The Emerald Mile - by Kevin Fedarko (Hardcover)

About the Book

From one of "Outside" magazine's "Literary All-Stars" comes the thrilling true tale of the fastest boat ride ever, down the entire length of the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon, during the legendary flood of 1983.

Book Synopsis

From one of Outside magazine's "Literary All-Stars" comes the thrilling true tale of the fastest boat ride ever through the Grand Canyon, atop the legendary Colorado River flood of 1983.

In the spring of 1983, massive flooding along the length of the Colorado River confronted a team of engineers at the Glen Canyon Dam with an unprecedented emergency that may have resulted in the most catastrophic dam failure in history. In the midst of this crisis, the decision to launch a small wooden dory named "The Emerald Mile" at the head of the Grand Canyon, just fifteen miles downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam, seemed not just odd, but downright suicidal.

The Emerald Mile, at one time slated to be destroyed, was rescued and brought back to life by Kenton Grua, the man at the oars, who intended to use this flood as a kind of hydraulic sling-shot. The goal was to nail the all-time record for the fastest boat ever propelled--by oar, by motor, or by the grace of God himself--through the heart of the Grand Canyon atop the Colorado River from Lee's Ferry to Lake Mead. Did he survive? Just barely. Now, this remarkable, epic feat unfolds here, in The Emerald Mile.

Review Quotes

"The Emerald Mile is the rarest of creations-a magical convergence of words and paper, wood and water, rock and sky, human character and cosmic caprice. Can an adventure story be as beautiful as it is heart-stopping and exciting? This one is, and Fedarko's book is as inspiring as a dory itself, flying down a wild river. I have no doubt it will become an instant classic, a timeless chronicle of what can still be legitimately called the American spirit."--Bob Shacochis "author of Swimming in the Volcano and Easy in the Islands"

"Fedarko's first book is a masterpiece of literary nonfiction, a method of writing that uses the techniques of novelists and short story writers to tell true stories in a compelling manner. Think Into Thin Air or The Perfect Storm. Fedarko spent years as an editor at Outside magazine, working with some of the best writers in the world; with The Emerald Mile, he has joined them as a thoughtful, thorough researcher and superb storyteller."-- "The Oklahoman"

"From the bottom of our planet's most awesome landscape, Kevin Fedarko has found and rescued a great American tall tale that just happens to be true. As a boatman, Fedarko knows this world intimately. As a writer, he'll make you understand it, savor it, and ultimately love it as you never have before. Here is an instant classic of adventure literature--a story shot through with bravura but also touched by the rarest kind of grandeur."--Hampton Sides "editor-at-large at Outside magazine and author of Blood and Thunder and Ghost Soldiers"

"Journalist and part-time river guide Kevin Fedarko has produced a work of jaw-dropping scope and page-turning action in this account of a speed record of rowing the length of the Grand Canyon that remains unmatched.... An unforgettable read, rendered in vivid, sometimes majestic, prose."--Christine Wald-Hopkins, Pima County Public Library (Arizona), "S

"This spellbinding true story leaps from the inner workings of Glen Canyon Dam and the psyches of river guides to boat-eating whirlpools and a wooden river dory named the Emerald Mile. Kevin Fedarko's prodigious research and breathtaking narrative transcend the Southwest. It's a roaring adventure with wave after wave of spills and thrills. Let's hope Fedarko owns the movie rights."--Bill Broyles, Pima County Public Library (Arizona), "Sout

"The Emerald Mile re-creates an incredible voyage through the flood-swollen Grand Canyon in such heart-pounding detail that you need to pause every few pages to catch your breath... He writes so vividly that your favorite reading chair becomes a spray-soaked perch on a bucking boat hit hard by a river running high and fast."-- "Dallas Morning News"

"At its heart an engrossing meditation on the eternal struggle between man and nature."-- "Pittsburg Post-Gazette"

"Fedarko's effortlessly engaging narrative... is a labor of passion from an adventurous journalist who still calls the Grand Canyon home."-- "Boulder Weekly"

"Grua's wild ride on the Colorado, how it mirrored his mercurial personality, is just one part of Fedarko's story; however, the ride, which runs through seven states, and the canyon, rich in both geological and political history, prove to be the real protagonists."-- "Publisher's Weekly"

"His poetic and descriptive writing should only brighten his accolades and helps his non-fiction book read like a fast-paced fiction adventure... It isn't necessary to be a history buff or whitewater expert to enjoy this story...With meticulous research, notes and epilogue, Fedarko tells a satisfying story that is quite an entertaining ride."-- "Deseret News"

"It would not be overblown to say The Emerald Mile deserves a spot on the bookshelf alongside such enduring classics as Cadillac Desert, Desert Solitaire and Encounters with the Archdruid. It's that good."-- "Durango Telegraph"

"Kevin Fedarko's magnificent book covers a lot of ground - and water... So it is a great boon of Fedarko's book that he tells the story of the dam, and of the engineers and technicians who built it... with as much respect and homage as he gives to the dorymen."-- "Cleveland Plain-Dealer"

"Kevin Fedarko's new brilliant work... is the story about wilderness and the American mind, albeit an American mind juiced on Class V adrenaline... Perhaps because we sympathize so strongly with the characters of The Emerald Mile--thanks in no small part to Fedarko's flowing prose--you'll feel yourself lurching along with them on wooden boats, in ocher-hued canyons, beneath cobalt skies, into the frenzied thrashings of the Colorado River as the very landscape of the West attempts to choke it."-- "Mountain magazine"

"Powerful and poetic passages put readers inside the adventurers' boats, even if they have only ever imagined the Grand Canyon or seen it in pictures... Each piece of the story is assembled as lyrically as the epoch-spanning walls of canyon itself... an epic-sized true-life adventure tale that appeals to both the heart and the head." -- "Kirkus"

About the Author

Kevin Fedarko has spent the past twenty years writing about conservation, exploration, and the Grand Canyon. He has been a staff writer at Time, where he worked primarily on the foreign affairs desk, and a senior editor at Outside, where he covered outdoor adventure. His writing has appeared in National Geographic, The New York Times, and Esquire, among other publications. He is the author of The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon, which won the Reading the West Book Award, and A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon, which won the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. Both books were also New York Times bestsellers and winners of a National Outdoor Book Award. He lives in Flagstaff, Arizona.