The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko

4.34 AVERAGE

kadarwil's review

5.0
This is one of the best books I've read this year. If you enjoy non-fiction adventure, this book is top notch. The writing itself is fantastic and the depth of information was way beyond my expectations. It is actually more of a history of the grand canyon, from the perspective of an adventurer, than just a straight story. Highly recommend. If the opening page of this book doesn't practically move you to tears, you don't really love the outdoors.

aprilmay11's review

4.0
Wow! This is a LONG big book. For the first 70% I’d say to myself, This could be 5 smaller books. And a little bit boring and I am so glad I did the Audio. Then the last 30% is 5 stars. I love the call from the river. To go faster. I even listened to it while riding my bike and rode pretty fast while listening to it. I have been to the Grand Canyon and want to go back now.

a_reader_of_book's review

5.0
adventurous informative reflective fast-paced

cdtyrrell's review

5.0
Amazing. A perfect blend of spectacular and tongue-in-cheek writing. One of my favorite "eco books" since Reisner's Cadillac Desert.

nickbluth's review

5.0
I started this book thinking that it was just an adventure story of some rafters that sped down the Colorado River. It turned out to be a much bigger story than that. I would say that there are three main components to this book. First, there is the story of three men daring to make a speed run at the highest flow that it ever reached. Second is the story of the engineers struggling to keep the Glen Canyon Dam from tearing itself apart due to some devastating structural flaws. The third story contained in this book is a powerful tribute to the majesty and history of the Grand Canyon itself.

Before reading this book I had visited the north rim of the Grand Canyon a couple of times. It was beautiful, but I never had any much desire to do much more than look at it. After finishing this book I now have a new item for my bucket list. I need to raft the canyon in a dory so that I can fully experience the canyon.

The way that the author describes things is very powerful and at times almost poetic. If you can't experience the canyon for yourself this is a very close second.

go_devils's review against another edition

4.5
adventurous informative inspiring slow-paced

catlefey's review

5.0
adventurous funny inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

mmpeters0426's review

4.75
adventurous challenging informative fast-paced

jeffphilly's review against another edition

5.0
So much more than just a boat going down the Colorado

Really the book provides a history of the grand canyon with an immense amount of engineering and scientific terminology used in the process, not that its overwhelming
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hale_yeah's review

5.0
adventurous informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced