Great American Outpost
Dreamers, Mavericks, and the Making of an Oil Frontier
Maya Rao
- A
- surreal,
- lyrical
- work
- of
- narrative
- nonfiction
- that
- portrays
- how
- the
- largest
- domestic
- oil
- discovery
- in
- half
- a
- century
- transformed
- a
- forgotten
- corner
- of
- the
- American
- West
- into
- a
- crucible
- of
- breakneck
- capitalism.As
- North
- Dakota
- became
- the
- nation's
- second-largest
- oil
- producer,
- Maya
- Rao
- set
- out
- in
- steel-toe
- boots
- to
- join
- a
- wave
- of
- drifters,
- dreamers,
- entrepreneurs,
- and
- criminals.
- With
- an
- eye
- for
- the
- dark,
- absurd,
- and
- humorous,
- Rao
- fearlessly
- immersed
- herself
- in
- their
- world
- to
- chronicle
- this
- modern-day
- gold
- rush,
- from
- its
- heady
- beginnings
- to
- OPEC's
- price
- war
- against
- the
- US
- oil
- industry.
- She
- rode
- shotgun
- with
- a
- surfer-turned-truck
- driver
- braving
- toxic
- fumes
- and
- dangerous
- roads,
- dined
- with
- businessmen
- disgraced
- during
- the
- financial
- crisis,
- and
- reported
- on
- everyone
- in
- between
- --
- including
- an
- ex-con
- YouTube
- celebrity,
- a
- trophy
- wife
- mired
- in
- scandal,
- and
- a
- hard-drinking
- British
- Ponzi
- schemer--in
- a
- social
- scene
- so
- rife
- with
- intrigue
- that
- one
- investor
- called
- the
- oilfield
- Peyton
- Place
- on
- steroids.As
- the
- boom
- receded,
- a
- culture
- of
- greed
- and
- recklessness
- left
- troubling
- consequences
- for
- investors
- and
- longtime
- residents.
- Empty
- trailers
- and
- idle
- oil
- equipment
- littered
- the
- fields
- like
- abandoned
- farmsteads,
- leaving
- the
- pioneers
- who
- built
- this
- unlikely
- civilization
- to
- reckon
- with
- their
- legacy.
- Part
- Barbara
- Ehrenreich,
- part
- Upton
- Sinclair,
- Great
- American
- Outpost
- is
- a
- sobering
- exploration
- of
- twenty-first-century
- America
- that
- reads
- like
- a
- frontier novel.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
