FLOW: The Life and Times of Philadelphia's Schuylkill River
Synopsis:
"Beth Kephart's Flow is just a sumptuous book-haunting, poetic, lit up with gems of beauty and history. We engorge ourselves on materialism. The legacy of our generation will be our consumerism. But Flow and its exquisite evocation of the Schuylkill River reminds us that nature still trumps everything. Which makes the book all the more beautiful and all the more rare." Buzz Bissinger, author of A Prayer for the City and Friday Night Lights Book Description From acclaimed writer Beth Kephart, author of A Slant of Sun, comes a short, imaginative telling of the life of the Schuylkill River, which has served as the source of Philadelphia's water, power, industry, and beauty for the city's entire life. Before that, it fed the indigenous people who preceded William Penn, and has since time immemorial shape our region.
Book Excerpt:
Rising (Chapter One) From within the fissure I rise, old as anything. The gravel beneath me slides. Blueback herring and eel, alewife and shad muscle in through my wide blue heart, and through. The smudged face of a wolf pools on my surface, and for that one instant I go blind. Hemlock to either side. Nut trees. Laurel copses. The stony backs of snapping turtles on the shore, muskrat, shrew, and from the unlanterned forest, the bark of a fox, the skith, skith, skith of snakes over leaves, the prowl of a bobcat, and when it rains the rain is its own kind of song, not just a drumming by a lyric. Were there language, I'd be my own lone letter.
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Original Publish Date:
June 1, 2007
Publishing Notes:
AroundPhilly.com Weekly Picks Flow Most autobiographies are a shameful, voyeuristic addiction of the public (thanks Paris, Monica L. and Jenna). But when a river--yes, a free flowing watercourse--releases an autobiography, it goes proudly on your coffee table to advertise your intelligent indie reading. Flow: The Life and Times of Philadelphia's Schuylkill River is chock full of memories and moments from the river's lifetime. Okay, so it was penned by Beth Kephart, a regional writer whose résumé overflows with awards. But the powerful words and imaginative musings come directly from the rises of the river, with retellings from poignant events dating back to the colonial era. Main Line Today Magazine July 2007, pg 45 In her new book, Devon’s Beth Kephart poeticizes Philadelphia through the keen observations of its eldest resident, the Schuylkill River, which has long served as the city’s source of water, power, industry, and beauty. FLOW adapts the river’s motion, winding past local events and retelling them with an imaginative and poignant voice. Orion Magazine, July/August, page 76 “That’s the thing about this river; you have to imagine it to see.” An admirer transforms her glimpses of the life of the Schuylkill—once wild, then pressed into human service, and now rediscovered for its remnant beauty—into spare prose that is often moving, whether or not you live in Philly.
Formats:
Hardcover
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