Rating: 
Summary: Splendid
Review: This book is a great combination of local history, folklore, and tales of individuals who fight and win daily battles against mother nature. The strength of the book lies in the character development that takes place in each chapter. Halpern's first person narrative allows you to participate in the struggle's of the protagonists.
Rating:
Summary: a breathtaking book
Review: This book took me to places I have never even imagined existed. It is written in a very funny and engaging style but the subjects are profound and deeply touching. It is a beautiful book!
Rating:
Summary: A breathtaking book
Review: This is an amazing book that took me to places and people that I have never imagined existed. It is very funny and entertaining though it talks about profound and serious matters of pride, courage and heritage. I could not stop reading long into the night (despite my early evening sleep habit!). A beautiful and exciting book.
Rating: 
Summary: Avalanche, flood, fire, lava, there's no place like home
Review: This is an amusing book and an amazing one. Jake Halpern visits some very challenging places people call home; a town that spent all too much time under water, a town with a raging coal fire underneath, a giant building in Alaska that is most of a town (pop. 182) connected by a long tunnel and train to the rest of the world. The section on Whittier (the Alaskan town) was for me the most fascinating. Imagine living in a gigantic college dorm in place where the wind and snow are so difficult to negotiate that going outdoors is not an option for months at a time. And like in a dorm, everyone knows everyone else' business. Evesdropping is the local pastime. If you like exotic places, this is a unique book to read.
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