Winner of the 1989 National Book AwardA classic tale of a man, a boat, and a storm, Spartina is the lyrical and compassionatestory of Dick Pierce, a commercial fisherman along the shores of Rhode Island'sNarragansett Bay. A kind, sensitive, family man, he is also prone to irascible outburstsagainst the people he must work for, now that he can no longer make his living from thesea.Pierce's one great passion, a fifty-foot fishing boat called Spartina, lies unfinished inhis back yard.  Determined to get the funds he needs to buy her engine, he finds himselftaking a foolish, dangerous risk.  But his real test comes when he must weather a storm atsea in order to keep his dream alive.  Moving and poetic, Spartina is a masterly story ofone man's ongoing struggle to find his place in the world.