In the summer of 2008, eastern Iowa's rivers flooded, putting a large portion of the state underwater, including the town where pipe-fitter and sometime writer Joe Blair lived with his family. For Blair, the flood coincided with another disaster, this one personal: the deterioration of his marriage and the final, bitter reckoning between the life he wanted and the life he had.
At the time of the flood, Blair's relationship with his wife, Deb, is creaking under the strain of disillusionment and the unrelenting struggle of parenting a severely autistic son in addition to three other children. Their reality is a far cry from the dreams they had as newlyweds, when they set out on Blair's motorcycle with a few thousand dollars and no destination. When they ran out of money in Iowa, they never expected to be there 16 years and four kids later--exhausted, resigned and without a trace of the passion and hope that got them there.
And then, the flood. But By the Iowa Sea isn't all disaster. Blair is unquestionably devoted to his family, though honest about his shortcomings as a husband and father; his frustration and heartbreak are palpable.
When Blair transcends the drudgery of his day-to-day when writing about Michael, his profoundly impaired son, or when he writes about the Iowa plains, or when he recalls falling in love with Deb, he does hit something close to the divine. Blair was redeemed in writing By the Iowa Sea; the memoir is redeemed in moments like these. --Hannah Calkins, Unpunished Vice