Water and Light

Harrigan is a former senior editor of Texas Monthly magazine who now writes full-time from his home in Austin, Texas.

Moving, intelligent and, in the best sense, literary.... Stephen Harrigan is anchored in reality; he knows that the environment he's describing is in serious jeopardy. At the same time, he has made this book sparkle with his remarkable ability to discuss the metaphysical and spiritual aspects of underwater exploration without ever sounding saccharine or murky. (New York Times Book Review) [Harrigan] tells us about the people who live on Grand Turk, or come there on business, and he is given to reflecting on the subtleties of the underwater experience, but his real virtue as a writer is his ability to convey, in precise, lucid, prose, the marvels of the sea bottom. (New Yorker) Harrigan ...captures the peacefulness of being rocked by salty currents, the massive beauty of the reefs, the exhilaration of the sport, and the mental scramble to retain fast-fading memories of sights almost unimaginable on land. Fellow divers will relish his camaraderie, while those who prefer staying topside will feel as though they've taken the plunge themselves. (Booklist)

• 1. My Underwater Self 2. Dry Dock 3. Harmonium Point 4. Trees of Stone 5. Tierra 6. Eye to Eye 7. The Pain of Water 8. The Dead Whale 9. Algal Ridge 10. Faceless 11. Lobster Rock 12. Underwater Nights 13. Lord Face of Water 14. Homesick Turtles 15. Wandering 16. The Green Mirror 17. Prospects 18. The Burning Reef For Further Reading Acknowledgments Index