About a Mountain
By John D'Agata
(W. W. Norton & Company, Hardcover, 9780393068184, 236pp.)
Publication Date: February 2010
Other Editions of This Title: Paperback
Categories: Mountains, Environmental Conservation & Protection - General
 |     |
Description
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 high-level nuclear waste at a place called Yucca Mountain, a desert range near the city of Las Vegas. Bearing witness to the parade of scientific, cultural, and political facts that give shape to Yucca s story, D Agata keeps the six tenets of reporting in mind Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How arranging his own investigation around each vital question.Yet as the contradictions inherent in Yucca s story are revealed, D Agata s investigation turns inevitably personal. He finds himself investigating the death of a teenager who jumps off the tower of the Stratosphere Hotel, a boy whom D Agata believes he spoke with before his suicide.Here is the work of a penetrating thinker whose startling portrait of a mountain in the desert compels a reexamination of the future of human life.
Friday, Mar 5, 2010
When writer John D'Agata moved his mother to the suburbs of Las Vegas, he began looking at the history of the governmentâ��s plan to store nuclear waste deep in Nevada's Yucca Mountain. The resulting boo—-- About a Mountai—-- is a reporter's notebook that reads like poetry. More at NPR.org
NPR Audio Player Requires Flash Upgrade: Please upgrade your plug-in to view this content.
 |
Flight Behavior Barbara Kingsolver Harper |
 |
The Art Forger Barbara Shapiro Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill |
 |
Sweeth Tooth Ian McEwan Nan A. Talese |
 |
The Light Between Oceans ML Steadman Scribner |
