
Peter Start discusses his latest book, Astoria, and his experiences at literary events.
What are some of the “teachable” moments in your book that make it work well for a speaking engagement?
My book contains many moments of crisis, when a leader has to make a crucial decision:
When young New Jersey businessman Wilson Price Hunt, a neophyte to the wilderness, leading a large party, has to decide whether to follow the “known” route up the Missouri River and into a sure and bloody confrontation with the Blackfeet Indians, or strike out into a thousand miles of unknown terrain? Which should he chose: Sure trouble or total unknown? Later in the expedition across the Rocky Mountains, Hunt blunders into the deepest canyon in North America in the middle of winter and his 50-person party runs out of food. Does he stay with his loyal and dying men who are dropping beside the trail? Or does he abandon his collapsing friends to try to lead the rest of the expedition to safety?
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