Williwaw (novel): Difference between revisions

Williwaw (1946 novel)

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 just 19 years old 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