Eruption

The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens

By: Steve Olson

Narrated by: Jonathan Yen

For months in early 1980, scientists, journalists, and ordinary people listened anxiously to rumblings in the long quiescent volcano Mount St. Helens. Still, when a massive explosion took the top off the mountain, no one was prepared. Fifty-seven people died, including newlywed logger John Killian (for years afterward, his father searched for him in the ash), scientist Dave Johnston, and celebrated local curmudgeon Harry Truman. The lives of many others were forever changed.

Steve Olson interweaves history, science, and vivid personal stories of the volcano's victims and survivors to portray the disaster as a multifaceted turning point. Powerful economic, political, and historical forces influenced who died when the volcano erupted, and their deaths marked the end of an era in the Pacific Northwest. The eruption of Mount St. Helens transformed volcanic science, the study of environmental resilience, and our perceptions of how to survive on an increasingly dangerous planet.

©2016 Steve Olson. Recorded by arrangement with W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. (P)2016 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Both [narrator Jonathan] Yen and the author truly shine in bringing to life the remarkable stories of those who witnessed the eruption at close range, some of whom survived to tell the tale." ( AudioFile)

parts of it were great

I was expecting more of a description of the actual eruption and while this is covered, most of the book is devoted to the history of logging in the area around the mountain. It really brings you face to face with what happened though and the descriptive wording is excellent. Makes me want to take a trip to see it myself.

Excess Filler, Topic Coverage is Better

This is not what I expected. I thought this would be an interesting account of the Mt. St. Helen’s eruption. Instead, it’s a history of the area. There are long sections on logging companies and early conservationists. The section on the people and actual eruption is a small part of the book and the best of it. Then it cuts off and segues into a lengthy section about the land status, politics and creation of a monument. It would’ve been a fantastic book if just focused on the time period of the eruption. Narration is somewhat rote and I frequently needed a break after long listening sections.

Interesting with a broader scope than expected

Learned more about the background and socio-economic issues than I expected. But that’s not a bad thing.

Eruption by Steve Olson, Narrated by Jonathan Yen

The story of Eruption kept my interest even though the beginning chapter were off the story plot seemingly. The background chapters proved to be most interesting. The technical stuff was well explained, and the-deaths and recoveries were handled with respect. The end drew a well thought out conclusion, with a lot for the reader to think about in our own life.

Good overview of the disaster

The narrator has a voice for radio, and I kept expecting him to say “this is Casey Kasem” or “and now, the rest of the story.” He puts odd inflections that you don’t really need. He pulled me out of the story. The book is a basic overview of the eruption- I wouldn’t say there’s any new ground covered here. It falls into that NF trap of going all the way back to the beginning to tell you about a company when it’s just extraneous details. Like, I don’t need to understand the history of a company starting in the 1850s to understand what happened at Mt Saint Helen’s. Geez. This book was included in Audible Plus.

Amazing moment in time, no connection for listener

Sometimes hard to listen to. The reader did not make me look forward to the next chapter, as so many other readers can.
There was no sense of the excitement that must have prevailed in the lead up to the eruption...seemed like just another weekend day. Let's go hiking.

senseless deaths on Mt. st. Helen's

I liked it, because I love history, had to much technical detail got lost in it!!!

Logging in the PacNW: a brief history

I really enjoyed the parts of this book that focused more directly on the eruption, but the backstory and exposition involving the logging companies was pretty intense. It makes me think this started out as a book about logging that was pivoted into a book about Mount Saint Helens.

engaging story told quite well

This story has always intrigued me, and this book captures so many sides too it you feel as if you really understand the people, places, and the time of this event.

Should be retitled “The History of Logging in the Pacific Northwest.”

The book devotes approximately one chapter to the eruption. The rest of the book reads as a biography on the Weyerhaeuser family and their logging company. There is also a brief chapter regarding the railroad industry of the Northwest. If you’re looking for information on Mt. Saint Helens, I’d give this book a pass.