Chasing Moneymaker

Both an adventure and a love story, this is a starkly beautiful novel about a man who has spent his life fleeing ghosts, and who finally attempts to purge himself of them by doing one brave thing - saving Louis Moneymaker, a man lost somewhere in the arctic, barely alive, running low on food, and surviving on the floating remnants of Flaw Island. Set against a backdrop of the freezing, awe-inspiring arctic sea, 'Chasing Moneymaker' is a novel of courage, loneliness and hope - of men and women who have spent so long at the extremities of nature that they are unable to exist anywhere else, and of their friendship and humour that somehow survive against all odds.

About the Author :
David Masiel was born in Oakland, California. He spent ten years working on ocean tugs and arctic icebreakers and barges, from Seattle to Barter Island, Alaska, and in that way put himself through graduate school in Creative Writing. He later took an MFA in fiction and now teaches literature, creative writing and film studies at a high school in California.

Review :
Packs a hard, cold punch ... fans of hulking bergs, finger-slicing snowstorms and famished polar bears will not be disappointed - Boyd Tonkin, Independent Raunchily funny and deadly serious ... summoning the ghosts of Conrad and Heller and doing them both proud. David Masiel charts the profound and the ludicrous and reveals them to beneighboring territories. - Scott Phillips, author of 'The Ice Harvest' A gripping read, and one that casts human nature against a stark, telling background - List [A] thrilling first novel ... Masiel expertly lays bare the hazards--and necessity--of redemption against the cruelest of emotional and physical environments, and his exacting, lyrical reportage--filled with H-bitts, fiddley decks and tabular bergs--is worthy of John McPhee. - LA Times An atmospheric tale which pitches wildly between love and loss, destruction and salvation. - Mirror A book of such raucous wonder that it should instantly take its place as a Northwest literary classic so vital it almost hurts Masiel has the narrative gusto, scabrous humor and raunchy verbal vigor of an Annie Proulx or a Thom Jones.' - Seattle Times This is one hell of a story, each sentence skillfully crafted with love for this harsh world and the respect to tell it right. I loved this book. - Kent Anderson, author of 'Sympathy for the Devil' Modern . . . macho . . . highly reada