About this item
A compulsively readable narrative of whimsy and curiosity- "adventurous, inquisitive, and brightly illuminating" (Janet Maslin, The New York Times) .When the writer Donovan Hohn heard of the mysterious loss of thousands of bath toys at sea, he figured he would interview a few oceanographers, talk to a few beachcombers, and read up on Arctic science and geography. But questions can be like ocean currents: wade in too far, and they carry you away. Hohns accidental odyssey pulls him into the secretive arena of shipping conglomerates, the daring work of Arctic researchers, the lunatic risks of maverick sailors, and the shadowy world of Chinese toy factories. Moby-Duck is a journey into the heart of the sea and an adventure through science, myth, the global economy, and some of the worst weather imaginable.
About the Author
Donovan Hohn's work has appeared in Harper's Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, Outside, Agni, and The Best Creative Nonfiction, among other publications. He is the recipient of the Whiting Writers' Award and a Creative Writing Fellowship from the NEA. Moby-Duck, a national bestseller, was runner up for both the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Nonfiction Award and the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, as well as a finalist for the New York Public Library's Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism. At the time he began work on Moby-Duck, Hohn was teaching high school English. Before teaching high school English, he'd earned his living writing and editing for magazines. Since finishing Moby-Duck he has been, in the following order, senior editor of Harper's Magazine, features editor of GQ, and a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan. After moving to Michigan, he and his family decided to stay. Hohn now teaches creative writing at Wayne State University in Detroit and is working on a second book.
