'Facing the Wave,' by Gretel Ehrlich World media reported intently on the resulting destruction, especially since it triggered the meltdown of a nuclear power plant - "the worst maritime contamination disaster in recorded history." Traveling through the most affected areas, she gives voice to more than 30 survivors - fishermen, farmers, Buddhist priests, nuns and more. Monks begged for funds to take to the disaster zone; temples and homes became shelters and morgues. Courage and self-discipline are evident everywhere," Ehrlich observes, "but the pain of loss is staggering; there's confusion, nightmarish fear, and there are suicides.