We Hold Our Breath: A Journey to Texas Between Storms

by Micah Fields

Houston’s story has always been one of war waged relentlessly against water. “Houston spread like a glass of milk spilled on the wobbling table of Texan plains,” Micah Fields writes in this unique and poetic blend of reportage, history, and memoir. Developed as the commercial hub of the Texas cotton and sugarcane industries, Houston was designed for profit, not stability. Its first residents razed swamplands into submission to construct a maze of highways and suburbs, giving the city a sprawling, centerless energy where feral cats, alligators, and poisonous snakes flourished in the bayous as storms and floods rattled coastal Texas. When Hurricane Harvey made landfall in 2017, Fields set off from his home in Iowa back to the battered city of his childhood to rescue his mother who was hell-bent on staying no matter how many feet of rain surged in from the Gulf. Along the way, he traded a Jeep for a small boat and floated among the storm’s detritus in search of solid ground. With precision and eloquence, Fields tracks the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, one storm in a long lineage that threatens the fourth largest city in America. Fields depicts the history of Houston with reverence and lyrical certainty, investigating the conflicting facets of Texan identity that are as resilient as they are catastrophic, steeped in racial subjugation, environmental collapse, and capitalist greed. He writes of the development of the modern city in the wake of the destruction of Galveston in 1900; of the wealthy Menil family and self-taught abstract painter Forrest Bess, a queer artist and fisherman born in 1911 who hardly ever left the Gulf Coast; of the oil booms and busts that shaped the city; of the unchecked lust for growth that makes Houston so expressive of the American dream. We Hold Our Breath is a portrait of a city that exists despite it all, a city whose story has always been one of war waged relentlessly against water.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Audiobook, Environment, Nature, History

160 pages, Hardcover

Published June 20, 2023

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really loved this one. I was exceptionally lucky that the only impact Hurricane Harvey had on me was loss of Internet for three weeks. Learning about how it affected others from a firsthand account was illuminating. So was all the history the author wove in as told by his family and informed by his research.

[Carolynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a resident of the Houston area who lived through Hurricane Harvey, I was very interested in reading this book. I'm sorry to say that I was deeply disappointed in this book. My first problem was with the way the author basically inserted himself in the story. He and a friend came to Houston during the storm to help the author's mother and anyone else they could. They saw houses flooded and helped the best they could, and then they went home. Yet the author seems thoroughly traumatized by the event. It's not my place to judge someone's trauma, but I lived here during the whole storm and after reading what he experienced, I felt he was sensationalizing his trauma for the sake of the story. My other problem with this book is the way the author drifts from subject to subject within a chapter. He will start out narrating the story, then he sees something or begins thinking about something and now the reader is reading about the history of that thing. I enjoyed reading about the founding and history of Houston as a city. We know it's flat and swampy, so it floods easily. It was the chapters in between when he was describing what he was doing during the storm or when his writing would drift to another subject that I did not enjoy. He's a good writer, but it seems like there really wasn't enough material for a book, so a lot of padding was included to fill the book out. It might be more interesting to a reader that is not familiar with Hurricane Harvey or the Houston area, but as someone who knows a lot about both, I found this book to be disappointing. Thank you to Edelweiss and W. W. Norton for the ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

[Kerry Pickens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this as an audiobook and the subject was very well suited to that media. The chapters cover different aspects of the recent flooding in Harris County Texas. Basically the area is a swamp that has been over developed so the southern part of the county floods. It flooded during Hurricane Harvey and it will continue to flood. I was living in College Station about 80 miles northwest of Houston when all this was happening. FEMA uses College Station as a staging area and puts flood victims up in the hotels there. Many people from our area donated their time, boats, and any household items they could to the the flood victims.

[Maria Freeman · Rating 2 out of 5]

More about the author - who lives outside of Texas - and tangents into his life than I was expecting. The “we” in the title was misleading as this is largely an outsiders perspective.

[Bailey Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was truly fascinating! It was educational in the most interesting way! I loved learning about the history Houston. I appreciate that this author included the good and the bad. He did a wonderful job acknowledging not only the history, but the culture, individual impact, landscape, etc. I was not sure what to expect when I picked up this book, however, I loved it!

[Philip Sweet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been waiting for a good Harvey/Houston book. Well worth a read for anyone who grew up in Houston or wants an insight into the city in the swamp.

[Deedee · Rating 2 out of 5]

So disappointed. I worked as a mental health first responder at the largest temporary shelter in Houston as Harvey raged through. It was harrowing. First of all, I listened to half of the audiobook (it was only 5 hours) but had to stop. It was narrated by the author and his delivery was awful and so boring. Didn’t sound like he was at all familiar with the material. You couldn’t tell he’d written the book. I mistakenly thought the book was primarily about Hurricane Harvey, but Fields went all over the place from the beginning of Texas history through much about different storms in Houston and included a lot of his personal history including his mother’s mental health struggles. There was no smooth transition between thoughts/periods of time/subjects. I can’t think the print product was any better. I wouldn’t recommend it.

[Alejandra Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 2017, Micah Fields was driving back to Houston, toward a dark gray cloud and countless signs saying “turn around” or “severe weather watch” to rescue his mother. Hurricane Harvey had just made landfall and the rain was never-ending — much of the city was underwater. Fields recounts this experience while weaving in and out historical accounts of the city that led to this catastrophic event.

His journey drove the premise of this book: an informative, historical and critical look at how the fourth largest city in America came to be.

Being born & raised in Houston, much of this stuff I already knew, but this book serves as a good foundational read. From stories of the first residents that ruled the swamplands to the maze of highways and suburbs the city is now. This book touched on Harris County’s environmental and land use challenges. It also described the rise of the nation’s biggest petrochemical corridor and how the ship channel came to be… and the health impacts it’s had on its people.

Lastly, I felt that in some ways this book was an ode to the city of Houston. 🚀🤘Houstonians know that our city is not perfect, but we stay repping our diverse culture, amazing food, sports teams, music, incredible art scene and low-cost of living.

[Esmé · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is not about hurricanes as it’s cover misleadingly describes. This book is mostly a personal collection of stories and opinions of the author regarding Houston. The author effectively explains and agrees that he went to Houston after Harvey to simply gawk and allegedly “help” people after the storm (weird, considering how much tragedy and loss follows most natural disasters). He then goes on to describe Houston as some carcinogenic hell scape that shouldn’t exist. As a native Houstonian I think we can all agree that Houston has is fair share of problems, like just about every city in the United States. The authors writing style was well written, but not for the type of work they were trying to create when writing this book. I think the author should keep the subject of Houston out of their writing, as they clearly left and don’t have any business writing about it.

[Maria Onufrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Houstonian, we don't get a lot of books about this place, so I feel obligated to read them and be supportive in the hopes that we'll get more. That being said, this book, written by a Houston native who moved away, has some good parts that ring true, but overall is uneven. It takes the view of someone who grew up in the suburbs (which, is most Houstonians) and communicates the feel of the place very well. The narrative is too ambitious (city history, history of storms, personal autobiography, events in the first few days after Harvey) and ends up being a mess, touching briefly on various topics and flitting around. It would have functioned better as a series of short stories imho.
If you want to support "houston" authors, it's worth your 4 hours, but don't expect greatness.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw this book briefly mentioned in the 713 Newsletter so I went onto Libby and checked it out blindly. I expected it to solely be about Hurricane Harvey and the stories that came from it, but the book also included the history of Houston, the composition of our soil, the discoveries and industries that shaped the city, the introduction of art and culture, etc.; all for better or worse. It’s a storied history, and not one to fully be proud of. The stories weaved in and out of the author’s first-hand experience with Harvey were interestingly tied in. This isn’t a feel-good book, but it is informative and eye-opening.

(🎧 / The Chronicle’s 713 Newsletter)

[Bec · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subject matter was the draw for me to begin reading this book. Echoing what others have already said in their personal reviews, this book barely has anything to do with Hurricane Harvey. The author's writing leans more towards memoir, but not one that is easy to follow. He touches on a wide array of Texas themes (historical and present day), but leaves each one incomplete before moving on and never connecting them to any sort of storyline. The author seems quite glum overall and doesn't seem to have a clear vision of what this book was about. Aside from learning some random bits of facts about Texas, this is not a book I would recommend.

[Shell · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a former Houstonian, like the author, I really enjoyed this book. Part memoir, part history, part current events, this book is wholly Houston. From how Houston came to be to almost present day, the city is exposed with all its glory, all its messiness, all its fragility, all its disaster. As a Texan who loves Texas, it's a love story of the city where I used to live. Like Texas, people will either absolutely love this book or absolutely hate it, but it is pure Houston, past to present. I highly recommend reading this story of how a city came to be. #GoodreadsGiveaway

[Sheryl Pickering · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m still holding my breath

This book was a wonderfully sad and whimsical tour of Houston, Texas. It’s good and bad parts. I have been here since 1979 when the skyline was brown from ozone and the stench it brings to your clothes snd skin from being outside. I love this city, but I live in fear after a few too many close calls with flash floods in a car and after our home flooding twice. I am getting too old to have to be testing out floors and Sheetrock again, so I’m not sure if I will die here or find a safer place.

[Em · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gave a very interesting and informative overview of the history of the city of Houston as well as the impact Hurricane Harvey had on it. The relationship between the author and landscape provided a compelling and discursive viewpoint on environmental displacement. However, I felt this book lacked the emotional connection and social context of the average Houston resident who perhaps doesn’t have the means to pack up and leave. The book’s discussion felt very distant for how devastating natural disasters can be.

[Kyle Addis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t really know what I was getting into with this one. I saw it in the local interest section at a Barnes and Noble here in Houston. I was interested because I lived there Harvey and thought it would be an interesting read.

The first part about the history of the area was interesting. The rest of the book, however, is just a hodgepodge of loosely connected essays, vaguely about Houston.

Overall, I wasn’t super impressed with the book.

[Beth Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so lovely. Beautiful, lyrical prose. Author layers vignettes of memoir of his growing up in Houston with an examination of the city as a culturally/historically complex and significant place. Not just a niche book for people from that area. This book is an exploration of those elusive and ever changing conceptions of “self” and “home.” Highly recommend!

[Pword313 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have not been so caught up in a story in so long I can barely remember. I found this book randomly at my neighborhood branch of the St. Louis Public Library. It’s beautifully written, quietly devastating, and in some way I have yet to articulate, hopeful. I cannot wait to see what Mr. Fields does next.

[Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

My son and his wife lost both of their cars in Hurricane Harvey. So, when I saw this audio book, I was excited to listen to it. I was so disappointed. I think it would have been better to read the book, since the audio seemed to go on and on as if there are no paragraphs, just one long sentence. The book meanders around endlessly wandering around without really going anywhere.

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a set of mini-essays about Houston- some written about the 2017 flood and some about the past. I thought they were well written and mildly interesting but I'm not sure I learned much I didn't already know.

[Matt Heavner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I good read during a visit to Houston. This is a balance of a love letter to Houston from an “ex pat,” a history of Houston/water/planning (or not), and random/quirky history and anecdotes that mostly all weave together.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

OMG, a book about Texas and really about the HOUSTON area (where I am)... don't read this unless it is winter and you are not cleaning up after a storm).

DNF because I just couldn't, not because it wasn't well done.

Happy Reading!

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook. Definitely Texas descriptions! Narration hard to listen

[Madeleine · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautifully written piece of nonfiction and such an interesting history/investigation of Houston

[Brett Glasscock · Rating 5 out of 5]

written SO well. need to read the physical copy, listening didn't do the prose justice

[Lizeth Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would recommend to all Houstonians.

[Debbie Floyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful and interesting look at the founding and history of Houston, the hurricanes and environment that shapes it, and the people impacted by it all.

[Rachel Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mix of history, personal reflection, and general Houston culture - sure Harvey is a character, but not in a major way. Enjoyed this look at a place often overlooked and oversimplified.

[Lpm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hope this writer gives us more Houston stories. Very pronounced, lyrical prose that makes the ugly city so beautiful. This book made me homesick for a place I wasn't missing.

[Blake Hutchins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Micah Fields describes the scene of growing up in Houston wonderfully. He covers great historical context about the area that informs modern ideas and feelings to today's Houston area.