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Product Description
Product Description
On August 5, 1949, a crew of fifteen of the United States Forest Service's elite airborne firefighters, the Smokejumpers, stepped into the sky above a remote forest fire in the Montana wilderness. Two hours after their jump, all but three of these men were dead or mortally burned. Haunted by these deaths for forty years, Norman Maclean puts back together the scattered pieces of the Mann Gulch tragedy.
"Young Men and Fire" won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1992.
"A magnificent drama of writing, a tragedy that pays tribute to the dead and offers rescue to the living.... Maclean's search for the truth, which becomes an exploration of his own mortality, is more compelling even than his journey into the heart of the fire. His description of the conflagration terrifies, but it is his battle with words, his effort to turn the story of the 13 men into tragedy that makes this book a classic."--from "New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice, Best Books of 1992"
"A treasure: part detective story, part western, part tragedy, part elegy and wholly eloquent ghost story in which the dead and the living join ranks cheerfully, if sometimes eerily, in a search for truth and the rest it brings."--Joseph Coates, "Chicago Tribune"
"An astonishing book. In compelling language, both homely and elegant, "Young Men and Fire" miraculously combines a fascinating primer on fires and firefighting, a powerful, breathtakingly real reconstruction of a tragedy, and a meditation on writing, grief and human character.... Maclean's last book will stir your heart and haunt your memory."--Timothy Foote, "USA Today"
"Beautiful.... A dark American idyll of which the language can be proud."--Robert M. Adams, "The New York Review of Books"
""Young Men and Fire" is redolent of Melville. Just as the reader of "Moby Dick" comes to comprehend the monstrous entirety of the great white whale, so the reader of "Young Men and Fire" goes into the heart of the great red fire and comes out thoroughly informed. Don't hesitate to take the plunge."--Dennis Drabelle, "Washington Post Book World"
""Young Men and Fire" is a somber and poetic retelling of a tragic event. It is the pinnacle of smokejumping literature and a classic work of 20th-century nonfiction."--John Holkeboer, "The Wall Street Journal"
"Maclean is always with the brave young dead. . . . They could not have found a storyteller with a better claim to represent their honor. . . . A great book."--James R. Kincaid, "New"" York Times Book Review"
"Young Men and Fire" won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1992.
"A magnificent drama of writing, a tragedy that pays tribute to the dead and offers rescue to the living.... Maclean's search for the truth, which becomes an exploration of his own mortality, is more compelling even than his journey into the heart of the fire. His description of the conflagration terrifies, but it is his battle with words, his effort to turn the story of the 13 men into tragedy that makes this book a classic."--from "New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice, Best Books of 1992"
"A treasure: part detective story, part western, part tragedy, part elegy and wholly eloquent ghost story in which the dead and the living join ranks cheerfully, if sometimes eerily, in a search for truth and the rest it brings."--Joseph Coates, "Chicago Tribune"
"An astonishing book. In compelling language, both homely and elegant, "Young Men and Fire" miraculously combines a fascinating primer on fires and firefighting, a powerful, breathtakingly real reconstruction of a tragedy, and a meditation on writing, grief and human character.... Maclean's last book will stir your heart and haunt your memory."--Timothy Foote, "USA Today"
"Beautiful.... A dark American idyll of which the language can be proud."--Robert M. Adams, "The New York Review of Books"
""Young Men and Fire" is redolent of Melville. Just as the reader of "Moby Dick" comes to comprehend the monstrous entirety of the great white whale, so the reader of "Young Men and Fire" goes into the heart of the great red fire and comes out thoroughly informed. Don't hesitate to take the plunge."--Dennis Drabelle, "Washington Post Book World"
""Young Men and Fire" is a somber and poetic retelling of a tragic event. It is the pinnacle of smokejumping literature and a classic work of 20th-century nonfiction."--John Holkeboer, "The Wall Street Journal"
"Maclean is always with the brave young dead. . . . They could not have found a storyteller with a better claim to represent their honor. . . . A great book."--James R. Kincaid, "New"" York Times Book Review"
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Although I enjoyed the book, I was a little disappointed not to find another "River Runs Through It." Maclean's first book, which contained that story and two others, is one that I will read several times a year for the rest of my life, and is a 10+++ without a doubt. "Young Men and Fire" is engaging, but isn't as melodic, as complex, or as finished. Probably that's because it's non-fiction, and fact is never as clean as fiction ("A River Runs Through It" was semi-autobiographical but, at least to some extent, fictional). With more room to work with, Maclean's storytelling isn't quite as fluid as it was in the short stories. Nevertheless, it's a compelling book. It's a pity that this great author (a Dartmouth grad, by the way) didn't write more before he died.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The most important aspect of Norman Maclean's work, "Young Men And Fire," has absolutely nothing to do with the Mann Gulch fire. At the core of this story is a perfect example of modern heroism, as well as an author's inspiring quest to not only lend these fine young men the credit they deserve, but in the process find himself.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
My husband read this book a few years ago when it was first plublished. At the time I wasn't much interested in what appeared to me to be a story about fighting a fire, probably filled with alot of facts I couldn't understand. It was not until I read an article about MacLean and how he did not publish (or complete for that matter)any of his works until he was in his 70's that I became curious about him. I first read "A River Runs Through It, then went down to our basement to dig out "Young Men and Fire"
Lately I have developed the greatest admiration for those writers who can bridge the gap between non-fiction and fiction. My favorite writer to do this was Mari Sandoz, but MacLean has done it also. This is not the same as historical fiction, which makes up a story based loosely on fact. This is a style the majority of which is based on known facts, but where we cannot possibly know the facts, such as a man's thoughts in the last moments before his death, the author uses, not imagination, but experience and research to fill in these gaps credibly.
While I was correct in my assumption that this book would have alot of information I didn't understand, it took nothing away from it for me. All I can say is, I wish MacLean had started his writing sooner, so that I would have had alot more of his work to read!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A classic
MacLean, who himself as a 15 year old during WW1 fought fires in Montana, tells the story of the 1949 Mann Gulch disaster. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. Andrew Evans
I couldn't put it down!
I don't do much reading, but this book kept me captivated from the moment I picked it up. Books based on true stories can be dry and uninteresting; however, MacLean combines... Read more
Published on 4 Sep 1999
One of the best books that I have ever read! Honestly!
Yong Men and Fire is one of the best books that I have ever read. Norman Maclean brings to life the struggles that we endure during and after a tragety. Read more
Published on 25 Jan 1999
an excellent account of the mann gulch tragedy
maclean does any excellent job telling the horrid story of the smokejumpers in young men and fire. i do believe that it is more a tale of events than a story with plot. Read more
Published on 7 Dec 1998
Solid
Book can be sectioned pretty well. MacLean is brilliant in painting a portrait of the type of tough, intelligent men who are the smokejumpers. Read more
Published on 10 Nov 1998
Prose as Poetry
The pure information about the nature of forest fires, smoke jumpers and how to try and piece together what happened over twenty years after the fact all are compelling reasons to... Read more
Published on 30 Dec 1997
Passionate, Detailed Account of a Tragic Forest Fire
Norman Maclean writes in passionate detail about the Mann Gulch fire. I learned a lot about the technology of fire and how this particular tragedy has changed fire fighting for... Read more
Published on 23 Dec 1997
Good, but not Great
While the story behind the Mann Gulch fire and the Smokejumpers, I thought, were just, plain cool, the author's style included a lot of details and not much action. Read more
Published on 22 Oct 1997
Exceptional, moving
This book skips back and forth between the author's investigation
into a 1940's smokejumping disaster, and an account of the
event itself. Read more
into a 1940's smokejumping disaster, and an account of the
event itself. Read more
Published on 30 Dec 1995
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