The thrilling, cinematic story of a community shattered by disaster–and the unlikely woman around whom it pulled together.In 1964, Anchorage, Alaska, was a modern-day frontier town yearning to be a metropolis–the largest, proudest city in a state that was still brand-new. Then, just before sundown on Good Friday, the most powerful earthquake in American history struck. For four and a half … four and a half minutes, the ground lurched and rolled. Streets cracked open and swallowed buildings whole. When the shaking stopped, night fell and Anchorage went dark. Everyone was isolated from one another and sealed off from the outside world.
Slowly, people switched on transistor radios and heard a woman’s familiar voice explaining what just happened and what to do next. Her name was Genie Chance, and she was a working mother and part-time radio reporter who’d play an extraordinary role in the disaster’s aftermath, helping her fractured community reconnect and cohere. Genie’s broadcasts over the next three days would transform her into a legendary figure in Alaska and bring her fame worldwide–but only briefly.
Drawing on thousands of pages of newly discovered documents, interviews with survivors, and recordings of original radio broadcasts, This Is Chance! is the gorgeously told story of a single, catastrophic weekend in a faraway town and a cast of endearingly eccentric characters who endured it.
There are moments when reality instantly changes–when it becomes clear that the lives we assume are stable actually rest on pure happenchance. This Is Chance! shows human resilience rising above that randomness and human connection withstanding chaos. That Easter weekend, ordinary people were thrown into a jumbled world they couldn’t recognize. Together they’d figure out how to make a home in it again.
more
An intimate, moving story about our capacity to care for one another when things fall apart — and, just maybe, on all the ordinary days, too. Jon Mooallem is one of the most intelligent, compassionate, and curious authors writing today. I would go on any adventure that his mind embarks upon, knowing that I was being led by the ablest of guides.
On Good Friday in 1964 in Anchorage, Alaska the largest earthquake in U.S. History occurred. Genie Chance a local radio reporter was thrust into marathon coverage as soon as she could broadcast. This was at a time when Alaska was barely acknowledged as a state and when women were not taken seriously in the work force. Genie helped to calm the people and relay important information continuously for over 30 hours. The author does a tremendous job of telling the facts in a very readable story.
Well written and impeccably researched, this book focuses on how one person who steps in during a crisis can help thousands. The characters are real and flawed, as are we all. Seen through the eyes of those who experienced it, one gets a different perspective on the Alaska Earthquake. Ms Chance is remarkable and I was glad to get to know her through this book.
Interesting narration of true story of earthquake in Alaska. Interesting window into the era of the 50s and Alaska as a modern day wilderness
Very interested in this story. I was in Anchorage as a child in 1959 because my aunt and uncle were living there. Had hoped to seer mention of him as he was an engineer who helped locate the damaged city utilities. Fascinating story of how the people of Anchorage reacted, survived and help others in this horrible disaster.
Really enjoyed the varied characters of Anchorage, how they were described as they came into the story of dealing with the aftermath of the 1964 earthquake and how it changed them.
Such an interesting part of Alaska history I didn’t know
With grace and command, Jon Mooallem illuminates the near-divine existential interchange between wonder and horror, fate and self-determination. I teared up reading it, getting to know Genie Chance, a perfectly named hero — grateful to brush up against the extraordinary and unforgotten.
This Is Chance! is funny, poignant, and surprising: It takes an all-too-familiar story of a woman whose work is fundamental but long forgotten and turns it on its head.
I recommend episodes 259 and 395 of the 99% Invisible podcast (99pi.org) featuring the experiences and audio of Genie Chance as a supplement to this book.
I liked this story – when it told its story and didn’t divert into ancillary information about the history of Alaska – but do have some issues with the way the book was presented as a whole. The story starts out fascinating, describing the immediate moments before the earthquake and then quickly throwing the reader into the turmoil of the event itself. The majority of the book that focuses on the earthquake and its aftermath – the proclaimed point according to the cover and blurb – was very interesting. It was well-presented and compellingly-written and I really enjoyed learning about this bit of American history. There were a number of areas entwined with that narrative where the author delivered what I felt was a bit more history of Alaska than this particular book called for though and I found those distracting. They yanked me out of the flow of the narrative about the disaster itself in a way that felt tangential rather than intentional.
I also questioned the decision to provide the entirety of Genie Chance’s life in the middle of the narrative about the earthquake and it’s aftermath. That felt very odd to me and dissonant in the read. Tying up her life in the course of the book did not bother me per se, but where this was placed in the narrative did not feel logical or coherent. It also felt a little slap-dash – the entirety of her remaining life, which was apparently chock full of fascinating events and actions she undertook, felt summarized rather than presented. I thought the book was wrapping up in a hurry (but wasn’t sure why), then suddenly was thrown back into the earthquake narrative. It was confusing…
I also found it a little odd that the author repeatedly referred to himself in the third person at the end of the book. I got the Our Town references, and the concept of the omniscient narrator, but still found it a little unusual and to feel odd in the course of reading.
But despite what I’ve said, do NOT be dissuaded by those things – I still really enjoyed this read. There’s a great, surprising, and uplifting story here about community and coming together in response to natural disaster, and that story was a great one. It’s a bit of history I wasn’t familiar with and one I found intriguing and definitely worth the read. Just be aware that you may have to meander a bit to get to it all.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.