Sea Legs, the book I just finished.

Last weekend I went to visit a friend from my Peace Corps group. We didn't see each other very often over the past two years, but we definitely have a lot in common and she's staying with her mom this summer, only about 50 miles from me.

We had lunch and talked about predictable things, mostly how strange 'home' seems after two years in which 'home' was a very different place. But that isn't what I meant to write about at the moment.

I meant to write about the book she gave me. Books are in high demand for PCVs, who generally have limited funds and limited access to good libraries and book stores. So we did a lot of swapping, and my friend is continuing the tradition. She gave me a book called Sea Legs: Tales of a Woman Oceanographer, by Kathleen Crane. It's about the author's experiences breaking into an all-male scientific field during the seventies and eighties, and I thought it sounded really interesting.

It was interesting. Unfortunately it was also one of the most poorly written books I've ever read. From the very first paragraph:

"It is a cold spring in Arizona. Dust blows, sculpting the parched landscape. In one glimpse, I can view the volcanic peak of San Francisco and, in the foreground, the pungent sage bending under the desiccating winds. The wide blue sky hovers above. Then my memory peels back to other skies, unfathomable distances, where little evidence of life can be seen."

Come ON. After that opening, I was sure I'd never make it through the whole thing. I did, skimming, and it didn't get much better. It was way overwritten, totally fragmented, and I got no connection whatsoever with the people in the book. Not even the author. She was clearly trying, but never really got over her self-consciousness and ended up totally leaving herself out of her own autobiography. In retrospect I guess that says a lot. She clearly had to give up a lot of herself in order to be accepted in her field. Sad.

Usually I'll give up on a book if it's really bad, but I stuck this one out for the fantastic science. A lot of geophysics and oceanography--plate tectonics and heat transfer and such. If only she'd been able to find a better editor. I hate it when books disappoint me--especially books that come recommended by people I like. Since I've never written a book myself, much less had one published, I feel a little bad about being so critical. Still, I think readers have a right to expect basic competence from writers. I think I could do better.