Book Review of
Eruption

Lynn's Review

Eruption by Steve Olson was published in 2016. It is a nonfiction book about Mount St. Helens.

I grew up in the far northwest corner of Oregon, not far from the border with Washington State. I was six years old on May 18, 1980, when Mount St. Helens erupted.

I had no idea what a historic event I was living through, but I clearly remember the ash that came down like snow and covered our yard and cars with fine dust. I also clearly remember my dad taking us to a lookout point on a logging road, on a clear day, weeks before the eruption, so that my older sister and I could see the “smoke” coming out of the mountain. 

I also clearly remember what the mountain looked like before and after it erupted. 

This book was a five-star read for me. However, I am not sure that it will be for everyone because not everyone has the connection to Mount St. Helens that I do. 

I saw someone share this book on Instagram and I instantly knew that I wanted to read it. 

I remember this historic event, but since I was only six years old, there is a lot that I did not know about Mount. St. Helens. 

Eruption by Steve Olson covers the eruption, before, during, and after. But it also covers the politics that went into the decision-making. 

It also covers a lot about the history of logging, especially the company Weyerhaeuser. I read some reviews of this book and quite a few people did not like it because it covered so much history about the logging industry. But I totally understand why there is so much information about logging and Weyerhaeuser in the book. 

You can’t really talk about Mount St. Helens and the Pacific Northwest without talking about logging. Logging has deep roots in Oregon and Washington. To leave it out of the story of Mount St. Helens would not be sufficiently telling the story of Mount St. Helens. 

If you love books about science and science-type topics you will probably enjoy this book. If you grew up in the Pacific Northwest and want to know more about the history of Mount St. Helens before, during, and after the eruption I highly recommend this book.