Under A White Sky - Floatables and whitefish

 Topic One

Floatables and whitefish

I like Kolbert's story telling style. It fits the genre of "creative nonfiction" as she weaves important facts into a descriptive narrative. Here's an example.

We have made our way into the canal from Lake Michigan, via the Chicago River’s South Branch, and now are motoring west, past mountains of road salt, mesas of scrap metal, moraines of rusted shipping containers. Just beyond the city limits, we skirt the outflow pipes of the Stickney plant, said to be the largest sewage operation in the world. From the deck of City Living, we can’t see the Stickney, but we can smell it. Conversation turns to the recent rains. These have overwhelmed the region’s water-treatment system, resulting in “combined sewer overflows,” or CSOs. There is speculation about what sort of “floatables” the CSOs have set adrift. Someone wonders if we’ll encounter any Chicago River whitefish, local slang for used condoms.

Kolbert, Elizabeth. Under a White Sky (p. 4). Crown. Kindle Edition.

How do you like her use of the terms "floatables" and her explanation of "whitefish'?