This Is Chance!: The Shaking of an All-American City, a Voice That Held It Together

by Jon Mooallem

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Drawing on thousands of pages of unpublished documents, interviews with survivors, and original broadcast recordings, This Is Chance!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.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, American History, Audiobook, Book Club, Nature

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 24, 2020

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. He has spoken at TED and collaborated with members of the Decemberists on musical storytelling projects.

His latest book, THIS IS CHANCE!, about the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964 and radio reporter Genie Chance, will be published in March, 2020. His first book, Wild Ones, 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.

Reviews

[Wandee J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished “This Is Chance!” I stayed up, reading when I should have been sleeping because it was better than sleep. It’s a beautiful book and I think you should all read it - not because of who wrote it but because it’s about grief and connection - all we leave, all we lose and, in the end, gives a sense of comfort that eludes us these days. I’m a pretty tough reader to engage. Really tough. The author of this book is my husband and, I rarely admit this, but I didn’t even finish his first book--that’s how little weight the spousal relationship carries. Hopefully that gives this review some teeth. Read it for yourself and thank me afterwards.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

"This is Genie Chance, reporting from inside the Public Safety Building," she began from her new post . . . the scuttle and din of everyone working around her bled into her microphone as she spoke. -- page 78

This Is Chance! takes a tried-and-true formula - the retelling of a disaster (whether natural or man-made) via the memories of those who experienced it firsthand, often supplemented by print or visual records - and tweaks it by taking some sociological and biographical detours with the title character. The event in question was the Good Friday Earthquake of March 27, 1964 - the most powerful quake known to ever strike North America - which was devastating to the small-ish but burgeoning city of Anchorage, Alaska. The de facto lead in the story is the spirited Ms. Genie Chance, a radio reporter (a rarity at the time for a woman, especially in such a remote area) for the local AM news station who became a calming voice for the suddenly-stricken coastal community, staying on the air in many marathon sessions to broadcast significant information as communications, as well as roads and train lines, to the 'Lower 48' (the mainland U.S.) were initially severed for much of the weekend.

Author Mooallem did a very respectable job presenting the narrative, and in giving the spotlight to a handful of modest working-joe/jane citizens - including a community theater director, a military officer, and two amateur mountaineers, among others - who quickly went to work helping those in need during the aftermath. In a time where America seems more fractured than ever, it was quietly reassuring that its people will put aside differences and assist their neighbors during the bad times.

[SundayAtDusk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Since I knew nothing about the 1964 Anchorage earthquake, I was looking forward to reading this book by Jon Mooallem. I also liked his angle of focusing the story on radio reporter Genie Chance. Well, the story starts off being interesting enough, but soon tedious details about everyone and everything made me start skimming many pages. The author definitely jumps around a lot, too.

Next, after describing all that Ms. Chance did after the earthquake hit, the author jumps to the year after the earthquake, describes what she was doing then, and proceeds to tell all about the rest of her life until her death. In the following chapter, he then goes back to what was going on right after the earthquake hit Anchorage, and, of course, Genie Chance is back alive!

Even stranger, Mr. Mooallem puts himself into the story, talking about himself in the third person. Yes, instead of using “I”, he repeatedly refers to himself as “Mooallem”. More disorganized chapters follow, and I had to wonder if possibly the ARC I received was going to be far different than the final copy. Seriously, I find it hard to imagine a major publisher like Random House not recognizing the oddness and disorganization of this book.

P.S. According to a commenter at Amazon, this story is a "homage to the play Our Town", which is why it is written the way it is written. Hence, keep that in mind before choosing the book to read. Personally, I would not recommend it to those looking for a good nonfiction account of the 1964 earthquake in Anchorage; but possibly to those looking for a more poetic account of the event, and who definitely are familiar with Thornton Wilder's Our Town.

(Note: I received a free ARC of this book from Amazon Vine.)

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thoughts soon.

[TraceyL · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm torn on my rating for this book. I settled on a 2 star rating because I don't think it was very memorable.

It started off really strong. I loved hearing about the actual earthquake, and about Genie running around town trying to put together a news story. I liked hearing about what she decided to report on, and what she left out.

The way the book was set up really threw me off. It jumped around throughout Genie's life, and I don't think it spent enough time talking about the actual earthquake and the aftermath of it. Sure, you can include facts of her life before and after the big event, but I wanted 80-90% of the book to focus on the quake. It also jumped around and described random townspeople who lived through it as well. Some were interesting, but I didn't understand why many of them were chosen to be focussed on.

I just wanted a lot more.

[Raluca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, Mooallem, you win this round. I went through roughly half the book wondering, why is my reader-friend-whose-choices-I-completely-trust so excited about this one? I mean, it's fine or whatever, it's the usual facts-meet-storytelling one would expect from longform narrative journalism, but it's nothing to write home about. And why does Mooallem keep skipping forward to tell us how the people died, 10 days or 20 years into the future?
And then there's the chapter about Wilder's "Our Town" and it all starts tying in so nicely and ok, Mooallem, you win this round.

(PopSugar Reading Challenge 2020, "A book published the month of your birthday")

[Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

On Good Friday in 1964 a massive earthquake struck Anchorage, Alaska. Measuring 9.2 on the Richter scale, this remains the most severe quake ever recorded in North America, and the second worst worldwide. Mooallem masterfully describes the sometimes bizarre experiences of those affected and the remarkable resilience of the community in the aftermath.

The events themselves are fascinating, but it’s Mooallem’s writing that really sets this apart as a 5-star read. He goes beyond just reporting the facts, also drawing out the humanity of the participants, and reflecting on a number of deeper issues.

The opening pages struck me as strange until I later realized that the book is written as a kind of homage to Thornton Wilder’s play Our Town, which the local theater was scheduled to perform at the time. Initially, this just seemed an odd conceit, but the alignment actually works. The Stage Manager becomes the narrator, and Mooallem becomes a character in the play. The themes of the book also parallel those of the play—showing the common quiet dignity of regular people, exploring how we find meaning in the quotidian, and highlighting the universal yearning to be remembered as special.

I also really enjoyed Mooallem’s collection of essays, Serious Face, and look forward to reading more of his work.

[Megan Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Is Chance! is a timely reminder that when the die is cast and misfortune is in the cards, chances are that we’ll find the everyday relationships around us—the ones forged between neighbors, in scouting troops, or through community theater—are strong enough to save us. On Good Friday 1964, the largest city in the newly official state of Alaska suffered the most powerful earthquake in American history. The citizens of Anchorage underwent four and a half minutes of shocking and surreal devastation, then the earthquake ended, the sun set, and the city was cast in total, isolating darkness. Out of that chaos, homemaker and part-time radio broadcaster Genie Chance arose as the singular voice of a community in disaster. Much of This Is Chance! is such a pleasant read, a story about a forgotten heroine, a city coming together, and a disaster overcome, but by the end, what Mooallem salvages from the wreckage of history is something more profound, an existential tenderness in how we regard our own lives and a newfound hope in the power of community in a fragile and divided world.

[Maudaevee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put this book down! The narrative was so vivid and completely immersive, it took you to the time & place. I am a recent resident of Anchorage and I loved this glimpse into its past. I will say it was chilling to think of the scale of the damage, considering how commonly we still have quakes up here.

[Greg Giles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts out very strong, but some odd structural choices make for a frustrating read in the end.

Although the title and the cover blurbs focus on the person Genie Chance, she's really only the focus of about 1/3 of the book.

[Jordan (Jordy’s Book Club) · Rating 3 out of 5]

QUICK TAKE: extremely interesting and well-written look at an American natural history catastrophe that i had never heard of before. I thought the author did a good job of going extremely in-depth into the history of this event, but it was a little cold and clinical for me...would have preferred a little more drama and character exploration. Still, a story of hope that might resonate with readers in the current cultural climate.

[Pat · Rating 1 out of 5]

"This book is called This Is Chance! It was written by Jon Mooallem, published by Random House, edited by Andy Ward."

If you remember anything about 11th-grade English class, you'll recognize the opening of Thorton Wilder's play Our Town, whose omniscient Stage Manager character breaks the fourth wall repeatedly throughout. Unfortunately, This Is Chance! follows the same structure--bopping back and forth through time, addressing the reader directly, etc. This unbearably precious choice ill-serves the story of this disaster, the 9.2 earthquake that struck Anchorage and surroundings on Good Friday, 1964.

According to its title-trying-to-be-a-synopsis, This Is Chance! purports to tell the story of Emma Gene (Genie) Chance, a local radio reporter who sprang into action in the minutes after the earthquake, in an era where female reporters were rare. She ended up staying on the air continuously for nearly 3 days, helping coordinate rescue efforts, passing along personal messages, and trying to bolster morale. Great story, right?

The story of the event iself is dramatic enough to tell it in a linear, straightforward fashion: Set up the environment, introduce the players and their backgrounds, let the disaster hit, describe the aftermath, etc. Authors such as Erik Larson and David Grann have shown us how this can be done, creating compelling narrative nonfiction while not getting in the way of the story. But Mooallem just had to be clever.

He works in a ton of information about Frank Brink, the local theater owner who was putting on a production of Our Town on the day the earthquake hit. Maybe that gave Mooallem the hook for his story, but Brink has nothing to do with the rescue and recovery efforts. He also goes into detail in two chapters about a pair of sociologist-researchers from Ohio who arrive to study the town. It feels like a bait-and-switch to be expecting to hear Genie's story but have to spend time with these peripheral characters for pages and pages.

Finally, it doesn't help when the author devotes large chunks of the book to describing his research and writing processes--in the third person, no less--and including such text as "Mooallem was a wry and sometimes laconic-seeming magazine writer with an off-kilter jaw." Please.

I really wish I'd read the other reviews before I read this book. I HATE it when authors/reporters insert themselves into the story. If I'd wanted to read about you, I'd have gone to your Wikipedia entry or web site. I couldn't care less how many pages of documents you amassed, or trips you took, etc. And "Now he was forced to cobble together a portrait of Genie, and a timeline of those first three days after the quake, from an array of discrete and disjointed perspectives, all preserved, statically, on paper." Poor woobie--that gun held to your head must have been very big indeed.

If you go into this book expecting a hodgepodge, wide-angle view of the earthquake and its aftermath, you'll probably have a better time than I did. But if you want to know Genie's story, save yourself some time and aggravation and listen to 99% Invisible's podcast episode about it instead (https://99percentinvisible.org/episod...).

[AltLovesBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Information is a form of comfort."

For anyone who has lived through a major disaster of any sort, this is a great read. Even if you haven't been through an earthquake specifically, there's enough parallels for what comes immediately after that you'll find a lot to identify with. This book opens with an innocuous town event held a month before the earthquake hit. You meet a lot of the main players early on, and are provided with a thoughtful introduction for each by the author. While ultimately an informative piece about one of the worst earthquakes ever, the story is presented in such a way that you feel like you're there with the characters in the room or on the road which made it an engaging read. Even the one-off people who play an important but short-lived role are given short "where are they now" summaries outlining highlights of their life after the earthquake, which I appreciated. Highly recommend giving this book a Chance (ha) when it comes out.

Disclaimer: I received a free ARC of this book through Goodreads Giveaways.

[Biblio Files (takingadayoff) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting account of the 1964 Alaska earthquake, told from the vantage point of the radio reporter on the scene, Genie Chance. She quickly went from reporting the few, scattered facts as they became available, to becoming the voice of the city, relaying messages to a city without telephone service or electricity, and letting the outside world know that Anchorage was still on the map.

[Thomas Mulshine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that this book would be about the earthquake disaster in Anchorage in 1964. However, the author takes an interesting twist and makes it also about people and how they react at the time of disaster. He shows how people during a major disaster, live for the moment and live it well as they react and help others get through the disaster.

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting and educational retelling of the 1964 Alaskan earthquake that registered as a 9.2 on the Richter scale and which struck on Good Friday. The author/narrator of this book collected and stitched together different stories from a variety of sources including records and notes from Genie Chance, a female reporter for KENI radio station in Anchorage, Alaska. Mrs. Chance along with the citizens of Anchorage worked tirelessly to keep people safe, secure and especially calm. At a time where the radio was an essential means of communication, Genie Chance and her colleagues at KENI stayed on the air, when nearly all of the electricity in the city and other parts of Alaska was out as a result of the earthquake, and informed the public of details that would help ordinary citizens come together in this time of need.

The book makes constant references to the play Our Town, which was the play that was to be performed that weekend. In Our Town, as the reader is told, the narrator stands outside of time and interacts with both the actors and the audience and repeatedly tells the audience of events that happen to the actors in the future. Similarly, the narrator of this book repeated tells the reader of what happened to the people that were involved during the March 1964 Anchorage recovery efforts. There are parts of the story that are not only deeply saddening, but also touching. It demonstrates that when tragedy strikes, ordinary people will band together to help each other and fix what has been destroyed.

The one thing I did find strange is that whenever the author mentions what he did or whom he met, he always refers to himself in the third person as if, like I said before, he is merely a narrator that is interacting with the actors on stage. But that might just be my interpretation of why Mr. Mooallem wrote the way he did.

Overall, it is a great book for those that are interested in history, specifically about Alaska.

**I received an Advanced Reader's Copy as part of a Goodreads giveaway.

[TJ Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew this book would be a wonderful thinker book, and it proved to be very true.

Love the juxtaposition between *Our Town* and the earthquake the book details. Not forced at all. Totally laid out and ready to use. And Mooallem has such strong instincts and writing skills that you move through it all knowing the back of your mind is slowly piecing together the profoundness of humans and life and tragedy, putting them all into a growing perspective.

Poetic and deeply meaningful.

[James B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a Goodreads Giveaway. A wonderful book about the largest earthquake in the US that took place in Alaska in 1964. The whole city of anchorage turns out to help their neighbors and one voice, a mother of three, Genie Chance, stays on the radio for three days, calming nerves and letting everyone know that life is going to go on. Surprisingly beautiful and inspiring.

[Billy Skibinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and well written. I felt as though I was there in this important piece of history.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

This was such an interesting read, and a different book than I thought it was going to be when I started. This seemed like it would be a straightforward record of the earthquake that shook Anchorage, AK in the 60s, and the voice on the radio, Genie Chance, that helped rally the town and help with disaster. And, for a good chunk of the book, that's the story, with a few odd divergences here and there - there's a profile of the person running local theater in Anchorage in the same timespan that felt like its own separate magazine profile until I realized it absolutely needed the framework of this event, and recurring mention of _Our Town_, the play he was putting on.

And then about 2/3 of the way into the book, Jon Mooallem becomes a character in his own book, and it's less about Genie Chance (whose story we see the end of with at least a quarter of the narrative to go). He's become the Stage Manager of this town's story, and though I'm not sure if it fully works, it ties together all of the threads of the book in a great way, and I respect the hell out of the attempt.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging account of a disaster and the people involved. It did jump around in time, but I didn't mind too much. And the overlay of "Our Town" was fine -- a famous play I've never seen nor read, so now I will, finally. Like the play, the book leaps ahead to various deaths, like the brave soldier we get to know who's helping with the earthquake recovery who, we're informed, dies in a plane crash a month later. Very poignant.

I also liked how the author interviewed any survivors possible, some in their 90s. And he went thru a million boxes of Genie's memories -- diaries, letters, photos, etc. -- and recorded the history from her point of view, in addition to researching academic and journalists' reports.

Recommended for the drama and the personal stories. Now I want to read "The Great Quake..." by Henry Fountain which goes more into the science of plate tectonics.

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was interested in this book because I lived one year in Anchorage, 1989-90. Even then, 25 years after the fact, long time residents talked about that 1964 earthquake pretty often: It was absolutely the defining event for Anchorage.

The book tells about the earthquake via the story of Genie Chance, a radio announcer. That was a pretty good way of laying out everything, but the author’s reference to himself in third person in several points in the book was really super weird and off-putting. (Evidently this was some homage to Our Town? I mean, I love Our Town myself, but I would have never picked up on that theme — didn’t realize it until I read other Goodreads reviews.)

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Big Anchorage Earthquake

I was disappointed in this book. It’s about how Anchorage endured an earthquake in 1964. Genie Chance, a newscaster at the local radio station manages to get herself on air and provide information to a small city without power or news. Sociologists and psychologists descended on the out after emergency crews to study how people coped. They found people tended to work together and cope. The disappointing thing was the choppiness of the writing and inability to tell a comprehensive narrative clearly.

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually had no idea there was a massive earthquake in Alaska in the 60s, let alone that it was the second biggest on record. I'm kinda dumb about history (and, like, everything), but that's why I read!

Was this the best time to read a book like this? Well it was certainly a better idea than the book I read after it - Illuminae, a book about a contagious pathogen loose on a spaceship.

This ended up being kinda harrowing and kinda uplifting. One of the things it emphasized was how looting behavior and such is actually really low in these sorts of disasters and the "extraordinary people" who step up in these scenarios consistently step up, suggesting that it isn't actually that extraordinary - that people will come together and support one another in dire times. I thought that was really inspiring.

I also didn't know anything at all about Genie Chance, so it was interesting reading about how a woman in the 1960s became so prominent during the disaster.

I think the worst passage in this book that still rings in my ear was of the girl who said she saw the earth swallow her brother. That's horrifying.

[Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

One of the most fun non-fiction stories I've read. The writing pulls you, blending past, present, and future in a way that makes the story feel more complete than just the 3-day period it covers.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was born in Anchorage, Alaska, but have virtually no memory of living there because we moved to Seattle when I was three, several years before the Good Friday earthquake of March 27, 1964. My connection to Anchorage led me to read this book, and I found it fascinating. Jon Mooallem focuses his story on Genie Chance, a part-time radio station employee, who became the voice of calm for Anchorage's residents as well as a lifeline to the outside world. A fascinating book!

I chose this book for the category "read a book set where you were born," in King County Library's 2021 Ten to Try challenge.

[Big Time Book Junkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jon Mooallem has written a very informative, interesting story about the huge earthquake of 1964 in Anchorage. Being somewhat familiar with Anchorage I found this book to be easy to read and filled with facts both large and small.

I do think the story could have been shortened and a good editor would have helped quite a bit, but the piece of history that is this book was good enough to keep me reading.

I would definitely recommend this to people who enjoy reading history, those familiar with Anchorage or those who enjoy reading about how communities come together to survive disasters.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an ARC at my request. All thoughts in this review re my own.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This non-fiction book detailing the events of the horrific earthquake that hit Alaska in 1964 was extremely fascinating. Also, the people highlighted in this book were all endearing and amazing individuals. However, the author’s writing style did not work for me and the arrangement of the book was odd. As a note, this book was written in the style of the play “Our Town,” so if you are a big “Our Town” fan this may appeal to you.

[Cat Roule · Rating 4 out of 5]

"This is Chance" is a book to remind us of how much neighbors, strangers, and others can and will pull together in times of crisis. Although I do not remember that particular major earthquake, it was informative and interesting to learn about it. Kudos to Jon Mooallem, who wrote this book.
Thank you to Penguin Random House for the advanced copy.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The point of view in this interesting nonfictional account of the 1964 Good Friday Alaskan earthquake comes from Genie Chance, a part-time news reporter. It was the strongest earthquake in the United States, and I do remember the news clippings my Dad received from his family living near Anchorage. The devastation was massive!