An amusing and imaginative cautionary tale from the late longtime
environmental activist. The apocalypse has struck again in this
bizarre and discombobulated warning about a world where genetic
engineering labs are still up and running, though society is
reduced to tribes and factions named after old products, such as
the Diehards. "UNSEEN CHRONIC POISONING FROM INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION
THAT CAUSES PAIN, SUFFERING, AND DEATH," reads a report at a fish
lab in the small Washington State coastal town where the action
begins-and there's plenty of it, and plenty of characters, for a
slim novel. The members of the lab, who do things like harvest
oysters and covet baby salmon, all remain remarkably distant and
emotionally stoic as they continue to rape nature and pay homage to
their almost-dwarf neo-Nazi new leader, Bill Urbanchuk. The
much-feared Urbanchuk is a central figure (or as central as one can
get here), along with Chief Shelldrake, a Native American with US
presidential aspirations who's suddenly powerful again in the wake
of society's collapse. Bent out of shape about some issues
involving lichens, Shelldrake decides that his only real recourse
is to drive to our nation's capital and execute a coup. He'll
eventually encounter Urbanchuk, but not before wading through
Cohen's morass of postmodern imagery that foretells a perhaps
unavoidable future: spilled truckloads of golf balls and fields of
bovines collapsing as their insides spontaneously explode. En route
to DC, the Chief gets caught up in niggling questions: Should he
really follow through with the coup-when the Pentagon can be such a
problem-or should he just open a restaurant? Cohen (1937-99) proves
himself to have been an unsung talent as the confusion of his
narrative echoes the confusion he fears and anticipates. The
manuscript feels a bit unfinished, but unfinished in the best
possible way, with echoes, say, of Nathanael West and Thomas
Pynchon. Fun and frightening. (Kirkus Reviews)
"Eccentric, hilarious. . . . This may not be the first environmental novel, but it's the first one that produces belly laughs." -- Mary Bringle, author of "Murder Most Gentrified"
"Firewater" is a brutally funny environmental suspense novel featuring Chief Shelldrake, favorite son for the U.S. presidency and last hope for the world's survival. A perfect anti-hero for the post-apocalypse, Shelldrake is equal parts Ralph Nader (in his zealous environmental activism), Sitting Bull (in his proud tribal loyalties), Huey Long (in his fiery demagogic populism) and Bill Clinton (in his unquenchable appetite for voluptuous young women).
Edward Stone Cohen (1937 - 1999) was born in Massachusetts and was a tireless environmental activist.
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