Outer Banks Reader - by David Stick (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

For half a century, David Stick has been writing books about the fragile chain of barrier islands off the North Carolina coast known as the Outer Banks. Two of his earliest, Graveyard of the Atlantic and The Outer Banks of North Carolina, were published by the UNC Press in the 1950s, and continue to be best-sellers.

More recently, Stick embarked on another project, searching for the most captivating and best-written examples of what others have said about his beloved Outer Banks. In the process, more than 1,000 books, pamphlets, periodicals, historical documents, and other writings were reviewed.

The result is a rich and fascinating anthology. The selections in An Outer Banks Reader span the course of more than four and a half centuries, from the first known record of a meeting between Europeans and Native Americans in the region in 1524 to modern-day accounts of life on the Outer Banks. Together, Stick hopes, the sixty-four entries may provide both "outlanders" and natives with an understanding of why the Outer Banks are home to a rapidly growing number of people who would rather spend the rest of their lives there than any place else on earth.

Review Quotes

"[A] delightful potpourri." -- Sierra

"A memorable, intimate portrait of life on a fragile chain of barrier islands. . . . Visible throughout this artfully crafted anthology is editor David Stick. He has rowed out to sea, like his forebears, in a little homemade boat and has captured a beautiful literary tribute of the island ranges." -- Bloomsbury Review

"David Stick has more Outer Banks sand in his shoes than anyone. The North Carolina littoral is his oyster, and this collection is his gritty, exciting literary tribute to the place he knows so well and loves so much. A book as bracing as an ocean breeze." -- Roy Parker Jr., contributing editor, Fayetteville Observer-Times

"David Stick's new work is as welcome as it is well done. Like the good waves of summer . . . The Outer Banks Reader comes pounding in fresh, strong, a bit unpredictable, and with no shortage of salt." -- Raleigh News & Observer

"Delivers a superb sampler of Outer Banks history. . . . Anyone with a sincere interest in the Outer Banks will want to read this anthology and keep it in their collection as a valuable reference. The Reader will undoubtedly become a standard for professional and amateur historians alike." -- North Carolina Historical Review

"For those who live far from the Outer Banks, but know and love it, this is just the sort of book to pull out from time to time and be transported immediately to a place within sound of the ocean's unending, rhythmic roar." -- Virginian-Pilot

"Gripping tales of shipwreck rescues, interesting profiles of coastal characters, and tales of the hard business of survival are all here." -- Our State

"The collection is perfect for anyone who loves the bleak, inspiring beauty of a barrier beach island." -- Islands