Slow Burn: A Photodocument of Centralia, Pennsylvania

Rating:
Summary: An interesting, if hard to find item
Review: Anyone interested in the Centralia mine fire will quickly find that the amount of published material about it is rather sparse. Most people run into Unseen Danger rather early in their hunt, which is an excellent overview work, but for those of us who hunger for more, books like Slow Burn start to creep onto the radar.

This title was published in 1986, and is almost 150 pages, approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of which are large black and white photos of the town and its residents.

While not being a scholarly book in the traditional sense, it offers several fascinating vignettes of the town as seen through the eyes of its residents and gives some insight as to the personal struggles that people had to go through when deciding to leave their homes behind and resettle (or not in some cases). As such, it can serve as a primary document for those of us interested in the historical / social side of the disaster, though given the recent nature of the events, tracking down the former residents would still be possible with a little legwork. That said, if one is looking for a primary source without actually digging out the phone book, this is a nice option.

Overall, I think the book is a worthy addition to the home library of any Centralia-phile, though the price can obviously be prohibitive at times due to the popularity of the subject and obscurity of the book.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Photo Document of the Centralia Story
Review: The photos in this book (and a radio interview in Philadelphia with the author in 1986) started me on what became a very deep interest to me-the story of Centralia. I was furtunate enough to buy a copy at that time (along with "Unseen Danger"). I just returned from 9 years on the West coast (I'm a native Philly boy)and hadn't ever heard of this town or the mine fire.

I got to see the town starting at time when the book came out--the town was starting to be gradually razed to the ground. I was a regular vistor during those and subsequent years, although not as much these days.

I think this book is excellent on many levels--as a documentation of the tragic end of a town and the dispursing of its inhabitants; as a humanistic photo essay--the people of Centralia are captured and portrayed in a compassionate manner of the best humanistic photo journalists--

A moving tribute to the people of Centralia and what was a long and painful deterioration and end of what had been their town and their home.

I hope it comes back in print for those of you who also find the place and its story so compelling.