The Outer Beach

A Thousand-Mile Walk on Cape Cod's Atlantic Shore

Robert Finch (Spalding University)

$27.95

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

WW Norton & Co
13 July 2018

Memoirs; Deltas, estuaries, coastal regions; The Earth: natural history general; Travel & holiday guides

Those who have encountered Cape Cod—or merely dipped into an account of its rich history—know that it is a singular place. In The Outer Beach, beloved nature writer Robert Finch weaves together his collected writings from more than fifty years and more than a thousand miles of walking along Cape Cod's Atlantic coast to create a poignant, candid chronicle of an iconic American landscape. Finch considers evidence of nature's fury: shipwrecks, beached whales, towering natural edifices, ferocious seaside blizzards. And he ponders everyday human interactions conducted in its environment with equal curiosity, wit, and insight: taking a weeks-old puppy for his first beach walk; engaging in a nocturnal dance with one of the Cape's fabled lighthouses; stumbling, unexpectedly, upon nude sunbathers; or even encountering out-of-towners hoping an Uber will fetch them from the other side of a remote dune field.

Throughout these essays, Finch pays tribute to the Outer Beach's impressive literary legacy, meditates on its often-tragic history, and explores the strange, mutable nature of time near the ocean. But lurking behind every experience and observation—both pivotal and quotidian—is the essential question that the beach beckons every one of its pilgrims to confront: How do we accept our brief existence here, caught between overwhelming beauty and merciless indifference? Finch's affable voice, attentive eye, and stirring prose will be cherished by the Cape's staunch lifers and erstwhile visitors alike, and strike a resounding chord with anyone who has been left breathless by the majestic, unrelenting beauty of the shore.

By: Robert Finch (Spalding University)
Imprint: WW Norton & Co
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 140mm, Spine: 23mm
Weight: 277g
ISBN: 9780393356014
ISBN 10: 0393356019
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 13 July 2018
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Robert Finch has lived on Cape Cod for forty years, currently in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. He is the author of seven collections of essays, most recently of his radio scripts for his weekly commentary, “A Cape Cod Notebook,” on the Cape and Islands NPR Station, WCAI.

Reviews for The Outer Beach: A Thousand-Mile Walk on Cape Cod's Atlantic Shore

"""Lovely and fortifying... Geologists estimate that Cape Cod will disappear in around 6,000 years... Until it goes, may there continue to be writers as good as Mr. Finch to commemorate it."" -- Sam Sacks - The Wall Street Journal ""[Finch] is a keen and passionate observer... [He] artfully conveys what is, at heart, so stirring about the beach: how its beauty and magisterial power cause us to ponder the larger things in life."" -- The New York Times Book Review"