Williwaw

Name: Williwaw
Brand: Brilliance Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Gore Vidal
ISBN: 9781799751809

Author: Gore Vidal

Narrator: Christopher Lane

Unabridged: 5 hr 33 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Published: 08/04/2020

Categories: Fiction, Military Fiction, Historical Fiction

Synopsis

A gripping tale of men struggling against nature and themselves, Williwaw was Gore Vidal’s first novel, written at nineteen when he was first mate of the U.S. Army freight supply ship stationed in the Aleutian Islands. Here he writes of a ship caught plying the lethal, frigid Arctic waters during storm season. Tensions run high among the edgy crew and uneasy passengers even before the cruel wind that gives the book its title suddenly sweeps down from the mountains. Vividly drawn characters and a compelling murder plot combine to make Williwaw a classic war novel.

About Gore Vidal

Gore Vidal (1925–2012) was born at the United States Military Academy at West Point. His first novel, Williwaw, written when he was 19 years old and serving in the army, appeared in the spring of 1946. He wrote 23 novels, five plays, many screenplays, short stories, well over 200 essays, and a memoir.

Reviews

Goodreads review by mark on August 27, 2016

according to my best friend Wikipedia, a williwaw is "a sudden blast of wind descending from a mountainous coast to the sea... the williwaw results from the descent of cold, dense air from the snow and ice fields of coastal mountains in high latitudes, accelerated by the force of gravity". the novel......more

Goodreads review by Lottie Louise on January 03, 2024

A sublime wartime adventure, written and set during World War Two, Gore Vidal’s debut ‘Williwaw’ is a claustrophobic terse novel about a journey along the Aleutians. Drawn from his own experiences and the stories he heard whilst First Mate during the war, Vidal’s vividly haunting descriptions and hi......more

Goodreads review by Rebecca on March 01, 2013

A short but well-done novel that is set in World War II, in the Aleutian Islands. Caught in a storm while taking three officers to a nearly port. As the storm worsens, the crew and captain fight for survival and when the storm subsides, someone turns up missing. It's not quite a mystery, but I loved......more