Touching This Leviathan

Touching This Leviathan asks how we might come to know the unknowable--in this case, whales, animals so large yet so elusive, revealing just a sliver of back, a glimpse of a fluke, or a split-second breach before diving away. It's a pressing question, given how frequently whales are in the news: Japan just withdrew from the International Whaling Commission; the Makah Tribe seeks to resume hunts; in 2019 more than 200 gray whales washed up along the West Coast; in 2018, an orca attracted international attention when she pushed her dead calf through the water 17 days before letting go; and, amid all this, every few years we discover new species of whales. Beyond the parade of headlines, writing about whales--history, science, and literary work--often sits within disciplinary silos. Touching This Leviathan starts a conversation among them. Drawing on biology, theology, local history, literary criticism, environmental studies, and composition theory, author Peter Wayne Moe offers a deep dive into the alluring and impalpable mysteries of Earth's largest mammal. Entertaining, thought-provoking, and swimming with intelligence and wit, Touching This Leviathan is creative nonfiction that gestures toward science and literary criticism as it invites readers into the belly of the whale.