Overview

On 19 April 1997, in one of the most dramatic floods in US history, more than 50,000 people abandoned their homes and businesses in Grand Forks, North Dakota. A nation watched as the heart of downtown, engulfed by a river, burst into flames above the waterline. Like Sebastian Junger's 'The Perfect Storm', this book is a compelling true-life narrative about the confluence of natural forces and human error that shaped one of the greatest natural disasters in US history. Through the powerful stories of memorable individuals the book gives us a new perspective on disaster and community.

Full Product Details

9780873515009

Table of Contents

Reviews

Red River Rising is a well-researched compelling narrative that increases in suspense as the water rises. Ashley Shelby depicts a city in crisis while conveying dramatically the complexity of intergovernmental workings and interpersonal relationships. --Douglas Whynott, author of A Unit of Water, a Unit of Time Red River Rising is a beautifully written, haunting saga of a community in distress. Although the touchstone of this narrative is April 19, 1997, when one of the worst floods in U.S. history occurred, in truth it's a gripping human drama with timeless appeal. Words cannot fully express the admiration I have for Ashley Shelby's seamless and compassionate prose-style --Douglas Brinkley, author of Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War and director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies at the University of New Orleans From Publishers Weekly-- Journalist Shelby applies the familiar trope of public catastrophe as historical watershed to her study of the record-breaking 1997 flood in Grand Forks, North Dakota, that forced the evacuation of 50,000 residents and touched off devastating fires after the Red River overtopped its dikes. The event, she contends, bifurcated the town's sense of time into before the flood and after the flood, a division she honors in the book. The first part is a lucid, sometimes gripping account of the gathering disaster, explaining the freak weather patterns that precipitated the inundation, the difficulties the National Weather Service had in predicting the unprecedented scale of the flood, and the desperate efforts of engineers to hold back the water. The second part is a thorough micro-history of the aftermath, detailing battles between flood victims and city officials over relief funds and the effects of a new dike system that expunged entire neighborhoods from the flood plain. Here Shelby gets mired in city politics-as-usual. She devotes much space to displaced residents' griping over the buyout offers they received from the city, and to a redevelopment bid for an Amazon.com warehouse that had little to do with the flood. Straining for pathos and meaning, she styles Grand Forks' last seven years as a single, apocalyptic Joycean day of flood angst. That goes a bit far, but still, this is a well-researched portrait of a city coping with a crisis. Photos. Copyright (c) Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Publishers Weekly--Journalist Shelby applies the familiar trope of public catastrophe as historical watershed to her study of the record-breaking 1997 flood in Grand Forks, North Dakota, that forced the evacuation of 50,000 residents and touched off devastating fires after the Red River overtopped its dikes. The event, she contends, bifurcated the town's sense of time into before the flood and after the flood, a division she honors in the book. The first part is a lucid, sometimes gripping account of the gathering disaster, explaining the freak weather patterns that precipitated the inundation, the difficulties the National Weather Service had in predicting the unprecedented scale of the flood, and the desperate efforts of engineers to hold back the water. The second part is a thorough micro-history of the aftermath, detailing battles between flood victims and city officials over relief funds and the effects of a new dike system that expunged entire neighborhoods from the flood plain. Here Shelby gets mired in city politics-as-usual. She devotes much space to displaced residents' griping over the buyout offers they received from the city, and to a redevelopment bid for an Amazon.com warehouse that had little to do with the flood. Straining for pathos and meaning, she styles Grand Forks' last seven years as a single, apocalyptic Joycean day of flood angst. That goes a bit far, but still, this is a well-researched portrait of a city coping with a crisis. Photos. Copyright (c) Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly--Journalist Shelby applies the familiar trope of public catastrophe as historical watershed to her study of the record-breaking 1997 flood in Grand Forks, North Dakota, that forced the evacuation of 50,000 residents and touched off devastating fires after the Red River overtopped its dikes. The event, she contends, bifurcated the town's sense of time into before the flood and after the flood, a division she honors in the book. The first part is a lucid, sometimes gripping account of the gathering disaster, explaining the freak weather patterns that precipitated the inundation, the difficulties the National Weather Service had in predicting the unprecedented scale of the flood, and the desperate efforts of engineers to hold back the water. The second part is a thorough micro-history of the aftermath, detailing battles between flood victims and city officials over relief funds and the effects of a new dike system that expunged entire neighborhoods from the flood plain. Here Shelby gets mired in city politics-as-usual. She devotes much space to displaced residents' griping over the buyout offers they received from the city, and to a redevelopment bid for an Amazon.com warehouse that had little to do with the flood. Straining for pathos and meaning, she styles Grand Forks' last seven years as a single, apocalyptic Joycean day of flood angst. That goes a bit far, but still, this is a well-researched portrait of a city coping with a crisis. Photos. Copyright (c) Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly-- Journalist Shelby applies the familiar trope of public catastrophe as historical watershed to her study of the record-breaking 1997 flood in Grand Forks, North Dakota, that forced the evacuation of 50,000 residents and touched off devastating fires after the Red River overtopped its dikes. The event, she contends, bifurcated the town's sense of time into before the flood and after the flood, a division she honors in the book. The first part is a lucid, sometimes gripping account of the gathering disaster, explaining the freak weather patterns that precipitated the inundation, the difficulties the National Weather Service had in predicting the unprecedented scale of the flood, and the desperate efforts of engineers to hold back the water. The second part is a thorough micro-history of the aftermath, detailing battles between flood victims and city officials over relief funds and the effects of a new dike system that expunged entire neighborhoods from the flood plain. Here Shelby gets mired in city politics-as-usual. She devotes much space to displaced residents' griping over the buyout offers they received from the city, and to a redevelopment bid for an Amazon.com warehouse that had little to do with the flood. Straining for pathos and meaning, she styles Grand Forks' last seven years as a single, apocalyptic Joycean day of flood angst. That goes a bit far, but still, this is a well-researched portrait of a city coping with a crisis. Photos. Copyright (c) Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Red River Rising is a beautifully written, haunting saga of a community in distress. Although the touchstone of this narrative is April 19, 1997, when one of the worst floods in U.S. history occurred, in truth it's a gripping human drama with timeless appeal. Words cannot fully express the admiration I have for Ashley Shelby's seamless and compassionate prose-style --Douglas Brinkley, author of Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War and director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies at the University of New Orleans Red River Rising is a well-researched compelling narrative that increases in suspense as the water rises. Ashley Shelby depicts a city in crisis while conveying dramatically the complexity of intergovernmental workings and interpersonal relationships. --Douglas Whynott, author of A Unit of Water, a Unit of Time From Publishers Weekly-- Journalist Shelby applies the familiar trope of public catastrophe as historical watershed to her study of the record-breaking 1997 flood in Grand Forks, North Dakota, that forced the evacuation of 50,000 residents and touched off devastating fires after the Red River overtopped its dikes. The event, she contends, bifurcated the town's sense of time into before the flood and after the flood, a division she honors in the book. The first part is a lucid, sometimes gripping account of the gathering disaster, explaining the freak weather patterns that precipitated the inundation, the difficulties the National Weather Service had in predicting the unprecedented scale of the flood, and the desperate efforts of engineers to hold back the water. The second part is a thorough micro-history of the aftermath, detailing battles between flood victims and city officials over relief funds and the effects of a new dike system that expunged entire neighborhoods from the flood plain. Here Shelby gets mired in city politics-as-usual. She devotes much space to displaced residents' griping over the buyout offers they received from the city, and to a redevelopment bid for an Amazon.com warehouse that had little to do with the flood. Straining for pathos and meaning, she styles Grand Forks' last seven years as a single, apocalyptic Joycean day of flood angst. That goes a bit far, but still, this is a well-researched portrait of a city coping with a crisis. Photos. Copyright (c) Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Publishers Weekly--Journalist Shelby applies the familiar trope of public catastrophe as historical watershed to her study of the record-breaking 1997 flood in Grand Forks, North Dakota, that forced the evacuation of 50,000 residents and touched off devastating fires after the Red River overtopped its dikes. The event, she contends, bifurcated the town's sense of time into before the flood and after the flood, a division she honors in the book. The first part is a lucid, sometimes gripping account of the gathering disaster, explaining the freak weather patterns that precipitated the inundation, the difficulties the National Weather Service had in predicting the unprecedented scale of the flood, and the desperate efforts of engineers to hold back the water. The second part is a thorough micro-history of the aftermath, detailing battles between flood victims and city officials over relief funds and the effects of a new dike system that expunged entire neighborhoods from the flood plain. Here Shelby gets mired in city politics-as-usual. She devotes much space to displaced residents' griping over the buyout offers they received from the city, and to a redevelopment bid for an Amazon.com warehouse that had little to do with the flood. Straining for pathos and meaning, she styles Grand Forks' last seven years as a single, apocalyptic Joycean day of flood angst. That goes a bit far, but still, this is a well-researched portrait of a city coping with a crisis. Photos. Copyright (c) Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Author Information

Ashley Shelby recieved a degree in journalism from Indiana University and a Masters of Fine Arts in non-fiction writing from Columbia University. Her fiction has been awarded the William Faulkner Short Fiction Award. Shelby grew up in Minneapolis and now lives in New York, where she works in publishing and is the co-curator of the KGB Bar Nonfiction Reading Series.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available