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Refraction: An Arctic Memoir Paperback – November 15, 2022

5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 18 ratings

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Refraction: An Artic Memoir recounts the experience of working in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, a remote Arctic outpost and home to the largest oilfield in North America. It's the story of one person's journey, told in a series of reflections on a time spent living in a frozen wasteland. Justifying the endeavor as a modern-day gold rush or a romantic odyssey could otherwise be viewed as another distorted image hovering above the horizon-another refraction.

Refraction provides an intimate insight into the power of Big Oil, the shadow of the cold war of the '80s, the dangers of working in an industrial environment, living with fellow laborers in an isolated work camp, and growing threats posed by climate change. It has been described as a cross between Heart of Darkness and Into the Wild.

Numerous writing awards for 
Refraction include first place in the San Francisco Writing Contest for adult non-fiction, first place in the International Chanticleer Book Awards for narrative non-fiction, and first place in the Pacific Northwest Writers Association's Literary Contest for narrative non-fiction. Additional accolades include a Nautilus Gold Award for travel memoir, a Silver Forward Reviews Award for ecology and environment, a Bronze Forward Reviews Award for adventure, sports and recreation, a Gold CIPA EVVY Award for narrative nonfiction, and a Silver CIPA EVVY Award for travel/outdoors. Excerpts have been recognized in the Monthly Muse, the Sunshot Prose Contest, and a chapter was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Bruce Rettig's Refraction brings to mind Christopher Buckley's Steaming to Bamboola, or Barry Lopez's Arctic Dreams. Part adventure and part environmental awakening, Refraction carries you off like a cold and quirky carnival ride. Forty years after Rettig's first season in the Arctic, his journey is more relevant than ever.

-David Masiel, author of 2182 Kilohertz, and The Western Limit of the World


Bruce Rettig has written a fascinating memoir of his summers working for a tugboat and barge company on Alaska's North Slope in the mid-1980s. Rettig's photographic descriptions vivify the harsh realities of 12-hour workdays spent chopping ice and snow from tugboats and heavy equipment, stark beauty of the arctic landscape, personalities of the laborers he worked alongside, and budding friendships he forged with local native people. A wonderful coming-of-age adventure that brings up important issues of human impact on the natural world.

-Andrea Ross, author of Unnatural Selection: A Memoir of Adoption and Wilderness


It's an honest rendition of one man's experience on the construction of the Alaska Pipeline and how it looks to him now. It's a real look at how our perception of our own experience can change over time. It's not just the story of a pipeline. It's the story of a life, filled with nuances of self-criticism. It will stand on my shelf with McKibbon and Shackleton.


-Michael O'Laughlin, author of Omens in a Dry Season


A captivating and much-needed diversion from the literary tradition that declares as heroes those who venture to the Earth's poles. In Refraction, Bruce Rettig vividly captures the harsh environment north of the Arctic Circle and the people who earn their living there. Refraction honors those workers, illuminating the grueling manual labor that goes into getting oil out of the ground and into our gas tanks, while confronting the massive corporations who profit from that labor, and who have yet to be held accountable for the massive role they've played in creating the climate crisis.

-Tanja Hester, author of Wallet Activism

About the Author

Bruce Rettig is an award-winning author of narrative non-fiction, essays, and short stories. In addition to managing his marketing and graphic design company, he has worked as a travel writer/photographer. Rettig's multi-award-winning debut book, Refraction: An Arctic Memoir, recounts his experience as a merchant marine in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, home to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and the largest oilfield in North America.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wayfarer Books (November 15, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1956368256
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1956368253
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.79 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 18 ratings

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Bruce Rettig
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BRUCE RETTIG is the author of literary short stories, creative non-fiction, and essays, and also works as a travel writer/photographer. Rettig's narrative nonfiction/memoir, Refraction, won first place at the 2018 San Francisco Writing Contest Awards in nonfiction, first place at the 2017 Chanticleer Book Review Awards in narrative nonfiction, and first place at the 2017 Pacific Northwest Writers Association Literary Awards in nonfiction/memoir. The piece is based on his years of working as a merchant marine in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, the shipping hub for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Visit his blog, "Changing Tides," at BRUCERETTIG.COM.

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Customers find the book engaging and enjoyable to read. They appreciate the author's descriptive writing style and vivid descriptions that make the experience powerful and enlightening.

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5 customers mention "Readability"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging and easy to read. They appreciate the compelling writing and describe it as a powerful experience.

"An authentic, engaging book about Mr. Rettig’s experiences of long days and hard, sometimes dangerous, physical labor on arctic barges and tugboats..." Read more

"...where I learn something through words that are descriptive and enlightening...." Read more

"...It’s a fun incite full read. I recommend it." Read more

"Compelling writing and a powerful experience. Like any great book, transports you. Highly recommended!" Read more

3 customers mention "Writing quality"3 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the writing quality. They find it descriptive, enlightening, and vivid.

"I love books where I learn something through words that are descriptive and enlightening...." Read more

"Bruce Rettig has written a very vivid and imaginative coming of age tale in one of the most unique places during an one of the most interesting..." Read more

"Compelling writing and a powerful experience. Like any great book, transports you. Highly recommended!" Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2024
    An authentic, engaging book about Mr. Rettig’s experiences of long days and hard, sometimes dangerous, physical labor on arctic barges and tugboats serving the Alaskan Prudhoe Bay oil fields in the early 1980s. As a summer job during his college years! Not your typical summer break gig. First preparing vessels (grinding hulls, cleaning and painting) and then sailing on barges and tug boats during the annual sea lift of supplies to the oil fields when the arctic ice breaks for a short period each year.

    During the course of his story he adds thoughts on our relationship with the environment including the limits to human activity and his personal reflections on family and life choices. He rewards us with descriptions of an eclectic colorful group of workers including his respect for the older mentors that literally showed him the ropes. Bruce and several crew members also befriend a local Alaskan tribal native, visit his village, and their exchange of simple person to person kindnesses. Each of these scenes describe real down-to-earth human relationships. All this back dropped by a description of the Alaskan north slope landscape which is in itself a character in the story.

    For this reader, Refraction most notably covered the under-told story about working in the material economy. Few contemporary books like this are available. In my opinion, this is extremely important since so many of us now reside and work in a convenient digital world while still relying on the fruits of the material world. Similar to Sebastian Junger's writing in books like Tribe, Refraction indirectly describes the tribal world of men at work in the material economy. Also, not a common or well told topic. Especially enjoyed the chapter when a woman, Annie, arrives on the crew as a shuttle driver, and the passage noting how all the guys felt protective about her. Another under-told story about the stout character of working class people.

    Finally, the format of short chapters with scenes at the arctic work sites followed by brief chapters of reflection makes this an easy enjoyable read. Very difficult to put down. We need more independently published authors and more stories about a world that in essence provides us all with our daily bread. Highly recommended.
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2022
    I love books where I learn something through words that are descriptive and enlightening. Bruce Rettig brought to life what it was like living and working is such a remote, desolate location. The four summers he spent in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, working for Arctic Marine Freighters, a division of Crowley Maritime, gave me an appreciation for a line of work I have not given much thought to and a part of the country I've never been to.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2023
    I spent several summers on the slope working for Crowley as an engineer on the tugs. I was on one of the tugs for the fleet move back to West dock from Barter Island. This book took me back to those days and the characters who got the job done. It’s a fun incite full read. I recommend it.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2022
    Bruce Rettig has written a very vivid and imaginative coming of age tale in one of the most unique places during an one of the most interesting periods of time. Great storytelling throughout this book leads the reader to think about their own journey and the role fossil fuels have on our lives and future. Strong recommend.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2023
    Compelling writing and a powerful experience. Like any great book, transports you. Highly recommended!
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2024
    Bruce’s memoir is such a lovely blend of his charming idealism and naivety of being out in an odd world of Alaskan wilderness, and showing us the rich personalities he had the pleasure of knowing. Most of us are unlikely to work on a summer crew, but because of his details and finely drawn characters, my world got a little wider and wilder. I love the title: Refraction captures both the visual distortion that comes when trying to distinguish sea and sky on the waves, and that effect remembering seems to have on the memory of those experiences. Thank you for sharing these stories with us, Bruce.
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2023
    Every so often I find a book I don't want to end. This is one of those books. The author had me bobbing on the ice floes, watching a world alternate from monotonous slow motion to frenzied action and even danger and back again. It's a real voyage of self-discovery [pardon the pun] as the author goes from greenhorn to seasoned veteran over four seasons of summer work above the Arctic circle. You can feel the beauty, the quiet and immensity of the place in the background while the men are locked into an endless cycle of shoveling snow, chipping ice, and grinding and painting hulls while working for a maritime company responsible for delivering equipment during the summer thaw for the construction of the Alaska pipeline in the mid-'80s. Along the way, the author meets some memorable characters, learns some life lessons from unsung blue collar workers, and grapples with family, relationships, and his future. We get several good history lessons and see him questioning his view of the whole pipeline project and petroleum-based energy as he looks back to a time where the sun never set.
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2023
    It’s a rare privilege for a son to read their father’s memoir containing vivid experiences and lessons not just intimately told but also phenomenally written. Don’t take my (biased) word for it; this read is a riveting journey of adventure and environmental awaking that is both timely and timeless in our world of cascading climate change and escalating energy revolution.