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Summary: This book will make you sad, and it will make you angry!
Review: A beautiful and sad book about the disappearance of Louisiana's bayou country, and with it, the way of life of the people who live there, the Cajun, Houma and Vietnamese fishermen and shrimpers who provide us with an amazin 30% of America's annual seafood harvest. Thanks to levees on the Mississippi, oil company canals, and other interference with nature, coastal Louisiana is losing land the size of Manhattan every year. The land is sinking, the barrier islands disappearing, and with them go protection against hurricanes, resting places for migratory birds, and a seafood-rich ecosystem.
That it is possible to halt the destruction of this habitat is known. The Atchafalaya River, Louisiana's second largest, still pours silt from its mouth to form new land, and small diversion projects are helping. But more and major diversions of the Mississippi, to allow it once again to build up the coast instead of dumping its silt over the continental shelf, must happen and happen quickly before it is too late.
Before, in the words of one shrimper, "Dere won't be no more nothin' left anymore, forever".
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Summary: This is a Hell of a book Cher
Review: A very well read friend of mine in recommending this book said it is not only a wonderful book about Louisiana and its people, but maybe the best book he has ever read period. On such a recommendation I immediately ordered a copy.
And now I see why my friend loved the book. what's not to like.
The author highlights the serious coastal erosion problem we have in Louisiana by getting invovled with a lot of the people affected by the pending disaster. He visits them in their homes and rides with them on their oyster and shripmp boats.
One gets a real insight into the Cajun culture.
After reading the book I realized that I hadn't been down in the bayous for awhile. So, I made a point to get down there and reexperience the unique place that it is. Bayou Farewell is that kind of a book.
One thing, though, if you have been consdiering changing carreers to become a crabber, you might oughta read this book first. Crabbing is a rough way to go.
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Summary: Review from Louisiana Sportsman magazine
Review: A Washington, D.C., area resident, Tidwell came to Louisiana to write a story for the Washington Post about hitch-hiking on Cajun Country shrimp boats. But what he found was the greatest untold story in America, one about which he and his associates had never heard a single word ' the death of the Louisiana coast. ...Tidwell came in with no preconceived ideas about the environmental disaster along the Louisiana coast. The marsh, however, grabbed him with her cord-grass fingers, and pulled him into herself. She showed him her blanched oak skeletons that stand defiant and scream like sentinels, her deeply dredged canals that fester like scars on the skin of an old mother, and her beaches that are being stripped of their load with the efficiency of a thousand miners. The marsh cried for Tidwell ' an outsider ' to be her voice, and he's answered the call. Bayou Farewell is an amazing book. Actually, amazing isn't adequately superlative. It's an astounding book that ought to be required reading in every high school in Louisiana, if not the nation. It was a book only a non-Louisianian could have written, and Tidwell, with his mastery of the English language and breathtakingly descriptive prose, was perfect for the task. The marsh ' the mother of our Louisiana culture ' knew what she was doing, even in this hour as she lay on her death bed. And she is, indeed, on her death bed. The author brings the coastal erosion disaster to a national audience by giving it life through the words and actions of the people who live in the marshes and watch helplessly as the Gulf day by day nibbles its way toward their homes.
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Summary: Born On the Bayou...
Review: An amazing, eye-opening book by an amazing writer. As a native of Louisiana I was amazed at how little I knew about the erosion of the coast. The future of my culture depends on stories like this to educate the next generation.
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Summary: Vanishing beauty
Review: Any one who loves New Orleans and the quiet, ethereal beauty of the Louisiana bayou should be frightened when they read this book. Mike Tidwell's journey among the land of the cajuns is beautifully descriptive of the people and the landscape. This is a lifestyle and ecological wonder that is vanishing before our eyes with little support from the government.
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Summary: Vanishing beauty
Review: Any one who loves New Orleans and the quiet, ethereal beauty of the Louisiana bayou should be frightened when they read this book. Mike Tidwell's journey among the land of the cajuns is beautifully descriptive of the people and the landscape. This is a lifestyle and ecological wonder that is vanishing before our eyes with little support from the government.
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Summary: Native Insights into the Econolgy and Culture
Review: As a native of Southeast Texas, I have a great deal of experience with South and Western Louisiana. Tidwell's book "hits the nail on the head" so far as catching the essence of the local culture. He also sheds a needed light on the ecological decline of the coastline there. He is, from my perspective, balanced and fair in his judgements. This is a must read for those interested in either sociology or ecology. I am looking forward to Tidwell's next travel volume, whatever the subject.
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Summary: an eye-opener
Review: As a resident of Louisiana, I've often heard the term 'coastal erosion' thrown around in the news, but I never really knew enough to be concerned. However, this book brought to light the incredible scale of the situation, and the urgency required to save the coast of Louisiana. "Bayou Farewell" explains how Louisiana is disappearing at a rate of 25 square miles per year, and at the same time reveals the Cajun people and culture endangered by this very problem. This book is a must-read for any citizen of Louisiana or the United States, as something must be done before it is too late.
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Summary: Bayou Farewell - read it before it's too late
Review: Bayou Farewell by Mike Tidwell is a first-rate book and highly recommended. This book is about the loss of land along coastal Louisiana. At a rate of about 25 sqaure miles (or more) per year, Louisiana is losing the shallow water estuary that both supports a very productive fishing industry and offers storm surge protection during hurricanes. The reasons for the loss of land are presented in the book. With the sense of a road-trip adventurer, Mike Tidwell researched this issue by hitch-hiking his way up and down the bayous so that he could talk to and gather information from residents, fishermen, and scientists. The result is a report that combines scientific facts with cultural insight into what makes this region of the US a national treasure. Every American should read this book because this is a national issue that rarely gets reported in the media. If you like seafood, enjoy Cajun culture or like to visit New Orleans, then you should read this book. I particularly appreciated Mike Tidwell's ability to weave scientific discussions (e.g., river geomorphology) with cultural information such as the annual blessing of the fleet. This is an engaging and enlightening book. Read it soon before the story comes to a tragic ending.
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Summary: Bayou Farewell - read it before it's too late
Review: Bayou Farewell by Mike Tidwell is a first-rate book and highly recommended. This book is about the loss of land along coastal Louisiana. At a rate of about 25 sqaure miles (or more) per year, Louisiana is losing the shallow water estuary that both supports a very productive fishing industry and offers storm surge protection during hurricanes. The reasons for the loss of land are presented in the book. With the sense of a road-trip adventurer, Mike Tidwell researched this issue by hitch-hiking his way up and down the bayous so that he could talk to and gather information from residents, fishermen, and scientists. The result is a report that combines scientific facts with cultural insight into what makes this region of the US a national treasure. Every American should read this book because this is a national issue that rarely gets reported in the media. If you like seafood, enjoy Cajun culture or like to visit New Orleans, then you should read this book. I particularly appreciated Mike Tidwell's ability to weave scientific discussions (e.g., river geomorphology) with cultural information such as the annual blessing of the fleet. This is an engaging and enlightening book. Read it soon before the story comes to a tragic ending.
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