Against the Current: Paddling Upstream on the Tennessee River

by Kim Trevathan

In August 1998 Kim Trevathan summoned his beloved 45-pound German shepherd mix, Jasper, and paddled a canoe down the Tennessee River, an adventure chronicled in Paddling the Tennessee A Voyage on Easy Water. Twenty years later, in Against the Paddling Upstream on the Tennessee River , he invites readers on a voyage of light-hearted rumination about time, memory, and change as he paddles the same river in the same boat—but this time going upstream, starting out in early spring instead of late summer. In sparkling prose, Trevathan describes the life of the river before and after the dams, the sometimes daunting condition of its environment, its banks’ host of evolving communities—and also the joys and follies of having a new puppy, 65-pound Maggie, for a shipmate. Trevathan discusses the Tennessee River’s varied contributions to the cultures that hug its waterway (Kentuckians refer to it as a lake, but Tennesseans call it a river), and the writer’s intimate style proves a perfect lens for the passageway from Kentucky to Tennessee to Alabama and back to Tennessee. In choice observations and chance encounters along the route, Trevathan uncovers meaningful differences among the Tennessee Valley’s people—and not a few differences in himself, now an older, wiser adventurer. Whether he is struggling to calm his land-loving companion, confronting his body’s newfound aches and pains, craving a hard-to-find cheeseburger, or scouting for a safe place to camp for the night, Trevathan perseveres in his quest to reacquaint himself with the river and to discover new things about it. And, owing to his masterful sense of detail, cadence, and narrative craft, Trevathan keeps the reader at the heart of the journey. The Tennessee River is a remarkable landmark, and this text exhibits its past and present qualities with a perspective only Trevathan can provide.

281 pages, Paperback

Published February 4, 2021

About the author

A native of Murray, Ky., Kim Trevathan’s books are Paddling the Tennessee River: A Voyage on Easy Water (2001), Coldhearted River: A Canoe Odyssey down the Cumberland (2006), and Liminal Zones: Where Lakes End and Rivers Begin (2013), and Against the Current: Paddling Upstream on the Tennessee River (2020). All four books were published by the University of Tennessee Press. His outdoor columns have appeared in the Daily Times (Maryville, Tenn.), the Metro Pulse (Knoxville), and the Knoxville Mercury. He has published fiction and essays in the Florida Review, the Texas Review, New Millennium Writings, the Distillery, the New Delta Review, and other literary journals. He won the Gemini Magazine prize for flash fiction in 2017. Trevathan has been teaching writing (journalism, creative nonfiction, fiction, and first-year writing at Maryville College for 22 years.

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book about a canoe journey and all the trip entails. Could not put this book down after I got to reading. Mr. Tevathan also has more books on his river adventures that I also highly recommend. Great read!

[Adrien · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to enjoy this book. The journey the author takes should make for a relaxing and engaging read. Unfortunately, I felt unable to immerse myself in the story.

On the Tennessee, there are several locks and dams. For US locks, whether they're Tennessee Valley Authority or Army Corps of Engineers who are operating them, the preferred method of communicating with the operators is over marine radio. For the first two locks on his journey, Kim details troubles passing through by relying on a cell phone for communication. He prostrates himself as if the lockmasters would turn away a vessel just because it's a canoe going upstream.
Midway through the journey and after complaining for pages about bad communication, Kim starts using a marine radio. Where did it come from? Why not use it for the Kentucky and Pickwick Locks? Only the author and his dog know.

Speaking of his dog. . . about half of the book is the author calling to his dog, sighing as his dog does the exact opposite of what he wants, or reprimanding his dog after he gets the illusion of control back. At no point does the author train the dog. If you're going to bring an animal with you on a 652 mile journey, at least train it. Or try to train it. Dog Whisperer with Caesar Millan has been out for years, if your dog is disobedient and you're doing nothing about it you have no right to complain.

There are many books about the outdoors, sojourns, and waterways. If consistent writing and engaging characters are valuable to you as a reader, I would pass this book by.

[Robert Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful tale of the writer's experience of traveling by canoe upstream on the Tennessee River. Many thanks to Vince Vawter for his recommendation.