Nature and travel writer Bill Belleville has inspired and informed countless readers through his books and magazine articles. River of Lakes, praised as "erudite" (Publishers Weekly), and "elegiac" (Florida Today), has spurred a resurgence of interest in Florida's St. Johns River. A similar sense of wonder abounds in Deep Cuba (Georgia), which reveals the island's diverse marine life. In these eighteen essays and articles Belleville takes us through Florida, the Caribbean, and Latin America in quest of the distinctive, the wondrous, the threatened, and the undiscovered. His wanderings take him to the once prosperous, now submerged pirate city of Port Royal, Jamaica, and to an offshore Florida reef just in time for a night dive to witness the seldom-seen spawning of the coral. In the Dominican Republic, Belleville dives with archaeologists in search of pre-Columbian Taino artifacts, long lost in the dark depths of a sacred cenote. In Trinidad he joins the search with native fishermen for the rare golden hammerhead shark. Whether seeking the queen conch off the islands of the Turks and Caicos or the flashlight fish in Cuba's southern waters, Belleville's purpose is always more than adventure for its own sake. Hungering for the distinct sense of a place, his curiosity compels him to learn all he can about the wild secrets of the remotest landscapes, from inland jungles to teeming island waters. Belleville's language creates a dreamy double vision, blending archetype and precision so well that the reader is convinced he has not merely read about jeweled moray and pink dolphins, but floated alongside them in tropical waters. "These tales are not hairy-chested, macho attempts to conquer snowcapped peaks, but adventures into sensuality and meaning." - Susan Zakin, author of Coyotes and Town Dogs.
Show moreNature and travel writer Bill Belleville has inspired and informed countless readers through his books and magazine articles. River of Lakes, praised as "erudite" (Publishers Weekly), and "elegiac" (Florida Today), has spurred a resurgence of interest in Florida's St. Johns River. A similar sense of wonder abounds in Deep Cuba (Georgia), which reveals the island's diverse marine life. In these eighteen essays and articles Belleville takes us through Florida, the Caribbean, and Latin America in quest of the distinctive, the wondrous, the threatened, and the undiscovered. His wanderings take him to the once prosperous, now submerged pirate city of Port Royal, Jamaica, and to an offshore Florida reef just in time for a night dive to witness the seldom-seen spawning of the coral. In the Dominican Republic, Belleville dives with archaeologists in search of pre-Columbian Taino artifacts, long lost in the dark depths of a sacred cenote. In Trinidad he joins the search with native fishermen for the rare golden hammerhead shark. Whether seeking the queen conch off the islands of the Turks and Caicos or the flashlight fish in Cuba's southern waters, Belleville's purpose is always more than adventure for its own sake. Hungering for the distinct sense of a place, his curiosity compels him to learn all he can about the wild secrets of the remotest landscapes, from inland jungles to teeming island waters. Belleville's language creates a dreamy double vision, blending archetype and precision so well that the reader is convinced he has not merely read about jeweled moray and pink dolphins, but floated alongside them in tropical waters. "These tales are not hairy-chested, macho attempts to conquer snowcapped peaks, but adventures into sensuality and meaning." - Susan Zakin, author of Coyotes and Town Dogs.
Show moreBILL BELLEVILLE, an award-winning environmental journalist and filmmaker, is also a veteran diver. His books include River of Lakes and Deep Cuba (both Georgia). His articles, which have appeared in such publications as Sierra, Oxford American, Islands, and Salon, have been anthologized in six other collections. Belleville lives in Sanford, Florida.
Bill Belleville's writing is like a stream of phosphorescence in
the ocean that he loves so well. Belleville's language creates a
dreamy double vision, blending archetype and precision so well that
the reader is convinced he has not merely read about jeweled morays
and pink dolphins but has floated alongside them in tropical
waters. These tales are not hairy-chested, macho attempts to
conquer snowcapped peaks, but adventures into sensuality and
meaning.
*author of Coyotes and Town Dogs: Earth First! and the
Environmental Movement*
I admire the precision, the poignancy, and the passion of Bill
Belleville's prose.
*Lonely Planet Global Travel Editor*
What splendid adventures Bill Belleville guides us through! He is
one of our great modern explorers, questing for gods in a time of
technology, lusting for life. Here in this sensuous and
unforgettable book he navigates us as deftly through language as he
does Amazonian rivers or limestone fountains deep within the earth.
His journey narratives are fluid, fresh, and piercingly poetic;
what he finds is ceaselessly fascinating. I would travel with Bill
Belleville to the ends of the earth.
*author of Wild Card Quilt: Taking a Chance on Home*
This collection of essays brings the reader to places that are
noted for archaeological treasures, rare plants and animals, or
great scenery, and water is the common denominator. Belleville,
travel writer, scuba diver, and boater, seems always to be wet or
preparing to be wet. As his armchair companions, readers may stay
dry, but the expressive and descriptive prose allows them to
experience the discovery and excitement as if they were there
themselves. . . . Belleville is an old-fashioned adventurer,
excited by what he finds, seeking just for the joy of finding. He
must also be a man of great charm as he seems able to coax the most
arcane information from his local guides. . . . As a book to read
at leisure, it is a fine treat.
*Booklist*
Bill Belleville is a fearless Florida scuba diver, explorer and
underwater adventurer. He also is a heck of a writer. His poetic
images . . . not only engage the reader but elevate his work to a
higher level than just another trek through the jungle.
*Covington News*
Equal parts storyteller, chronicler, adventurer and
conservationist, Belleville is a little Indiana Jones and a little
Henry David Thoreau. His work often maps out a timeline of what a
place once was, what it's become and where it's headed. Always
present in his writing is a subtext of stewardship and genuine
affection for the places he adventures in.
*Orlando Weekly*
Florida author Belleville is that much closer to solidifying his
reputation as a top-shelf nature writer. As much adventure story as
naturalistic poetry, Belleville’s latest excels at wrapping his
eco-prose in a captivating form. After all, who doesn't love
reading about sunken treasure? For Belleville, these treasures are
both artifacts and living; he gives as much breathless attention to
coral reproduction as he does to a now-underwater city. As with
Deep Cuba, Sunken Cities is a book that tackles ecological and
political problems in a way that's engaging simply as a stand-alone
story.
*Orlando Weekly*
Belleville is an expert diver whose wanderlust takes him to places
few sane people would venture. . . . Yet such is Belleville's
talent that even when he ventures into relatively familiar
territory, he brings an unfamiliar perspective, finding adventure
and wonderment in little-seen corners of the natural world.
*Natural History*
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