“Oil and Water” Arrives This Month!

Oil and Water is finally here and is available for purchase on line now and in bookstores by Thanksgiving! This graphic novel by author and Oregonian columnist Steve Duin and artist Shannon Wheeler is a partly fictionalized account of the PDX 2 Gulf Coast trip. Duin describes the graphic novel as a “hybrid” which introduces readers to real people in the gulf with quotes straight from his notebooks. However, elements in the narrative involving the group members are fictionalized. This is combined with Wheeler’s art and a powerful introduction by noted environmental activist and founder of 350.org, Bill McKibben. In addition, Duin intersperses throughout the book his own essay commentaries on the social, environmental and economic impacts of the spill. Here’s a description of the book by Steve Duin:

“When ten Oregonians travel to the Gulf Coast in August 2010 to plumb the devastation wrought by the Deepwater Horizon spill, they discover that “Oil and Water” is just the first of the insoluble contradictions. Between the tarred sands of Grand Isle and the fouled waters of the Louisiana bayou, they come to find out that Gulf Coast residents are economically dependent upon the very industry that is wreaking havoc on their environment. In the shadow of the greatest ecological disaster of our time, they are forced to reassess their roles as witness, critic and environmental steward.”

Here’s a recent review by the School Library Journal and a Comic Book Resources interview with the author, artist and editor. For a more detailed look at Oil and Water visit the website of Fantagraphics Books.

In the interest of shining a bright and sustained light on the ongoing impacts of the BP oil spill, we hope you’ll find this portrayal of the disaster both compelling and thought provoking.

And, if you’d like an up close and personal look at Oil and Water we have 3 Portland book events happening starting this week and running through November.