More Michener

Hubby Steve surprised me with two new books yesterday: "Alaska" and "Hawaii" by James A. Michener. I'm well into "Alaska" and am already completely absorbed in the story. I am amazed at the tremendous amount of research that has gone into producing these excellent novels. Michener was not only a master of his craft, but a relentless perfectionist with an obsession for accuracy. The list of acknowledgments is replete with geologists, paleontologists, volcanologists and a passel of historians and anthropologists. Although the story is fiction, I'm thinking it is a highly realistic representation of the evolution of life and the history in this God-forsaken region called Alaska. I happened upon some interesting information this morning. I learned what a pasquinade is: a satire or lampoon posted in a public place. It can also means to assail. I thought of the incorrigible and self-indulgent French trapper, Pasquinel in "Centenniel". I like Michener's sense of humor.