FIRE - Softcover

Stewart, George R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345241959 ISBN 13: 9780345241955

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 1974

Synopsis

Spitcat, a raging forest fire in the Sierra Nevada of California, had a lifespan of merely eleven days, "yet its effects could be reckoned ahead in centuries." So writes George R. Stewart in this engrossing novel of a fire started by lightning in the dry heat of September, and fanned out of control by unexpected winds. The book begins with the origins of the fire-smoldering quietly at first, unnoticed, then suddenly bursting into a terrifying inferno, devouring trees and animals over acre after acre and leaving nothing but desolation in its wake. Firefighters and lookouts, forest rangers and smokejumpers-as well as animals in the forest, many of them the bewildered victims of the blaze, and all the varied tress and bushes there-are characters of this realistic story.

About this title

Review

"The writing is superb-hard, lean, expressive prose. The feelings of the men as they work, eat, sleep, talk, are eloquently set forth. It's an exciting story...and so real it's hard to believe that the Spitcat never existed, never burnt a tree, so magnificently has Stewart imagined and circumstantially created it."-Christian Science Monitor Christian Science Monitor "A vivid and dramatic account of man pitted against one of his worst enemies. Fire shows the effect of this desperate fight upon the bodies, minds and souls of the men and women involved."-Newsweek Newsweek "An unforgettable novel."-New York Times New York Times "The cumulative effect of the whole thing is tremendous; there's no other word for it."-San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Chronicle

About the Author

Other books by George R. Stewart available in Bison Book editions are Storm (BB 826) and The California Trail (BB 850).

Edition details

• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Publication date: 1974
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0345241959
• ISBN 13: 9780345241955
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback