"As a man who long convinced himself that he lived on the edge of the world, here's my wish for you: Embrace the awe. Allow yourself to feel alone. Then remember you are not."

The thirty-three writers in this collection grapple with the vastness of the lakes--and the vastness of experience living alongside them. Gabriel Bump explores how his relationship with Lake Michigan changed after losing a friend. Kathleen Rooney explores the ghosts and faded glamour of one residential building on the water. The essays span Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Duluth, Ontario--and also the smaller places: Crane Creek wetlands, Michigan's Blue Water Area, Lake Superior's Apostle Islands, Bad River Band Ojibwe Reservation. Come dive for shipwrecks, harvest manoomin, and visit the disappearing ice caves. Witness the chickadees, smelt, and cattails, but also zebra mussels, factory runoff, and algae. Each writer's relationship with the lakes is personal and unique, but that relationship to the water is also one shared by so many of us.