Those who have encountered Cape Cod--or merely dipped into an account of
its rich history--know that it is a singular place. In The Outer
Beach, beloved nature writer Robert Finch weaves together his collected
writings from more than fifty years and more than a thousand miles of
walking along Cape Cod's Atlantic coast to create a poignant, candid
chronicle of an iconic American landscape.
Finch considers evidence of nature's fury: shipwrecks, beached whales,
towering natural edifices, ferocious seaside blizzards. And he ponders
everyday human interactions conducted in its environment with equal
curiosity, wit, and insight: taking a weeks-old puppy for his first
beach walk; engaging in a nocturnal dance with one of the Cape's fabled
lighthouses; stumbling, unexpectedly, upon nude sunbathers; or even
encountering out-of-towners hoping an Uber will fetch them from the
other side of a remote dune field.
Throughout these essays, Finch pays tribute to the Outer Beach's
impressive literary legacy, meditates on its often-tragic history, and
explores the strange, mutable nature of time near the ocean. But lurking
behind every experience and observation--both pivotal and quotidian--is
the essential question that the beach beckons every one of its pilgrims
to confront: How do we accept our brief existence here, caught between
overwhelming beauty and merciless indifference?
Finch's affable voice, attentive eye, and stirring prose will be
cherished by the Cape's staunch lifers and erstwhile visitors alike, and
strike a resounding chord with anyone who has been left breathless by
the majestic, unrelenting beauty of the shore.
