Williwaw (novel)
Appearance
The first edition | |
Author | Gore Vidal |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Novel |
Publisher | E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., New York |
Publication date | 1946 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
Pages | 222 |
ISBN | 0919948553 |
Followed by | In a Yellow Wood |
Williwaw is the debut novel of Gore Vidal, written when he was 19 and first mate of a U.S. Army supply ship stationed in the Aleutian Islands. The story combines war drama, maritime adventure and a murder plot. The book was first published in 1946 in the United States by E.P. Dutton. Williwaw is the term, widely thought to be Native American in origin, for a sudden, violent katabatic wind common to the Aleutian Islands.
Plot summary
The story is set on a U.S. ship in the Arctic waters around the Aleutians in the Pacific Ocean in the middle of the local storm season during WW2. The nervousness and tension of the crew and a handful of passengers at the approach of the williwaw is stretched to breaking point when a murder is committed on the ship.
References
- http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10790039-williwaw
- http://www.thereadingroom.com/books/details/williwaw-gore-vidal/771670
- http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/wind/The-Williwaw.htm