Review by Booklist Review
Anthropologist Thomas begins this profoundly relevant book by reminding readers that the earliest Europeans to set eyes on the American West were unaware that the bounteous landscapes they surveyed had been curated for thousands of years by Indigenous peoples through the masterful use of controlled burns. Fast-forward to 2021, when Thomas finds himself a member of the elite federal firefighting forces known as Hotshots, whose job is often knocking down megafires caused not by controlled burns but rather by centuries of intentional fire suppression by the cultural descendants of those Europeans. In the midst of those infernos, which Thomas describes in grueling detail, the author lays out the tragic history of forestry management in America, from our ongoing misperception of forests in strictly commercial terms to the climate denialism fueling an ever more flammable planet to the fact that Hotshots often risk their lives defending not so much forests of fire-suppressing diversity but rather, tree plantations managed by private industry. As entomologist Douglas Tallamy alerted the world to the critical importance of insects to a healthy planet, so Thomas, in this spellbinding account, shows how thoughtful forestry management can begin to address the megafires now touching all of our lives.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Anthropologist Thomas debuts with an essential meditation on fire's role on a warming planet. The central narrative recounts his six-month tenure as a member of the Los Padres Hotshots, an elite federal fire-fighting crew, in 2021, discussing how even as the group engaged in lighthearted prank wars with other crews, they struggled with the stress of working under perilous conditions. Providing visceral accounts of his most harrowing deployments, Thomas describes, for instance, falling off a small cliff after passing out while battling a Big Sur megafire in 123 °F heat, only to haul himself back up to the top and continue clearing brush. Supplementing his recollections, Thomas provides captivating background on how colonial-era bans on Indigenous controlled burns set the stage for today's inadequate fire suppression practices; how climate change has made fires more severe and frequent; and how private firefighters, retardant manufacturers, and lumber companies take advantage of fire disasters by selling to the government often faulty services that prioritize profit over effectiveness. Writing with exceptional verve, Thomas captures the furious intensity of working on the fire line ("The sawyers circled one another like swordsmen in a duel, cutting every last branch they could find until none were left and they faced each other with heaving chests and sweat pouring through the grime"). Narrative nonfiction doesn't get better than this. Agent: Alice Whitwham, Cheney Agency. (May)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The heat and history at the frontlines of an elite hotshot firefighting crew. Joining the Los Padres Hotshots crew was an endeavor so intense that the interview alone involved answering questions while climbing a trail at a pace extreme enough that it verged on causing a blackout. As an elite firefighting crew, the hotshots are tasked with containing the most intense megafires and asked to do the most extreme work. Thomas brings us to the front lines, deftly pulling the reader to the edge of the fire in evocative writing that reads like a thriller. An anthropologist, he's closely attuned to the hypermasculinity and culture of men sleeping in the dirt, putting their bodies through extreme situations, and holding conflicting ideals about the environment. The writing is powerful enough that the book does not sacrifice the more embodied intensity of the front lines for its meticulous research and intellectual analysis, instead managing to hold multiple realities taut. Perhaps the strongest segment of the book comes in its explosive analysis of the firefighting industry that reads as an exposé. "Megafires emerge from a series of fractured relationships--between fire, the land, our institutions, and each other," he writes, describing fire suppression and the resulting megafires as "the war on nature." He talks candidly about what scientists call the sacrifice zone: "a place where low-income people shoulder the burden of industrial misconduct." In this case, that means the hotshots, who are highly trained essential firefighters who could be one injury away from bankruptcy--contrasting with the firefighting industry, where a handful of individuals make massive profits from salvage logging, among other means. Thomas doesn't shy away from the harsh realities of the fire economy, maintaining the thriller-like momentum, but there's hope to be found here, too. With prescribed burn sites, community organizing, and sequoias wrapped in fire blankets, the future is something to fight for. This book raises up that fight. Thinking about fire has never been more essential--Thomas charts a map toward the future. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
