Isaac's Storm

Since I so enjoyed my previous Erik Larson reads (In the Garden of Beasts and The Devil in the White City), I decided to see what else Larson had written. The answer: Isaac’s Storm, the story of the 1900 hurricane that devastated Galveston, Texas. The protagonist, Isaac Cline, is the station head of the national weather service’s Galveston station; he arguably bears much blame for the town’s ignorance of the storm.Even so, he comes across as a mostly likable, and even somewhat sympathetic guy. His likability stems, no doubt, from the fact that he's introduced not when he's at the brink of making one of the greatest meteorological blunders of the century (though there is more competition than you'd think for even this dubious distinction), but as a young child born in Tennessee hill country in the midst of the Civil War. Following his exploits from the age of six, the reader can't help but be a bit partial to Team Isaac by the time the real drama unfolds.

Before recounting the real drama - the ravaging of Galveston - and in the midst of telling Isaac's personal history, Larson sets the stage with the history of early American meteorology and hurricanes from centuries past, essentially from the time of Columbus through the twentieth century. He does this with the same attention to detail and humor that accompanied his telling of Hitler’s rise and Mudgett’s murders. The material is certainly serious, but it is presented with a lightness that, if possible, makes it seem more real – and certainly more memorable. (Case in point: the weather service’s forecast for March 12, 1888.)  Reading about the weather may sound about as exciting as watching paint dry, but I was definitely as impressed with this book as with the other Larson books I've read; at this point, I would count Larson among my favorite authors.