Synopses & Reviews
The thrilling, cinematic story of a community shattered by disaster — and the extraordinary woman who helped pull it back together.
In 1964, Anchorage, Alaska, was a modern-day frontier town yearning to be a metropolis — the largest, proudest city in a state that was still brand-new. But just before sundown on Good Friday, the community was jolted by the most powerful earthquake in American history, a catastrophic 9.2 on the Richter Scale. For four and a half minutes, the ground lurched and rolled. Streets cracked open and swallowed buildings whole. And once the shaking stopped, night fell and Anchorage went dark. The city was in disarray and sealed off from the outside world.
Slowly, people switched on their transistor radios and heard a woman's familiar voice explaining what had just happened and what to do next. Genie Chance was a part-time radio reporter and working mother who'd play an unlikely role in the wake of the disaster, helping to put her fractured community back together. Genie's tireless broadcasts over the next three days would transform her into a legendary figure in Alaska and bring her fame worldwide — but only briefly, before her story faded away as quickly as it had surfaced after the quake. That Easter weekend in Anchorage, Genie and an entire cast of endearingly eccentric characters — from a mountaineering psychologist to the local community theater group staging Our Town — were thrown into a jumbled world they could not recognize. Together, they would make a home in it again.
Drawing on thousands of pages of unpublished documents, interviews with survivors, and original broadcast recordings, This Is Chance! is the hopeful, gorgeously told story of a single catastrophic weekend and proof of our collective strength in a turbulent world. There are moments when reality instantly changes — when the life we assume is stable gets upended by pure happenstance. This Is Chance! is an electrifying and lavishly empathetic portrayal of one community rising above the randomness, a real-life fable of human connection withstanding chaos.
Review
"Encouragingly, the major
lesson is that 'our goodness is ordinary.' One finishes this book deeply
impressed — with the people of Anchorage, with Genie Chance, and with
the author." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"With his signature wit, depth, and gift for storytelling, Mooallem brings to life a strong, fascinating character who played a crucial role in the aftermath of a disaster — and whose story shows not just how deeply women's voices matter but how often they have been silenced by history." Rebecca Skloot, bestselling author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Review
"With grace and command, Jon Mooallem illuminates the near-divine existential interchange between wonder and horror, fate and self-determination. I teared up reading it, getting to know Genie Chance, a perfectly named hero — grateful to brush up against the extraordinary and unforgotten." Jia Tolentino, bestselling author of Trick Mirror
Review
"Jon Mooallem is one of the most intelligent, compassionate, and curious authors writing today...In This Is Chance!, he draws us into the depths of a disaster only to unearth an intimate, moving story about our capacity to care for one another when things fall apart — and, just maybe, on all the ordinary days, too." Elizabeth Gilbert
Review
"A great crossover read for teens as well as adults about community, tenacity, and the power of one person to make a difference." Library Journal
Review
"As Mooallem himself begins
to enter the narrative late in the story...he reveals the fascinating ways in which disaster can
intangibly connect people as a core focus of this engaging, enlightening
read." Shelf Awareness
Review
"This inspiring tale feels bound for the big-screen." Publishers Weekly
About the Author
Jon Mooallem is a longtime writer at large for The New York Times Magazine and a contributor to numerous radio shows and other magazines, including This American Life and Wired. His first book, Wild Ones: A Sometimes Dismaying, Weirdly Reassuring Story About Looking at People Looking at Animals in America was chosen as a notable book of the year by The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, NPR's Science Friday, and Canada's National Post, among others. He lives on Bainbridge Island, outside Seattle, with his family.