Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens

Fifty-seven people lost their lives on May 18, 1980, when Washington State's Mount St. Helens erupted with catastrophic force. National Book Award finalist (Mapping Human History) Olson tells the story of this tragic event using personal narratives of survivors and other primary documents. Olson solidly builds tension as he places the survivors and victims in their locations prior to the eruption. The actual eruption is brilliantly narrated; the listener is taken from one locale to another as events unfold and tragedy strikes some and others are saved by sheer luck and instinct. The environmental policies, scientific achievements, and geological knowledge gained complete the book. The ideology of environmental preservation and conservation is a major theme throughout, which adds another layer. The decision by Olson to spend nearly a quarter of the audiobook tracing the history of the lumber industry in general and the Weyerhaeuser Company in particular will likely disrupt the narrative flow for most listeners but will not ruin the experience. Jonathan Yen reads expertly.