Review 619: Hotshot: A Life on Fire

Hotshot: A Life on Fire by River Selby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the third book I’ve read this year about a hotshot firefighter, the second one about a woman (see: When it All Burns and Wildfire Days). There was also a fourth book about firefighting in general, just called Fire, which is fictional. It is hard for me to not compare this book with these other memoirs.

Here, Selby goes deeper into her own personal life than the other two, while weaving in the specifics of the history of an area of a current active fire. These three memoirs also discuss how damaging the total fire suppression activity is for the environment and health of the forest. Selby’s account seems to take on a more fervent tone of the damage this is doing, despite it being her job.

Not surprisingly, women are not common as hotshots. There are some, but it is a male dominated job. It is also one that tends undermine the women that do show up. Selby dives into this a bit more than Kelly Ramsey, likely due to her experience with men behaving badly. Ramsey had some of that too, but maybe minimized it. The guys on these crews are usually quite young, and are guided by their superiors, it appears this abusive behavior is systemic. Reporting it generally means losing ones job, as it becomes worse for the woman.

Selby spends quite a bit of time discussing her mom, and that relationship. Like Ramsey who also lost a parent while being a firefighter, they had a tough relationship. Selby didn’t have another parent to lean on though, and the result was a messy adolescence. Firefighting was a way out of some of that self-abuse and giving her a tough job that helped her. In some ways this book is much more about Selby than being a hotshot, unlike the other two.


I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by the author. She did a decent job of it, but honestly, I thought it was too slow and had to speed it more than I usually do to find a decent listening pace. Otherwise, it went well.



Thanks to Grove Atlantic/Atlantic Monthly Press and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. However, I listened to a published audiobook copy of the book.

Review 598: Wildfire Days

Wildfire Days: A Woman, a Hotshot Crew, and the Burning American West by Kelly Ramsey
My rating: 3.75 of 5 stars

This memoir details working as a hotshot and being a woman. Oh, and also being about a decade or so older than most hotshots. Kelly Ramsey found solace in pushing her body beyond the limits in physically. She combined her love of working outdoors with fighting fire and the elite hotshots were perfect for her for going the extra.

The book covered not only fighting fires, but also her relationship at the time and her father who was an alcoholic. book we have Ramsey’s personal life, such as her relationship Josh who was also a firefighter, but not a hotshot. We also get extensive details about her father and growing up. These personal details does make her a more fuller person on the page. Certainly being away from home for weeks at a time doing exhausting work takes a toll on relationships. It’s an unusual job from the regular 9-5 where you come home every day.

The subtitle implies some focus on the “burning American West” but that was only incidental as they were the fires Ramsey and her crew were battling. There was one fire she didn’t fight and that was one that threatened her home at the time. But there was little information about fire in general, just sparse moments.

This seems to be my year of reading these types of books, the second for a memoir of being a hotshot, and a fictional tale of a fire that blows-up written in the 1940s. I have another book or two on my docket of fire related books, next one is another woman hotshot. I’m interested in how their stories compare.

Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. However, I listened to a published audiobook copy of the book.

Review 595: Fire

Fire by George R. Stewart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is all about a fiction fire that blows up in California. The location is fictionalized using real place names, but they aren’t near each other as stated in the book. The location is generally in the Sierra Nevada Mountains somewhere between Reno and Sacramento.

The characters are not fully fleshed out characters in the book, they are mere placeholders really for the jobs they do. A few characters do get some motivations and an extremely small amount of their life outside of the fire, but generally even then not more than a couple of sentences. Instead the main character that is fully explained and detailed is the fire. The Spitcat.

The book is broken up in “days” as the first day is the lightning strike that will create the fire. This first two chapters/days are more involved with the people, such as the Supervisor of the forest district and the fire lookout, which is a young woman. This is the only woman taking a “man’s” job during the firefighting operation. The only other women are not even named, but are secretary timekeepers or cooks.

The book was written in the 1940s, and the date does show. Not only with the sexism but also with the techniques of fighting fires and the approach to it.

I liked how the book described all the ways they pulled men in to help fight the fire. There were first the young boys, high school age doing summer work in the mountains. Then they had the smoke jumpers come in. By the time the fire blew-up they needed an army of men, they came in from other districts. They went and recruited from the streets of skid-rows in Stockton, Reno and Sacramento. They called these men pogies. They also brought in soldiers and convicts.

The book has two viewpoints, one that the forest is there to be used by man and the other to be remain pristine as a natural park for beauty. While the animals are of concern, there isn’t any concern about ecology or natural systems in how everything is connected.

In any case, this is a through telling of a fire burning through a forest.

Previously Read George R. Stewart books:

• Storm
• (3.75 stars) December.2023
• Earth Abides
• (5 stars) October.2017

Review 579: When It All Burns

When It All Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World by Jordan Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While working on a graduate degree Jordan Thomas takes a break from research to understand fire better and joins the hotshots and battles wildfires for a season. He didn't put it this way, others and himself questioned why he wanted to join this elite firefighting team. One of his explanations was simply he needed money. But there are a ton of ways to earn money. Thomas was also interested in fire and wanted to understand it more thoroughly, and why not experience it by fighting it.

The book is not only about working as a US Forest Service Hotshot, it also delves into the history of fire and environmental changes being seen due to the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

The book was a blend of personal story, history and more, but it also felt somewhat uneven. The history aspect turned into outrage against corporations, while it may be understood, it changed the tenor of the overall book.

It was fascinating to get an inside look at this dangerous job, that is being even more necessary as more of these firestorms and super-heated wildfires will increase in the coming years.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book, which was narrated by the author. Oftentimes author narrators don’t do this very well, but this was an exception and was well done.

Thanks to Penguin Group Riverhead and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book, and PRH Audio for advance access to the audiobook.

Review 18: The River

The River by Peter Heller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a wild ride. The book starts out slow enough, but soon you know things are going to go amiss for these two good friends taking a long summer to paddle through lakes and a river to the Hudson Bay. The first major sign is the smell of smoke. After climbing up a tree to get a look they discover there is a massive forest fire that will become a problem for them. Soon after they run into another couple of guys taking it easy, with whiskey and a motor on their small craft. It makes you wonder if the book is going into a deliverance type direction. But it keeps shifting.

That is what surprised me most about this book, it kept shifting like a river might. You suspect on thing is going to happen, or where this going, then it changes. There is definite action and a little suspense, but this is mainly a thoughtful book. With very little dialogue between the two friends, Wynn and Jack, they are both meditative. We get most information from thoughts in their heads.

One problem I did have with the book is the two main characters are hard to differentiate at first, since the book shifts point of view frequently. It's disorientating at times, particularly when you are trying to learn about who is Jack and Wynn. I was a good way in before I really could distinguish their different personalities and backgrounds, which is why the book rating went down slightly for me. Despite that this was a good book. I could see myself reading it again, now that I know the full story. It's one of those books you can re-read. A mark of a good book.


Thanks to Knopf Publishing and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.