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Wild Coast
Wild Coast | John Gimlette
3 posts | 1 read | 1 reading | 4 to read
Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana are among the least-known places in South America: nine hundred miles of muddy coastline giving way to a forest so dense that even today there are virtually no roads through it; a string of rickety coastal towns situated between the mouths of the Orinoco and Amazon Rivers, where living is so difficult that as many Guianese live abroad as in their homelands; an interior of watery, green anarchy where border disputes are often based on ancient Elizabethan maps, where flora and fauna are still being discovered, where thousands of rivers remain mostly impassable. And under the lens of John Gimlettebrilliantly offbeat, irreverent, and cannythese three small countries are among the most wildly intriguing places on earth. On an expedition that will last three months, he takes us deep into a remarkable world of swamp and jungle, from the hideouts of runaway slaves to the vegetation-strangled remnants of penal colonies and forts, from Little Paris to a settlement built around a satellite launch pad. He recounts the complicated, often surprisingly bloody, history of the regionincluding the infamous 1978 cult suicide at Jonestownand introduces us to its inhabitants: from the worlds largest ants to fluorescent purple frogs to head-crushing jaguars; from indigenous tribes who still live by sorcery to descendants of African slaves, Dutch conquerors, Hmong refugees, Irish adventurers, and Scottish outlaws; from high-tech pirates to hapless pioneers for whom this stunning, strangely beautiful world (a sort of X-rated Garden of Eden) has become home by choice or by force. In Wild Coast, John Gimlette guides us through a fabulously entertaining, eye-openingand sometimes jaw-droppingjourney.
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squirrelbrain
Wild Coast | John Gimlette
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Pickpick

#readingtheamericas

This was a pick, but only just. Some parts were fascinating but I loved the shortest section, on #frenchguiana most, followed by #suriname and then #guyana, which was much more than half of the book.

The author wrote everything in the present tense, but jumped around chronologically so it was very difficult to follow.

Quadruple dipping again!

#52books23 #hasanepilogue
#pop23 #abookwithamap
#booked23 #setin2+timeperiods

Megabooks Going to stack this! 2y
Suet624 “Founded 1768”. Love that. 2y
Librarybelle Stacking this…but good to know about the jumping around chronologically! 2y
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Cinfhen WOWZA!! You‘re slaying the prompts, Helen!! ⚔️ 2y
Bluebird Great job on choosing books that fit so many challenges. I love your penguin books collection. I was so sad when they changed their covers.. 2y
squirrelbrain @bluebird - I think it‘s much easier at the start of challenges; it‘ll get more difficult the less choice I have. 2y
81 likes3 stack adds6 comments
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squirrelbrain
Wild Coast | John Gimlette
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Of course, I‘m being greedy and having three books as my #lastfirst!

I‘ve just finished book 200 for the year (My Monticello) which means I can‘t possibly finish any more in 2022-need to have a tidy number!

I started listening to Demon a few days ago, Wild Coast will be my first for #readingtheamericas2023 and I‘ll start The Violin Conspiracy for some fiction. As long as I finish them in 2023 then they‘ll all count for next year‘s challenges!

squirrelbrain Thanks for hosting such a fun challenge, Kristen - I always love seeing everyone‘s posts! 2y
BookNAround Haha! I love that you have three. 2y
58 likes2 comments
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TheSpineView
Wild Coast | John Gimlette
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Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 🌍🙌🏻📚 4y
58 likes1 stack add1 comment