A River Runs Under It: 40 Years on a Houseboat in Oregon looks back at how the author came to find her place in a floating home outside of Portland. Although she originally thought living on the river would last a few years at most, Andrea Carlisle found herself staying on despite hardships and inconveniences, including her house almost keeling over after a snowstorm and a family of beavers moving into her basement. The book contains a glossary of houseboat terminology with both funny and poignant anecdotes helping to define each term. Photographs of houseboat life, including bird and animal life, are sprinkled throughout the text.