An Island Out of Time: A Memoir of Smith Island in the Chesapeake [Paperback]

Tom Horton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 2008

"He has captured in full the life of the island."—Washington Post Book World

A classic of Chesapeake Bay literature, Tom Horton's An Island Out of Time chronicles the three years Horton and his family spent on Smith Island, a marshy archipelago in the middle of Maryland's famous estuary. The result is an intimate portrait of a deeply traditional community that lived much as their ancestors did three hundred years before, attuned to the habits of blue crab, oyster, and waterfowl. In a new afterword for this edition, Horton brings the story of Smith Island, and its people, up to the present.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Although the archipelago known as Smith Island sits in Chesapeake Bay, just off Maryland's eastern shore, it is in some ways a place lost in time and space. Lacking a police force, a high school, or a hospital, it still carries the flavor of another era. People earn a tough living from crabbing, which means 18-hour work days for six months of the year, and they still speak a heavily accented language that some scholars believe dates back to Elizabethan times. In 1987, Tom Horton, an environmental writer for the Baltimore Sun, moved with his family to this 300-year-old community. This thoughtful, well-written book is his record of the two years they spent there. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Lying 10 miles off Maryland's eastern shore, Smith Island has been a fishing community for more than 300 years. It is a tightly knit, highly religious, hardworking Protestant community with a population of fewer than 500. There are no police, no jail, no local council; here, the church fills the role of government services. Horton, a former environmental reporter for the Baltimore Sun, lived on the island for two years, interviewing inhabitants and taking part in local activities. He tells an eloquent story of people intimately connected to the island who live by catching crabs (100 million pounds of blue crabs annually), oysters, terrapin and rock bass. He notes that boats are to the islanders what the horse was to the cowboys of the Old West. Horton writes about "progging" (foraging), a cat roundup, hunting and poaching, the seasons on the island. Looking to the future, he gives Smith Island another century before it is drowned by the bay. Readers who enjoyed William Warner's Beautiful Swimmers will be eager to read this memoir. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (April 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393331466
• ISBN-13: 978-0393331462
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #199,278 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rare, insider's view of a unique way of life., January 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: An Island Out of Time : A Memoir of Smith Island in the Chesapeake (Hardcover)

An avid reader of publications like National Geographic, I found this book to be a very enjoyable and accurate depiction of an area that receives too little attention. The only thing that could improve this story would be full color photographs illustrating the brilliant sunsets, changes in water color, the wildlife and the characters that are detailed throughout. This book sparked such an interest in the area that my family currently is searching for a new home on the Crisfield side of the Bay. We appreciated the pace of life and the simplicity that have caused the locals to resist change and embrace their past. Many thanks to the author for clueing us in.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost poetic, Horton captures the spirit of time and place., June 19, 1998

By 

Bill Nerenberg ([e-mail]) (Cockeysville, Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Island Out of Time: A Memoir of Smith Island in the Chesapeake (Paperback)

Tom Horton's "An Island Out of Time" is more than just a documentary of life on Smith Island, it's a paean to individuality, to spirituality, and to the love of things natural whether they result in environmental disaster or reclamation. The uniqueness of life on a semi-isolated island in the Chesapeake Bay is also a refreshing look at the idea of community - unburdened by political correctness or ultra-sophisticated analysis. Horton waxes poetically about the sun's play over the marshes, or the clarity of the water, the coldness of the waves in a storm, and the gradual decay of the island's ability to survive. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to anyone who wants to understand the real impacts of the Chesapeake - or celebrate its uniqueness.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Portrait of Chesapeake Bay Life, September 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: An Island Out of Time: A Memoir of Smith Island in the Chesapeake (Paperback)

Notice that all the reviewers here live near the Chesapeake Bay. This bay will interest and speak to all those that have an interest in a society and environment almost gone. A super read, intimate in detail and beautiful in imagery.