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Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life
Review How many ways can you describe a wave? Youll never get tired of watching Finnegan do it. A staff writer atThe New Yorker, he leads a counterlife as an obsessive surfer, traveling around the world, throwing his vulnerable, merely human body into line after line of waves in search of transient moments of graceIts an occupation that has never before been described with this tenderness and deftness.TIME Magazine, Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2015A hefty masterpiece. Geoff Dyer, The GuardianTerrificElegantly written and structured, its a riveting adventure story, an intellectual autobiography, and a restless, searching meditation on love, friendship and familyA writer of rare subtlety and observational gifts, Finnegan explores every aspect of the sport its mechanics and intoxicating thrills, its culture and arcane tribal codes in a way that should resonate with surfers and non-surfers alike. His descriptions of some of the worlds most powerful and unforgiving waves are hauntingly beautifulFinnegan displays an honesty that is evident throughout the book, parts of which have a searing, unvarnished intensity that reminded me of Stop Time, the classic coming-of-age memoir by Frank Conroy. Washington Post The kind of book that makes you squirm in your seat on the subway, gaze out the window at work, and Google Map the quickest route to the beach. In other words, it is, like Jon KrakauersInto the Wild, a semi-dangerous book, one that persuades young mento trade in their office jobs in order to roam the world, to feel the oceans power, and chase the waves. The Paris Review Daily Fans of [Finnegans] writing have been waiting eagerly for his surfing memoirWell, Barbarian Days is here. And its even better than one could have imaginedThis is Finnegans gift. Hes observant and expressive but shows careful restraint in his zeal. He says only what needs to be said, enough to create a vivid picture for the reader while masterfully giving that picture a kind of movement. Honolulu Star-Advertiser That surfing life is [Finnegans], and its a remarkably adventurous one sure to induce wanderlust in anyone who follows along, surfer or notLyrical but not overbaked, exciting but always self-effacing. It captures the moments of joy and terror Finnegans lifelong passion has brought him, as well as his occasional ambivalence about the tenacious hold it has on him. Its easily the best book ever written about surfing. Its not even close. Florida Times-Union An engrossing read, part treatise on wave physics, part thrill ride, part cultural study, with a soupon of near-death events. Even for those whove never paddled out, Finnegans imagery is as vividly rendered as a film, his explanation of wave mastery a triumph of language. For surfers, the book isThe Endless Summerwrit smarter and larger, touching down at every iconic break. Los Angeles Magazine Vivid and propulsiveFinneganhas seen things from the tops of ocean peaks that would disturb most surfers dreams for weeks. (I happily include myself among that number.)A lyrical and enormously rewarding readFinnegans enchantment takes us to some luminous and unsettling places on both the edge of the ocean, and the frontiers of the surfing life. San Diego Union-Tribune Barbarian Days gleams with precise, often lyrical recollections of the most memorable waves [Finnegan has] encounteredHe carefully mines his surfing exploits for broader, hard-won insights on his childhood, his most intense friendships and romances, his political education, his career. Hes always attuned to his surroundings, and his reflections are often tinged with self-effacing wit. Chicago Reader Extraordinary[ Barbarian Days] is in many ways, and for the first time, a surfer in full. And it is cause for throwing your wet-suit hoods in the airIf the book has a flaw, it lies in the envy helplessly induced in the armchair surf-traveler by so many lusty affairs with waves that are the supermodels of the surf world. Still, Finnegan considerately shows himself paying the price of admission in a few near drownings, and these are among the most electrifying moments in the bookThere are too many breathtaking, original things in Barbarian Days to do more than mention hereobservations about surfing that have simply never been made before, or certainly never so well. The New York Times Book Review Without a doubt, the finest surf book Ive ever read All this technical mastery and precise description goes hand in hand with an unabashed, infectious earnestness.Finnegan has certainly written a surfing book for surfers, but on a more fundamental level, Barbarian Days offers a cleareyed vision of American boyhood. Like Jon Krakauers Into the Wild, it is a sympathetic examination of what happens when literary ideas of freedom and purity take hold of a young mind and fling his body out into the far reaches of the world. The New York Times Magazine Which is precisely what makes the propulsive precision of Finnegans writing so surprising and revelatory Finnegans treatment of surfing never feels like performance. Through the sheer intensity of his descriptive powers and the undeniable ways in which surfing has shaped his life, Barbarian Days is an utterly convincing study in the joy of treating seriously an unserious thingAs Finnegan demonstrates, surfing, like good writing, is an act of vigilant noticing. The New York Review of Books Finnegan is an excellent surfer; at some point he became an even better writer. That pairing makesBarbarian Daysexceptional in the notoriously foamy genre of surf lit: a hefty, heavyweight tour de force, overbrimming with sublime lyrical passages that Finnegan drops as effortlessly as he executed his signature drop-knee cutback in the breaks off WaikikiReading this guy on the subject of waves and water is like reading Hemingway on bullfighting; William Burroughs on controlled substances; Updike on adulteryFinnegan is a virtuoso wordsmith, but the juice propelling this memoir is wrung from the quest that shaped himA piscine, picaresque coming-of-age story, seen through the gloss resin coat of a surfboard. Sports Illustrated Overflowing with vivid descriptions of waves caught and waves missed, of disappointments and ecstasies and gargantuan curling tubes that encircle riders like cathedrals of pure stained glassThese paragraphs, with their mix of personal remembrance and subcultural taxonomies, tend to be as elegant and pellucid as the breakers they immortalizeThis memoir is one you can ride all the way to shore. Entertainment Weekly [A] sweeping, glorious memoirOh, the rides, they are incandescentId sooner press this book upon on a nonsurfer, in part because nothing Ive read so accurately describes the feeling of being stoked or the despair of being held under. But also because while it is a book about A Surfing Lifeits also about a writers life and, even more generally, a questers life, more carefully observed and precisely rendered than any Ive read in a long time. Los Angeles Times Gorgeously written and intensely feltWith Mr. Finnegans bravura memoir, the surfing bookshelf is dramatically enriched. Its not only a volume for followers of the sport. Non-surfers, too, will be treated to a travelogue head-scratchingly rich in obscure, sharply observed destinationsDare I say that we all need Mr. Finneganas a role model for a life fully, thrillingly, lived. Wall Street Journal An evocative, profound and deeply moving memoirThe proof is in the sentences. Were I given unlimited space to review this book, I would simply reproduce it here, with a quotation mark at the beginning and another at the end. While surfers have a reputation for being inarticulate, there is actually a fair amount of overlap between what makes a good surfer and a good writer. A smooth style, an ability to stay close to the source of the energy, humility before the task, and, once youre done, not claiming your ride. In other words, making something exceedingly difficult look easy. The gift for writing a clean line is rare, and the gift for riding one even rarer. Finnegan possesses both. San Francisco Chronicle Finnegan writes so engagingly that you paddle alongside, eager for him to take you to the next waveIt is a wet and wild run. He makes surfing seem as foreign and simultaneously as intimate a sport as possibleSurfing is the backbone of the book, but Finnegans relationships to people, not waves, form its flesh[A] deep blue story of one mans lifelong enchantment. Boston Globe Finnegans epic adventure, beautifully told, is much more than the story of a boy and his wave, even if surfing serves as the thumping heartbeat of his life. Dallas Morning News Thats always Finnegans M.O.: examining the ways in which surfing intertwines with anthropology, economics, politics, and, of course, writing. Finnegan is a sober, straightforward author, but the level of detail, emotion, and insight he achieves is unparalleledA must-read for all surfers not just because of its unblinking prose and subtle wit, but because its the only book that properly details what its like to cultivate both an award-winning career and a dedicated surfing life. Eastern Surf Magazine Finnegan describes, with shimmering detail, his adventures riding waves on five continents. Surfing has taken him places he'd never otherwise have thought to go, but it also buoyed him through a career reporting on the politics of intense scarcity, limitless cruelty, and unimaginable suffering. It's a book about travel and growing up, and the power of a pastime when it becomes an obsession. Men's Journal With a compelling storyline and masterful prose, Finnegansbeautiful memoir is sure to resonate. The New York Observer Fearless and full of grace. Outside Magazine Irresistible. O, The Oprah Magazine Its always fabulous when an incredible writer happens to also have a memoir-worthy life;Barbarian Daysbodes well. GQ.com A demonstration of gratitude and mastery. [Finnegan] uses these words to describe the wave, but they might as well apply to the book. In a sense,Barbarian Daysfunctions as a 450-page thank you letter, masterfully crafted, to his parents, friends, wife, enemies, ex-girlfriends, townsfolk, daughtereveryone who tolerated and even encouraged his lifelong obsession. Its a way to help themand usunderstand what drives him to keep paddling out half a century after first picking up a board. NPR.org [A] lyrical, intellectual memoir. The author touches on love, on responsibility, on politics, individuality and morality, as well as on the lesser-known aspects of surfing: the toll it takes on the body, the weird lingo, the whacky community. Finnegans world is as dazzling and deep as any ocean. Its a pleasure to paddle into and makes for a hell of a ride. The Millions As it progresses the whole book turns into a portalIts tempting to say that Barbarian Days will bring readers as close as theyll get to the surf, short of actual surfing. But I had a stronger reaction: The book brought me closer than Id ever been, or expected to get, to the real, unfathomable ocean. Bookforum A dream of a book by a masterful writer long immersed in surfing culture. Finnegan recaptures the waves lost and found, the euphoria, the dangerthe allure. BBC.com Panoramic and fascinatingThe core of the book is a surfing chronicle, and Finnegan possesses impeccable short-board bona fidesA revealing and magisterial account of a beautiful addiction. Publishers Weekly (starred review) Like that powerful, glassy wave, great books on surfing come few and far between. This summer, New Yorker writer Finnegan recalls his teenage years in the California and Hawaii of the 1960swhen surfing was an escape for loners and outcasts. A delightful storyteller, Finnegan takes readers on a journey from Hawaii to Australia, Fiji, and South Africa, where finding those waves is as challenging as riding them. Publishers Weekly's Best Summer Books of the Summer A fascinating look inside the mind of a man terminally in love with a magnificent obsession. A lyrical and intense memoir. Kirkus An up-close and personal homage to the surfing lifestyle through the authors journey as a lifelong surfer. Finnegans writing is polished and bold[A] high-caliber memoir. Library JournalFrom the Hardcover edition. Read more About the Author WILLIAM FINNEGAN is the author of Cold New World, A Complicated War, Dateline Soweto, and Crossing the Line. He has twice been a National Magazine Award finalist and has won numerous journalism awards, including two Overseas Press Club awards since 2009. Barbarian Days: A Surfing Lifereceived the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Autobiography.A staff writer at The New Yorker since 1987, he lives in Manhattan.From the Hardcover edition. Read more See all Editorial Reviews
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A deeply-rendered self-portrait of a life-long surfer by the acclaimed New Yorker journalist Barbarian Days is William Finnegans memoir of an ...
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William Finnegan is a Senior Staff writer for The New Yorker magazine. His craft is polished and lucid in his autobiography, Barbarian Days. Many layers of storyline ...
9781594203473 - Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William ...
Barbarian Days is an old-school adventure story, an intellectual autobiography, a social history, a literary road movie, and an extraordinary exploration of the gradual mastering of an exacting, little understood art. Today, Finnegan's surfing life is undiminished.
Barbarian Days : A Surfing Life by William Finnegan ...
Books & Other Media Books - Biographies & Memoirs Memoirs Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life **Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Autobiography** "Reading this guy on ...
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In Barbarian Days, William Finnegan says you have to start surfing before youre fourteen if you want any chance of being good at it. This jibes with what the guy ...
Barbarian Days: a Surfing Life review: Waves of emotion in ...
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