Surviving the Essex

Surviving the Essex tells the captivating story of a ships crew battered by whale attack, broken by four months at sea, and forcedout of necessityto make meals of their fellow survivors. Exploring the Rashomon-like Essex accounts that complicate and even contradict first mate Owen Chases narrative, David O. Dowling examines the vital role of point of view in shaping how an event is remembered and delves into the ordeals submerged historythe survivors lives, ambitions, and motives, their pivotal actions during the desperate moments of the wreck itself, and their will to reconcile those actions in the short- and long-term aftermath of this storied event. Mother of all whale tales, Surviving the Essex acts as a sequel to Nathaniel Philbricks In the Heart of the Sea, while probing deeper into the nature of trauma and survival accounts, an extreme form of notoriety, and the impact that the story had on Herman Melville and the writing of Moby-Dick.