The Last Light Breaking: Living Among Alaska's Inupiat

When I first ordered this book, I was looking for an ethnography of the Inupiat. I didn't look that closely at the description of the book, but since it had a five star rating, I still bought it. The day it arrived, I started reading it and found at that what I received was not what I was expecting...however I still couldn't put it down. Jans' stories of life with the Inupiat, are amazing.While it isn't a traditional ethnography, Jans still gives some amazing insight into the lives of the Inupiat. His descriptions are colorful and entertaining while still giving a sense of the seriousness of the intrusion of mining and modern culture on the traditional subsistence of the Inupiat. There is a degree of fear as to what will happen to them as society marches onward into the remote regions of Alaska and provides a sense of urgency of protection for these people.If you are remotely interested in what life is like above the arctic circle, get this book. Don't think about it, just get it.

This February, I was sitting in the library at the Selawik school -- just above the Arctic Circle, population 700; I was there as part of a program that sent authors to the Alaskan bush -- and I asked the librarian for a book recommendation. She went straight to THE LAST LIGHT BREAKING. I leafed through it and then bought it when I got home. My favorite piece in this collection is "Beat the Qaaviks," Jans' account of an Arctic basketball game, but they're all excellent. I'm hoping to return to Selawik, and to take a friend with me. I gave him THE LAST LIGHT BREAKING to whet his appetite. If you're reading this, you're already thinking about buying the book. Just buy it. It's great.

This collection of essays are the author's descriptions and reflections on aspects of life in rural Alaska. It's not a story of pioneering or stone age lifestyles, as the title "living among the eskimos" might suggest. Rather, Jans gives a vivid picture of how the lives of rural Alaskans are like a collision of the old and new worlds. It is a world of snowmachines, TV, and basketball, and caribou hunting. Nick Jans lived in the villages of northwest Alaska for decades. The reader benefits from his sense of the most striking or moving experiences he has collected and his perfect, crystal clear prose. I came away with the sense that Jans loves Alaska and when you read the book you can feel it yourself. I also highly..HIGHLY recommend his more recent book that incorporates stunning photography with essays.

A great descreption of what life is like in the Alaskan Bush