Surviving the "Essex" tells the captivating story of a ship's crew battered by whale attack, broken by four months at sea, and forced-out of necessity-to make meals of their fellow survivors. Exploring the Rashomon-like Essex accounts that complicate and even contradict first mate Owen Chase's narrative, David O. Dowling examines the vital role of point of view in shaping how an event is remembered and delves into the ordeal's submerged history-the survivors' lives, ambitions, and motives, their pivotal actions during the desperate moments of the wreck itself, and their will to reconcile those actions in the short- and long-term aftermath of this storied event. Mother of all whale tales, Surviving the "Essex" acts as a sequel to Nathaniel Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea, while probing deeper into the nature of trauma and survival accounts, an extreme form of notoriety, and the impact that the story had on Herman Melville and the writing of Moby-Dick.

Book Information
ISBN 9781611689075
Author David O. Dowling
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Dartmouth College Press
Publisher University Press of New England
Weight(grams) 310g