Heavy Metal: The Hard Days and Nights of the Shipyard Workers Who Build America’s Supercarriers

Journalist Fabey (Crashback) chronicles the construction of the USS John F. Kennedy at a Newport News, Va., shipyard in this richly detailed account. Noting that the ship, which was launched in 2019, is considered the world’s most technologically advanced aircraft carrier, Fabey interweaves details of its design, financing, and construction with geopolitical analysis. For example, he highlights the ship’s symbolic and practical importance both as a counter to China’s buildup of naval power and as a sign of the U.S. government’s commitment to domestic manufacturing and to preserving the historical shipbuilding center of Newport News. But the book’s greatest strength is Fabey’s up-close profiles of the welders, painters, steelworkers, and riggers who started assembling the John F. Kennedy in 2011. He conveys the physical and mental toll of their work, which often takes place hundreds of feet in the air or in below-deck cabins “just a bit bigger than a coffin” and requires mastering new technologies and meeting difficult deadlines despite bad weather. Fabey also empathetically portrays the workers’ fears of layoffs, illnesses, injuries, and mistakes, as well as the satisfaction they take in contributing to the national defense. This poignant portrait of working-class life will appeal to fans of Studs Terkel. (June)