I finished The Gulf last night, and it was great. I felt like I was reading the history of an old childhood neighborhood - so many familiar places came up, and now I've got a quiet urge to go see the Texas part of the Gulf Coast and punch the last few places on the ticket. The last few sections on oil spills, industrial pollution, mindless development, and estuarine degradation are depressing as hell, but the recovery/restoration success stories give me hope.