The Tarball Chronicles: A Journey Beyond the Oiled Pelican and Into the Heart of the Gulf Oil Spill

By David Gessner

Winner of the 2013 ASLE Book Award
Winner of the Reed Award for the Best Book on the Southern Environment 2011
Named a Top Book from the South 2011 by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A San Francisco Chronicle Gift Book Recommendation for 2011
A Southern Independent Booksellers Bestseller

Traveling the shores of the Gulf from east to west with oceanographers, subsistence fisherman, seafood distributors, and other long-time Gulf residents, acclaimed author and environmental advocate David Gessner offers a lively, arresting account of the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. With The Tarball Chronicles Gessner tells a story that extends beyond the archetypal oil-soaked pelican, beyond politics, beyond BP, and beyond other oil spill books in the market. Instead, heart on his sleeve and beer in hand, he explores the ecosystem of the Gulf as a complicated whole and focuses on the people whose lives and livelihoods have been jeopardized by the spill. With his signature combination of intellect, passion, and humor, Gessner asks how much we are willing to sacrifice for the conveniences of modern life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Milkweed Editions
• Release date: Sep 13, 2011
• ISBN: 9781571318398

David Gessner

David Gessner is the author of ten books, including the New York Times bestseller All the Wild That Remains. He has taught environmental writing as a Briggs-Copeland Lecturer at Harvard and is currently a professor and department chair at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where he founded the award-winning literary journal Ecotone. Gessner lives in Wilmington, North Carolina.