Big Dead Place: Inside the Strange and Menacing World of Antarctica
Johnson’s savagely funny [book] is a grunt’s-eye view of fear and loathing, arrogance and insanity in a dysfunctional, dystopian closed community. It’s like M*A*S*H on ice, a bleak, black comedy.”—The Times of London
Search in google:
What really goes on in Antarctica? John Strausbaaugh Mr. Johnson's writing is so conversational and companionable that it's easy to picture oneself settling in next to him at McMurdo's bar as he reels off humorous stories through the long winter night. Having a guy like him to work with might make the cold and cooped-up craziness sufferable. The New York Times
ForewordCh. 1Frozen realm of mystery1Ch. 2The offshore account and the alien abduction17Ch. 3Little America43Ch. 4The South Pole77Ch. 5The most peaceful spot in this world103Ch. 6The grinder and the projected mayhem index117Ch. 7The ice annex and the medevac135Ch. 8Disaster city149Ch. 9The United States exploring expedition177Ch. 10The Antarctic service awards193Ch. 11Faith in science217App. IThe ironworker and the Russian bride238App. IIAsbestos memo 1248App. IIIAsbestos memo 2250
\ From the Publisher"No one has done more to change the way we understand Antarctica. Nick was unflinching in his critique of bureaucracy and authority in the United States Antarctic Program, but mainly he sought to create a dialogue within and about Antarctica that cut through cliche and hypocrisy in order to describe things as they really are, in all their glory and strangeness." -Progressive Review\ "It took a full century and the building of centrally heated infrastructure for the island at the bottom of the world to produce something like a minor classic. Its author was a young American writer and itinerant contract worker named Nicholas Johnson, whose memoir Big Dead Place upon publication superseded a century’s worth of self-serving ice-beard memoirs and press-junket hackery." - Alternet\ \ \ \ \ \ \ John StrausbaaughMr. Johnson's writing is so conversational and companionable that it's easy to picture oneself settling in next to him at McMurdo's bar as he reels off humorous stories through the long winter night. Having a guy like him to work with might make the cold and cooped-up craziness sufferable.\ The New York Times\ \ \ Publishers WeeklyWhen Johnson went to work for the U.S. Antarctic Program (devoted to scientific research and education in support of the national interest in the Antarctic), he figured he'd find adventure, beauty, penguins and lofty-minded scientists. Instead, he found boredom, alcohol and bureaucracy. As a dishwasher and garbage man at McMurdo Station, Johnson quickly shed his illusions about Antarctica. Since he and his co-workers seldom ventured beyond the station's grim, functional buildings, they spent most of their time finding ways to entertain themselves, drinking beer, bowling and making home movies. The dormlike atmosphere, complete with sexual hijinks and obscene costume parties, sometimes made life there feel like "a cheap knock-off of some original meaty experience." What dangers there were existed mostly in the psychological realm; most people who were there through the winter developed the "Antarctica stare," an unnerving tendency to forget what they were saying mid-sentence and gaze dumbly at the station walls. And if the cold and isolation didn't drive one crazy, the petty hatreds and mindless red tape might. Though occasionally rambling and uneven, this memoir offers an insider's look at a place that few people know anything about and fewer still have ever seen. Photos. (July) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalEveryday life in modern Antarctica is not the struggle against the forces of nature that is often portrayed in the stories of the early explorers. Instead, in Johnson's tome, it is filled with the mundane tasks required to keep a community functioning (cooking, cleaning, construction) and to support the U.S. presence on the continent. Johnson, who has worked in Antarctica for several years, most recently on garbage detail, here tells the story of life in the small and isolated McMurdo station. From inane Antarctic personalities and events to frustrating bureaucratic games, Johnson offers readers an unsentimental, sometimes even bitter, view of what it means to work here. While some readers will find the language offensive, this humorous and and often wittily sarcastic account of a place that people tend to romanticize should be read by anyone seriously considering working in Antarctica; it is also the only book available that shows modern Antarctic life and culture from the worker's perspective. As such, it is recommended to larger travel and social science collections.-Sheila Kasperek, Mansfield Univ. Lib., PA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.\ \
