The Wake of the Unseen Object - (Classic Reprint) by Tom Kizzia (Paperback)

About the Book

"When The Wake of the Unseen Object was published in 1991, I imagined it might reach readers as a work of "literary travel," a genre then filling the shelves at the front of bookstores. The understated arc of the book, after all, was the education of a traveler: his progress, from early awkward door-to-door questioning to a deeper understanding and sense of place. His lessons in paying attention and seeing the world as it is, unburdened by romanticism or its inverse, disillusion. His struggles to free himself from that peculiar little character who shows up briefly in Chapter Two, "the God of Things as They Ought to Be." This new edition of the book reproduces the text as it originally appeared, without corrections or updates. Terms such as "Eskimo" and "Indian," now subject to reconsideration but common and accepted in that day, remain in place, along with then-standard applications of the words "Inupiat" and "Inupiaq," as noun and adjective"--

Book Synopsis

A journey to Alaska's remote roadless villages, during a time of great historical transition, brings us this enduring portrait of a place and its people. Alutiiq, Yup'ik, Inupiaq, and Athabascan subjects reveal themselves as entirely contemporary individuals with deep longings and connection to the land and to their past. Tom Kizzia's account of his travels off the Alaska road system, first published in 1991, has endured with a sterling reputation for its thoughtful, poetic, unflinching engagement with the complexity of Alaska's rural communities. Wake of the Unseen Object is now considered some of the finest nonfiction writing about Alaska. This new edition includes an updated introduction by the author, looking at what remains the same after thirty years and what is different-both in Alaska, and in the expectations placed on a reporter visiting from another world.

Review Quotes

A charming, informative book . . . Kizzia writes a clear, unobtrusive prose that
crystallizes in memorable images. - The Washington Post

Kizzia is a thoughtful and lyrical writer who manages to be sensitive without veering into sentimentality. - Philadelphia Inquirer

Kizzia, whose writing has an elegant ease, has fashioned a spell-binding book in
which he has captured much of the endearing, the funny, the revealing, the wise. -
Daily Sitka Sentinel

"A forgotten classic--not only one of the top books about Alaska Native culture, but one of the best Alaska books ever...Every bit as fresh and relevant today as it was a quarter century ago."--Nick Jans, author of "A Wolf Called Romeo"

Kizzia writes with a quiet compassion that brings the people and their hard land
clearly into focus. - Boston Globe

This is a deliciously friendly, intimate, savvy, unpretentious book by an Alaskan who knows his territory as writers from "Outside" who fly in and out for a quick tour do not. Its facts, its tales, its personality make it a delight. - Edward Hoagland

About the Author

Tom Kizzia is the author of the New York Times bestseller Pilgrim's Wilderness. His journalism has appeared in The New Yorker and Best American Science and Nature Writing 2017. He traveled widely in rural Alaska as a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News.