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Book Summary and Reviews of The Watch That Ends the Night by Allan Wolf

The Watch That Ends the Night by Allan Wolf

The Watch That Ends the Night

Voices from the Titanic

by Allan Wolf

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  • Published:
  • Oct 2011, 480 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Arrogance and innocence, hubris and hope - twenty-four haunting voices of the Titanic tragedy, as well as the iceberg itself, are evoked in a stunning tour de force.

Millionaire John Jacob Astor hopes to bring home his pregnant teen bride with a minimum of media scandal. A beautiful Lebanese refugee, on her way to family in Florida, discovers the first stirrings of love. And an ancient iceberg glides south, anticipating its fateful encounter. The voices in this remarkable re-creation of the Titanic disaster span classes and stations, from Margaret ("the unsinkable Molly") Brown to the captain who went down with his ship; from the lookout and wireless men to a young boy in search of dragons and a gambler in search of marks. Slipping in telegraphs, undertaker's reports, and other records, poet Allan Wolf offers a breathtaking, intimate glimpse at the lives behind the tragedy, told with clear-eyed compassion and astounding emotional power.

Extensive back matter includes:
Author's note
Morse code with messages to decipher
Titanic miscellany
Bibliography, articles, periodicals, government documents, discography

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"A lyrical, monumental work of fact and imagination that reads like an oral history revved up by the drama of the event." - Kirkus Reviews

"Starred Review. Wolf leaves no emotion unplumbed, no area of research uninvestigated, and his voices are so authentic they hurt. Nothing recommends this to a YA audience, in particular, but who cares? Everyone should read it. Outstanding, insightful back matter completes this landmark work." - Booklist

"Starred Review. Several concrete poems add visual interest; the Iceberg poems gradually get shorter as the monster melts, and the melee above decks is shown through a series of four-line poems surrounded by snippets of frantic conversation that converge in the gutter." - Horn Book Magazine

"Allan Wolf has combined meticulous research with open-hearted poetry to craft the story of the Titanic in a fresh and compelling way. A remarkable accomplishment." - Helen Frost, author of Crossing Stones and Hidden

"Allan Wolf has imagined his way deep into the cold, dark waters of history and has come back carrying a couple of dozen voices that he discovered there, voices whose authenticity is not only convincing but compelling." - Ted Kooser, former U.S. Poet Laureate and winner of the Pulitzer Prize

This information about The Watch That Ends the Night was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Allan Wolf

Allan Wolf, an expert poet and storyteller, is the author of the award-winning novels New Found Land: Lewis and Clark's Voyage of Discovery and Zane's Trace. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina. Visit him online at www.allanwolf.com.

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