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Overview
The Maine dogfish are gone—fished to the brink of extinction. Gone too is Linda Jane, and with her the love and the subjunctive Maine that they might have shared. And what of that fabled “Old Maine”? Is it gone for good?
Written as a sailing chronicle, Dogfish Memory is the story of the search for an authentic Maine, a Maine of the past, whether historical or simply imagined, and a Maine of the present, one experienced by both permanent residents and seasonal ones—summerfolk. Joseph Dane is both. He has worked on commercial fishing boats as a local and he has sailed the coast for years like those who are “from away.” Dogfish Memory tells the story of how his often conflicting Maines are intertwined. Authentic Maine is elusive; stories and even photographs of a past Maine often contradict the memories of those who have lived through the changes they record. Dogfish Memory is thus the story of loss, the loss of a Maine recalled and imagined, and the loss of the love with which Maine is irrevocably associated.
Editorials
The Maine Magazine
“A sly and graceful memoir about Maine, sailing, and self.”Los Angeles Times
This narrative thread is way too broken to craft into the kind of story you might tell a friend. This is a narrative that attracts only readers.I have never seen a better illustration of how, spider-like and blind,
we weave our lives, one tier to the next. I have never seen a memoir so aggressively honest. He wanted to create something true out of these bits of failure (and some glorious moments) and he has done that.— Susan Salter Reynolds
Washington Post Book World
...[A] poignant, wistful and complex book...in the end, a deeply moving book. And it also made me want to see Maine.— Chris BohjalianSusan Salter Reynolds - Los Angeles Times
“This narrative thread is way too broken to craft into the kind of story you might tell a friend. This is a narrative that attracts only readers.I have never seen a better illustration of how, spider-like and blind,
we weave our lives, one tier to the next. I have never seen a memoir so aggressively honest. He wanted to create something true out of these bits of failure (and some glorious moments) and he has done that.”