Written with verve and a profound understanding of the contradictions of American democracy. . . . Readers might curl up with [Fryar’s] book in the comfort of home or, after visiting the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument, take it with them on a stroll along [the Potomac]. . . . A lovely ode to an oft-neglected river.
Potomac Fever
Reflections on the Nation’s River
As she walks the length of the Potomac River, clambering up its banks and sounding its depths, Charlotte Taylor Fryar examines the geography and ecology of Washington, D.C. with all manner of flora and fauna as her witness. The ecological traces of human inhabitancy provide her with imaginative access into America’s past, for her true subject is the origin of our splintered nation and racially divided capital.
From the gentrified neighborhood of Shaw to George Washington’s slave labor camp at Mount Vernon, Potomac Fever maps the troubled histories of the United States by leading us along the less-trafficked trails and side streets of our capital city, steeped in the legacy of white supremacy and colonialism. In the end, Fryar offers hope for how “we might grow a society guided by the ethics and values of the places we live.”
A compelling synthesis of historical, environmental, and personal narrative, Potomac Fever exposes the roots of our national myths, awash in the waters of America’s renowned river.
Reading Group Choices “Editors’ Picks” selection
Shelf Unbound “Recommended Reading” selection
Kirkus Reviews “Exploring Water Worlds Booklist” selection
Arlington Magazine/Arlington Public Library “Best New Book Releases” selection
Ebook
- ISBN
- 9781954276352
Paperback
- ISBN
- 9781954276345
Charlotte Taylor Fryar, author of Potomac Fever, recommends ten books that capture the true spirit of Washington, D.C. at Literary Hub.
Watch Charlotte Taylor Fryar discuss Potomac Fever in the EveryLibrary Live! National Library Week author series.
Read an excerpt from Potomac Fever in Shelf Unbound.
Events
Charlotte Taylor Fryar, author of Potomac Fever, at the Annapolis Book Festival
The Annapolis Book Festival welcomes Charlotte Taylor Fryar, author of Potomac Fever, for an author talk and conversation with Dan Sherman.
Charlotte Taylor Fryar, author of Potomac Fever, at New Dominion Bookshop
New Dominion Bookshop welcomes Charlotte Taylor Fryar, author of Potomac Fever, for a book talk and conversation.
Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin hosts Charlotte Taylor Fryar, author of Potomac Fever, for a nature walk in Rock Creek Park
Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin welcomes Charlotte Taylor Fryar, author of Potomac Fever, for a “Walk in the Woods” series hike and author talk from Boundary Bridge to Riley Spring in Rock Creek Park.
Free; registration required
Fox Haven Farm hosts Charlotte Taylor Fryar, author of Potomac Fever, for a nature walk along the Brunswick Towpath
Fox Haven Farm welcomes Charlotte Taylor Fryar, author of Potomac Fever, for a historical land walk and book talk along the Brunswick Towpath.
Curious Iguana hosts Charlotte Taylor Fryar, author of Potomac Fever, at the Brunswick Branch Library
Curious Iguana welcomes Charlotte Taylor Fryar, author of Potomac Fever, for an author talk and book signing at the Brunswick Branch Library.
Charlotte Taylor Fryar is a writer, historian, educator, and herbalist. She holds a PhD in American Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and lives in Glen Echo, Maryland, less than seven hundred feet from the banks of the Potomac River. Potomac Fever: Reflections on the Nation’s River is her first book.
visit author page »Praise for Potomac Fever
Powerful. . . . Potomac Fever strikes a wonderful balance. In some parts, it is a pastoral, wherein Fryar depicts the wonders of nature found along the banks of our region’s preeminent river. In others, it’s a hard-hitting critique of our racist past and present.
Fryar seamlessly weaves a fascinating history of racial, class, and gendered divisions that exist in and outside of Washington, D.C.’s quintessential worlds of interrelated nature and American (in)humanity.
— Marcie Cohen Ferris, coeditor of Southern Cultures journal and author of The Edible South
Provocative. . . . Starting with a love of the river and the plants around it, the evocative descriptions are joined by political and social histories that define who lives where and the impacts of pollution and climate change. An important read about a place that defines us all.
— Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books (Davidson, NC)