The Saudi-US Relations Information Service (SUSRIS) is reporting on the publication of a long-lost book by noted American writer Wallace Stegner, Discovery!: The Search for Arabian Oil. SUSRIS publishes the forward to the book, written by former Washington Post journalist Tom Lippman as well as the 1971 Introduction by Stegner, written for the Beirut publication of the book.
In his forward, Lippman discusses the difficult saga of the book. It was commissioned by ARAMCO in the 1950s, intended to be an official history of the then-American oil company. The company hired Stegner, a rising literary star, to add gravitas to the book. Stegner, though, was not interested in writing a ‘potted history’ of the company, instead wanting to tell the story, warts and all. Friction over the issue—due in no small part, says Lippman, to the regional politics of the time—led to the manuscript’s sitting on a shelf for nearly 20 years. Finally, in the early 1970s, ARAMCO, with Stegner’s assent, published the manuscript in 14 installments in ‘ARAMCO World’, the public relations-oriented monthly magazine which focused on the company and the Middle East.
Links below go to Lippman’s Forward and Stegner’s Introduction, both published by SUSRIS. I’ve also provided links to the 14 installments published in ‘ARAMCO World’ between 1968-70. These chapters were collected into book form and published in Beirut in 1971. This is the book that has now been republished with new materials.
Whether or not the Stegner manuscript is a complete history is a good question. There’s more to the story than he was able to tell in a company-cleared text. What’s without question, though, is that what he does tell is an accurate portrayal of a particular time, place, and circumstance. The truth, but perhaps not the whole truth. Perhaps a bit mythological, but as most myths, with a foundation in truth.
I definitely encourage you to either purchase the book or to follow the links.
Introduction by Wallace Stegner
SUSRIS collection of photos from the era
Discovery! The Story Of Aramco Then And Now (from ‘ARAMCO World’)
Chapter 1: Contact
Chapter 2: The Crucial Corner
Chapter 3: Beachhead
Chapter 4: The Plane
Chapter 5: The Pioneers
Chapter 6: The Wildcatters
Chapter 7: Dammam No. 7
Chapter 8: Into Production
Chapter 9: The Second Wave
Chapter 10: The Ten Days at Dammam 12
Chapter 11: The Unicorns of Dahna
Chapter 12: Air Raid
Chapter 13: The Time of the Hundred Men
Chapter 14: The Frontier Closes
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September:21:2007 - 10:57
I believe the series was titled, “Discovery: Oil!” and was in the ARAMCO magazines on our bookshelves at elementary school in the 1970s.
September:21:2007 - 11:42
Exactly right.
September:21:2007 - 12:43
You know ARAMCO still puts out a great magazine. They have done the best article I have ever seen on the ‘Oud oil/scent/incense so loved by Gulf Arabs.
September:21:2007 - 12:54
I don’t remember reading the articles past the headlines. We chopped a number of articles to bits: the pictures in the ARAMCO mags were way cool so we cut them out and pasted them to our desks and notebooks. Our teachers weren’t exactly happy…
September:21:2007 - 14:14
Most of the content of the entire publishing history of ‘ARAMCO World’–minus the art and illustrations–is online at http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com. You may need to use their search functions and index to find things, though.
And of course one can request a subscription, though those are tougher to come by.
September:21:2007 - 14:37
I didnt have one until about 8 months ago. I requested on-line, two months later I got the form to fill out. The next issue then came. Not bad for free!
September:21:2007 - 15:53
No, it’s an excellent magazine and of very high quality.
Next, try to get on the mailing list for the annual Shell Oil calendar!
September:22:2007 - 12:22
After Discovery! was serialized in Aramco World, the chapters were compiled into a cheap paperback that was printed once in Beirut in 1971. This new edition published in America for the first time by Selwa Press is a fully annotated hard cover with 16 pages of rare vintage photos of the era. There is a photograph of the suburbs of Riyadh in 1935 that is probably unrecognizable to most young Saudis today.
As for that original paperback, it is no longer cheap with copies on Alibris/Ebay going for as much as $140.
September:22:2007 - 12:40
Abu Khamisah: thanks for the additional information. The annotations should be interesting in themselves.