The full title is Being in the Shadow: Stories of the First-time Total Eclipse Experience. I picked up the book at the Mile High Astronomy store a couple weeks ago. It is a very quick read, even for me.

It is essentially self-published, and it is pretty well done. Since she is a psychologist and an eclipse chaser, she wrote about the experiences of six non-amateur astronomers to see how they planned to see and experience the Total Solar Eclipse (TSE) of NE Australia on November 14, 2012. She was able to get their experiences before, during, and after the eclipse event. The names were changed so that the people in the book could remain anonymous. I found the stories from the first person, Cara, who was recently married, and the last person, Rose, who is a teacher, to be the most interesting of the lot. Of the six, I am glad that Terry, the festival goer, had a great eclipse experience, but I could not really relate to his partying and dancing vibe.

For more about the author, check out her website. Dr. Russo has written the primary texts when it comes to community planning for cities and communities in the path of totality. Here is the Community Solar Eclipse Planning – White Paper (PDF) which covers the 2024 TSE in the United States, Mexico, and Canada this April 8th.