About a Mountain

by John D'Agata

Overview

Named One of the 100 Best Nonfiction Books Written by the New York Times Magazine, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, and a New York Times Editors' Choice.

When John D'Agata helps his mother move to Las Vegas one summer, he begins to follow a story about the federal government's plan to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain; the result is a startling portrait that compels a reexamination of the future of human life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393339017
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	02/07/2011
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

John D’Agata is the author of About a Mountain, Halls of Fame, and editor of The Next American Essay and The Lost Origins of the Essay. He teaches creative writing at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, where he lives.

What People are Saying About This

Annie Dillard

A writer of rare intelligence and artistry . . . John D’Agata is redefining the modern American essay.

Editorial Reviews

"Exquisite…This is what, at its best, contemporary narrative nonfiction aspires to, a story that, like the novel, operates on many levels at once. And in About a Mountain D’Agata has found a nearly perfect nexus to investigate our post-millennial concerns."

Los Angeles Times - David L. Ulin

…an engrossing story and an often impressive piece of reporting…D'Agata's prime reason for steering us through all the glittery factoids and scholarship is to take us to the ledge of what knowledge can provide, and to document how perilous it can be to stand on that ledge. These 200 pages are nothing less than a chronicle of the compromises and lies, the back-room deals and honest best intentions that have delivered us to this precarious moment in history. The book is a shouted question about who we are and how we move forward. This is how art is made.
—The New York Times

Charles Bock

Middling wanderings along the Las Vegas Strip and the Nevada desert. With a hat tip to Bill Maher, a new rule emerges from these pages: If you're going to write about Las Vegas and enter gonzo territory, you had better write as well as Hunter Thompson. D'Agata (Creative Writing/Univ. of Iowa; Halls of Fame: Essays, 2001, etc.) doesn't approach those grand heights, and the heart sinks a touch at seeing some of the halfhearted flourishes: "What I'd planned to do was help my mother find her new home. Help her move in. Get my mom settled." Such telegraphy seems to serve no purpose, and the narrative, studded with single-sentence paragraphs, is similarly disjointed to no real effect. As his sense of geography indicates, he's a stranger 'round these parts, though he adopts a local cause celebre in the Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste controversy and makes himself a little more at home exploring it. D'Agata takes a roundabout path getting to some of the finer points of that imbroglio, with textbook-like detours-"Cognitive science is the study of how humans know themselves. It explores how we perceive, reason, and interact with the world through the complex negotiation of objects and ideas"-gossipy dishing of local eco-hero Edward Abbey and musings on suicide and mutant fish. Ultimately, the piece has an unfinished, workshoppy feel, and it doesn't deliver significant news about either Yucca Mountain or Las Vegas-yes, the place is an assault on the senses; yes, it makes people unhappy; yes, it's one of the more bizarre locales on the planet. Well-meaning but off the mark. Agent: Matt McGowan/Frances Goldin Literary Agency

Kirkus Reviews

"D’Agata has an encyclopedic understanding of the form’s intricate
artistry. Moreover, he is a serious thinker who regularly lays down
stylish, intelligent sentences.... an engrossing story and an often impressive piece of reporting."— The New York Times Book Review

"[E]xquisite.... This is what, at its best, contemporary narrative nonfiction
aspires to, a story that, like the novel, operates on many levels at
once."— David L. Ulin Los Angeles Times

"A writer of rare intelligence and artistry . . . John D’Agata is redefining the modern American essay."— Annie Dillard

From the Publisher