Without a doubt, the finest surf book ive ever read. Aug 06, 2015 barbarian days is william finnegans memoir of an obsession, a complex enchantment. He divides his memoir into chapters that describe different. I cancelled a book tour because of the pandemic, but im doing a series of livestream events this week with other science fiction and fantasy authors, in cooperation with some independent bookstores who need our support during this tough time. Barbarian days quotes showing of 71 the particulars of new places grabbed me and held me, the sweep of new coasts, cold, lovely, dawns. Winner of the pulitzer price and william hill sports book of the year. A surfing life took home top honors for biography finnegans memoir has drawn high praise from all. Barbarian days is an oldschool adventure story, an intellectual autobiography, a social history, a literary road movie, and an extraordinary exploration of the gradual mastering of an exacting, littleunderstood art. The following version of this book was used to create the guide. Along for the ride with william finnegan surfer magazine.
Instead, it is a path, a constantly evolving journey that directs where you go, how you live, and who you are. The reality is that surfing is, by its nature, antiegalitarian, territorialist, and exclusionary. To break it down further, it is more life than surfing, as it follows william finnegan from youngest years to the present day, from continent to continent, from schools to jobs, from here to eternity. In his memoir, barbarian days, the now pulitzer prize winningfinnegan expertly dissects and details the fat and muscle that have grown throughout a halfcentury of surfing. A detailed, and nicelypaced story, barbarian days begins in 1960s hawaii, and from there takes us on an adventure around the word. In this memoir, finnegan describes a lifetime of looking for waves and looking for himself. Each wave tells a story in barbarian days july 21, 2015 a surfing memoir might not be what youd expect from a seasoned new yorker reporter, but william finnegans new book is a loving look. 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. Praise for barbarian days without a doubt, the finest surf book ive ever. He is competitive, aggressive even, in all thingsbut especially in this fight between two parts of himself.
A surfing life is more the subtitle than the title that is, a surfing life. Charting a passion for surfing that hes indulged on beaches from san francisco and hawaii to. The book s main tension runs between finnegans passion for surfing and his desire to do work that is useful and worthwhile. Apr 26, 2016 barbarian days chronicles finnegans early life learning to surf in southern california and hawaii, a fouryear roundtheworld surf trip discovering new waves, and the unheralded characters of. The star is the surfing, and the waves, which the author studies all over the world, from a hundred different anglesone takes away from barbarian days a sense of a big, windchapped, welllived life. Finnegan has certainly written a surfing book for surfers, but on a more fundamental level, barbarian days offers a cleareyed vision of american boyhood. With barbarian days, we finally have that extraordinary book in full, including, largely unchanged, playing docs games. There comes a bright sunday hawaiian morning in william finnegans youth, and in the first chapter of his captivating new book, barbarian days. Barbarian days, a surfing life by william finnegan.
William finnegan is an awardwinning reporter, a staff writer at the new yorker, and the author of the pulitzer prizewinning book barbarian days, a memoir about his lifelong passion for surfing. An important caveat about this book its not just for those who surf. The 2016 pulitzer prize winners were announced yesterday, and among the winners is surfer senior writer, and longtime new yorker staffer, william finnegan, whose memoir barbarian days. Praise for barbarian days without a doubt, the finest surf book ive ever read.
Jul 21, 2015 each wave tells a story in barbarian days a surfing memoir might not be what youd expect from a seasoned new yorker reporter, but william finnegans new book is a loving look back at his life. Ive been watching for this book for nearly a decade. With barbarian days, we finally have that extraordinary book in full. A bookish boy, and then an excessively adventurous young man, he went on to become a distinguished writer and war reporter.
Raised in california and hawaii, william finnegan started surfing as a child. Aug 14, 2015 barbarian days is a more or less chronological account of finnegans relationship with the ocean god. William finnegan on surf writing and winning a pulitzer. Barbarian days is william finnegans memoir of an obsession, a complex enchantment. Its a theme that causes one to wonder if barbarian days is the apt title. Barbarian days is william finnegans memoir of an obsession, a complex. Apr 19, 2016 pulitzer prize winner william finnegan on his balinese book tour last november. It is in many ways, and for the first time, a surfer in full. The immigration issue never comes up in barbarian days, but its clear that the best surfers instincts toward what they care about most, waves, are fiercely restrictionist. As someone who has never attempted this sport in her life, i thoroughly enjoyed william finnegans lengthy memoir. Pulitzer prize winner william finnegan on his balinese book tour last november. The world was incomprehensibly large, and there was still so much to see. In his new book this veteran observer of sociocultural change and political events keeps his international focus but turns the lens on himself. Lopez, one of the most revered surfers of his generation, presents a collection of 41 profiles of those who.
Whether speaking about his experiences as a political journalist or his bestselling memoir, finnegan. William finnegan surfs the meaning of his barbarian days. Dreams of laura ingalls wilder, by caroline fraser metropolitan books. Back in my own pigtail days, when i was pounding pavements to craft stories for journalism school, we had the pleasure of a master class with bill finnegan, the kind. He has chased waves all over the world, wandering for years through the south pacific, australia, asia and africa. Each wave tells a story in barbarian days a surfing memoir might not be what youd expect from a seasoned new yorker reporter, but william finnegans new book is a.
Just sturdy verbs, a casual flowing power, tantric masculine reticence, a melancholy sense of a sidewisedrifting life. True surfers understand that surfing is not a sport, a hobby or even a lifestyle. A book beloved by surfers and nonsurfers alike, barbarian days is an oldschool adventure story. He first spotted it when he was 10, watching a break. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. William finnegans surfing memoir is a glorious ride find out all the details of william finnegans captivating new book, barbarian days. Barbarian days, by william finnegan, details a surfers. Jul 16, 2015 barbarian days is as much a recollection and observation of a life among the swells as it is a reckoning with this fugitive patch.
Barbarian days takes us deep into unfamiliar worlds, some of them right. Get it today with same day delivery, order pickup or drive up. We asked authors, booksellers, publishers, editors, and others to share the places they go to connect with writers of the past, to the bars and cafes where todays authors give readings, and to those sites that are most inspiring for writing. Barbarian days takes us deep into unfamiliar worlds and immerses us in. Early in the book, finnegan examines how the pull of waves is intimately connected to their lethal nature. Barbarian days is as much a recollection and observation of a life among the swells as it is a reckoning with this fugitive patch. Barbarian days tracks the life of the author and his obsession with catching waves across the world. I thought the book was a bit of a bore until i read the last chapter and the mortality and ageing process theme hit me all at once. Barbarian days is a deeply rendered selfportrait of a lifelong. Apr 26, 2016 barbarian days is an oldschool adventure story, an intellectual autobiography, a social history, a literary road movie, and an extraordinary exploration of the gradual mastering of an exacting, littleunderstood art. I cancelled a book tour because of the pandemic, but im doing a series of livestream events this. William finnegan on surf writing and winning a pulitzer a conversation with the journalist whose 2015 surfing memoir, barbarian days, just won the pulitzer prize, about tapping his passion for a. Surfline sits down with author and journalist william finnegan. Barbarian days is a more or less chronological account of finnegans relationship with the ocean god.
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