, the self, and much more."--George Saunders, Booker Prize-winning and #1 New York Times Bestselling author of Lincoln in the Bardo

"River Selby is the real deal. A writer who seems fearless, who is honest and fierce--and this stunning memoir of fighting wildfires is spectacular . . . and alive with grit and action and poetry."--Luis Alberto Urrea, Pulitzer Prize-finalist and New York Times Bestselling author of Good Night, Irene

"Hotshot is that rare species: a memoir of young adulthood and a clear-eyed take on wildland preservation from a naturalist who learned on the job. And what a job it was: the kind where a colleague tells you unironically to keep going, because you're not dead yet. You can smell the smoke and feel the grit on the back of your neck, and the lessons--of which there are many--feel hard won and very timely. Selby's road was harder than most, which makes their arrival as such an accomplished and thoughtful writer all the more satisfying."--Nate Blakeslee, author of Tulia

"Hotshot is a brave, powerful, deeply moving memoir of survival and strength. It is also a timely, urgent history of fire, climate change, and our complex, fraught relationship to land stewardship. River Selby's story is inspiring in its spiritual and emotional inventory. Selby is a wonderfully gifted writer about nature, about the complexities of trauma, and the hard-won possibilities of healing."--Dana Spiotta, author of Wayward

"Hotshot is the story of a life forged through crucible. In this wonderous memoir Selby's life reminds us courage can be grown, the self can be found and anything can change. A writer of shining talent and tenacity."--Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, New York Times bestselling author of Friday Black and Chain Gang All-Stars

About the Author

River Selby is a former hotshot and wildland firefighter, a writer, and a nonbinary person. They hold an MFA in creative writing from Syracuse University; they are currently pursuing their PhD. They were the recipient of the Emerging Writer's Prize for Fiction from Boulevard Magazine for their story, "How Certain Fires Burn." Their writing has appeared in the New Ohio Review, Bellevue Literary Review, Vox, and High Country News. They currently live in Tallahassee, Florida.