Disappointment River, Brian Castner
Disappointment River, Brian Castner
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Disappointment River
Finding and Losing the Northwest Passage

Author: Brian Castner

Narrator: Brian Castner

Unabridged: 12 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/13/2018


Synopsis

In 1789, Alexander Mackenzie traveled 1200 miles on the immense river in Canada that now bears his name, in search of the fabled Northwest Passage that had eluded mariners for hundreds of years. In 2016, the acclaimed memoirist Brian Castner retraced Mackenzie's route by canoe in a grueling journey -- and discovered the Passage he could not find.

Disappointment River is a dual historical narrative and travel memoir that at once transports readers back to the heroic age of North American exploration and places them in a still rugged but increasingly fragile Arctic wilderness in the process of profound alteration by the dual forces of globalization and climate change. Fourteen years before Lewis and Clark, Mackenzie set off to cross the continent of North America with a team of voyageurs and Chipewyan guides, to find a trade route to the riches of the East. What he found was a river that he named "Disappointment." Mackenzie died thinking he had failed. He was wrong.

    In this book, Brian Castner not only retells the story of Mackenzie's epic voyages in vivid prose, he personally retraces his travels, battling exhaustion, exposure, mosquitoes, white water rapids and the threat of bears. He transports readers to a world rarely glimpsed in the media, of tar sands, thawing permafrost, remote indigenous villages and, at the end, a wide open Arctic Ocean that could become a far-northern Mississippi of barges and pipelines and oil money.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jean on May 28, 2018

I remember sitting in a high school class years ago in Canada learning about Alexander Mackenzie’s discovery of the Mackenzie River. At 1,100 miles, it is North Americas second largest river. Then as per usual in those days I would start to day dream about traversing the river with Mackenzie in his......more

Goodreads review by Bob on February 28, 2021

An intriguing tale of Alexander Mackenzie who crossed Canada 14 years before Lewis and Clark. The author retraced his route, which makes this both history and a travel memoir. I've been fascinated by Lewis and Clark's journey; this book is an interesting parallel.......more

Goodreads review by Jim on May 03, 2024

Marco Polo. Columbus. Magellan. Henry Hudson. Captain Cook. Alexander Mackenzie. Lewis & Clark....Mackenzie? We know the names of the great explorers (for both good and bad)--with one big exception. Alexander Mackenzie. I had read something about him as a kid and was fascinated by his story. Finally......more

Goodreads review by Kasa on January 10, 2024

In Disappointment River, Brian Castner follows the trail of Alexander MacKenzie, who sought to find the Northwest Passage in northern Canada during the 18th century. Castner, a former ordnance disposal officer who served in Iraq, does the trip in a 2 person canoe, accompanied by three others who joi......more

Goodreads review by Casey on March 11, 2018

I received a free Kindle copy of Disappointment River by Brian Castner courtesy of Net Galley and Doubleday Books, the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would post a review to Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Fac......more


Quotes

"Discovering history, and not just new landscapes around the next bend in the river, is one of the delights of Disappointment River. And, during a time when so many American descendants of foreign extraction rail against immigration, it’s useful to recall that all of us originated in a diaspora."
—Rinker Buck, Wall Street Journal 

“Whether recounting the historic search for the Northwest Passage or his own epic journey on the Mackenzie River, Castner is an able guide, a steady hand, a voice of reason. You’ll want to sit in his canoe and ride this out. I couldn’t put Disappointment River down.”
—Dean King, author of Skeletons on the Zahara and The Feud

"...[Castner] provides a lively biography of Mackenzie, the youngest principal in the Northwest Company, contending not just with the rigors of exploration, but also with early corporate politics...A vital addition to the library of the far north and of exploration."
Kirkus,
starred review

"An exhilerating historical narrative...Castner evokes vivid personalities and drama from the archives ... Historians and armchair travelers alike will be equally pleased with this volume." 
—Publishers Weekly

"Vividly described, in well-wrought scenes that alternate from inspiring to humorous to stomach-clenching... Castner is a highly skilled writer and engaging companion."
Anchorage Daily News

"Appealing on both historical and contemporary levels, Castner’s work will please readers fascinated by tales of discovery."
—Booklist 


"...Intriguing and enlightening...For anyone concerned with the global effects of climate change, the meaning behind Disappointment River becomes alarmingly clear." 
—BookPage