Review: The Last Cold Place

The Last Cold Place: A Field Season Studying Penguins in Antarctica
by Naira de Gracia

Sometimes poetic, often grueling, always interesting. I have overall praise for this book, a well-written memoir about a season spent as a field researcher in Antarctica. She seems to have taken excellent notes because the book is detailed and often feels like you're right there with her, at the current time and in the thick of melting slop, penguin muck, mold and goo, infinite goo. In fact, the only thing I wished she'd done differently is to capture the fun a little more. She mentions the fun times but doesn't dwell on them like she does the minutiae and the misery.

If you're interested in this sort of thing, and especially if you've ever wanted to do it, this book is highly recommended. But if you're just looking to share someone else's adventure in a far-away place, like I was, not so much. As much as I enjoyed it--parts of it--by the end I was ready for it to be over. Sorry to admit that; it's probably just me.