For a small group of intrepid adventurers, summer means living in a minimalist shack on the dunes at the tip of Cape Cod. For years these diminutive abodes have attracted artists, writers, and naturalists longing to escape the hectic hubbub of their day-to-day lives. The writer Josephine Breen Del Deo has been part of the dune shack community at Provincetown for over fifty years. In this memoir she describes not only the idyllic life, but also the struggle to maintain that life in the face of the constant impact of waves and shifting sands, as well as efforts of the government to remove the shacks and create a more "pristine" natural setting. In the process, she brings the history to life, setting it in the context of larger events and populating it with the interesting, often eccentric characters who have lived on the dunes. AUTHOR: Josephine Breen Del Deo was born in Pierrepont, New York, but has lived in Provincetown, Massachusetts since 1953, together with her husband, the painter Salvatore Del Deo. After graduating from St. Lawrence University, she began her prolific writing career, which includes poetry, fiction, biography, art history, essays, and plays. She also has been engaged in significant community activity, including her participation in preserving over 3,000 acres of the state-owned Province Lands in Provincetown for inclusion in the Cape Cod National Seashore Park. Working tirelessly to preserve environmental and historic legacies, Del Deo provides a rare perspective in this memoir. 97 colour and b/w images
