At long last, someone has finally gotten it right. In Chesapeake Requiem, author Earl Swift masterfully reveals Tangier as it is — a proud but struggling community of fewer than 500 people trying to hold on to what they can amid unending hardship and isolation ... Though Chesapeake Requiem is cast as something of a Hillbilly Elegy for this seaside attraction, Swift makes a compelling case that the story of Tangier is far more consequential: It is probably the first community in America that will be entirely wiped away by climate change ... The result is an intimate, meticulously reported and captivating account of life on the island.
Tangier Island, a dwindling pancake of land surrounded by the unruly waters of the Chesapeake Bay, has long existed as a curiosity for mainlanders ... Swift not only weaves a masterful narrative of place, people, and nature, supported by the best sort of on-the-ground, in-depth journalistic reporting. He goes further, bringing to the fore the nuance and ambiguity of Tangier, and the environmental crisis it confronts. In his hands, the erosion tearing at Tangier takes on more than its ecological meaning and becomes, as imperceptibly and definitely as the waves eating into the shoreline, a story about all of us ... Swift does what only the best environmental writers can do. He reveals the complications and multiple storylines that underly an environmental crisis. And he builds compassion and connection, if not complete understanding, between readers and those who see the world quite differently.
As could probably be predicted from his extensive writing history, he's a first-rate observer, well able to portray pathos without sentimentality. He follows the people of Tangier Island through the various minutiae of their daily lives, bringing their humanity to life at every turn. And he fore-grounds his narrative with a succinct description of the torturous genesis of the blue crabs that form the basis of the areas entire economy ... It was the locational bedrock of Tangier Island's economy, but it's largely irrelevant if Tangier Island isn't there anymore. The blue crab industry in the Chesapeake will continue, but as Chesapeake Requiem makes eloquently, heartbreakingly clear, it will continue without Tangier Island.
In Chesapeake Requiem, journalist Earl Swift recounts his experiences living on Tangier for a year, tracing its history, getting a firsthand look at the environmental impact on the island and discovering what makes the islanders tick ... Swift details both the joys and difficulties of life on Tangier, coming to the realization that its sinking situation makes it 'an island both literal and metaphorical.'
At the heart of the book is a difficult question: Is Tangier worth saving? The answer depends, writes Swift, on what we as a society decide to value. We 'will not have the money, the physical means, or the time to save' every place, he writes. 'So we…will have to develop a rubric' for choosing which communities to protect from the encroaching sea. But how much is Tangier’s history worth? As much as New Orleans’s? As Miami’s? What if we decide that a population’s average household income is a worthier metric? ... As...[Swift] make[s] clear, climate change is already happening, and affecting most severely the communities that are already struggling.
Swift tempers his melancholy over the fact that Tangier and the way of life it supports are in inexorable decline with information about possible ways to stem Tangier’s physical erosion with jetties, seawalls, and landfills. An empathetic portrait of a small and unique community and its plight under environmental stress.
In a graceful melding of history, nature writing, and perceptive cultural commentary, the author offers an affectionate portrait of the island and its 'God-fearing, self-reliant,' close-knit residents ... Swift’s profiles of individuals are sharply drawn and empathetic, and he captures their frustration with government bureaucracy as they hope for federal financing of a sea wall ... A well-rendered narrative about how one specific island’s fate stands as a warning for all coastal regions.
Journalist Swift empathetically examines the complicated history of Tangier Island in Chesapeake Bay, which he calls 'a community unlike any in America' ... With understanding and insight, Swift presents a thought-provoking portrait of Tangier Island as it once was, as it is now, and as it could someday become.
