After several weeks I finally finished reading Tim Eagan's account of the largest fire in American history: The Big Burn. The Burn destroyed 3.2 million acres of forest in the U.S. (not including Canadian forest figures), leveled towns, killed hundreds, and changed the face of America when Teddy Roosevelt was president.
For all of the hype around the book, and in spite of Tim Eagan's Pulitzer Prize-National Book Award Style Writing, I just found the narrative a bit soggy and slow. But otherwise the guy did a commendable job of telling the story of those who committed their lives and futures to fighting the Big Burn. The aftermath was harrowing, and it's a wonder more towns and lives weren't lost to such catastrophic winds of heat and fate.
I'm not much on fires. About the biggest fire I've seen are some I have started in the front yard, but then, only to roast wieners.
I'll slip The Big Burn back on the shelf and maybe read a book about water next. This one made me thirsty.
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