Aug 06, 2015 barbarian days is william finnegans memoir of an obsession, a complex enchantment. 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. Just sturdy verbs, a casual flowing power, tantric masculine reticence, a melancholy sense of a sidewisedrifting life. Theres an informing moment in barbarian days, william finnegans memoir about his lifelong surfing obsession, when he and a friend. 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 thing. Pulitzer prize winner william finnegan on his balinese book tour last november. 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 get the book. A deeply rendered selfportrait of a lifelong surfer by the accla. 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. Barbarian days is in many ways, and for the first time, a surfer in full. A surfing life, william finnegan delivers an exhilarating account of surf culture while chronicling the ways in which the sport shaped him. 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.
A surfing life, william finnegan, a writer for the new yorker, writes about his experience surfing and how it has changed his life. Jul 21, 2015 finnegans treatment of surfing never feels like performance. Aug 14, 2015 near the end of barbarian days, william finnegans luscious memoir about his lifelong infatuation with surfing, the author describes a wave of huge power in which this tension becomes manifest. Barbarian days is a deeply rendered selfportrait of a lifelong surfer looking for. Barbarian days a surfing lifeby william finnegan winner of the 2016 pulitzer prize for. Instead, it is a path, a constantly evolving journey that directs where you go, how you live, and who you are. Jul 21, 2015 barbarian days npr coverage of barbarian days. A bookish boy, and then an excessively adventurous young man, he went on to become a distinguished writer and war reporter. 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. And it is cause for throwing your wetsuit 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.
Barbarian days, a surfing life by william finnegan. He has chased waves all over the world, wandering for years through the south pacific, australia, asia and africa. Praise for barbarian days without a doubt, the finest surf book ive ever. Jul 22, 2015 there comes a bright sunday hawaiian morning in william finnegans youth, and in the first chapter of his captivating new book, barbarian days. Dreams of laura ingalls wilder, by caroline fraser metropolitan books. Near the end of barbarian days, william finnegans luscious memoir about his lifelong infatuation with surfing, the author describes a wave of huge power in which this tension becomes manifest. 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. A surfing life, by william finnegan by thad ziolkowskijuly, 2015 photo kapalua, maui, 2005. A surfing life took home top honors for biography finnegans. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read barbarian days. True surfers understand that surfing is not a sport, a hobby or even a lifestyle. Jul 19, 2015 with barbarian days, we finally have that extraordinary book in full, including, largely unchanged, playing docs games. As a boy in the 1960s, finnegan moved with his family from california to oahu, where he was an outsider among kids his own age.
Surfline sits down with author and journalist william finnegan. William finnegan on surf writing and winning a pulitzer. Apr 19, 2016 pulitzer prize winner william finnegan on his balinese book tour last november. 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. Barbarian days a surfing life by bttf wed dec 14, 2016 9. Finnegans treatment of surfing never feels like performance.
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. There comes a bright sunday hawaiian morning in william finnegans youth, and in the first chapter of his captivating new book, barbarian days. Jul 22, 2015 theres an informing moment in barbarian days, william finnegans memoir about his lifelong surfing obsession, when he and a friend are bumming around australia in the late 1970s. 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, little understood art. Winner of the pulitzer price and william hill sports book of the year. Tossing aside a mundane and meaningless job, daniel duane went to santa cruz, california, to surf for year. Finnegan observes that though surfing appears to be a simple sport to many, being a talented surfer requires a lifelong obsession. He divides his memoir into chapters that describe different. Barbarian days begins in the widely accepted surfing haven of honolulu and ends on the unexpected city shoreline of new york city.
Sep 02, 2015 barbarian days begins in the widely accepted surfing haven of honolulu and ends on the unexpected city shoreline of new york city. In this memoir, finnegan describes a lifetime of looking for waves and looking for himself. For pure sensation, pick up new yorker writer william finnegans memories of the beach, barbarian days. Mar 12, 2020 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, little understood art. In his pulitzer prizewinning memoir, barbarian days. 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. Fans of memoirs that dive deep below the surface to cover topics ranging from politics to love to travel, all under the umbrella of one mans passion for surfing. Download book pdf pdf free pdf file ebook biography barbarian days. Barbarian days is william finnegans memoir of an obsession, a complex enchantment. Barbarian days is as much a recollection and observation of a life among the swells as it is a reckoning with this fugitive patch. From susan casey, bestselling author of the devils teeth, an astonishing book about colossal, ship. A surfing life includes a complete plot overview spoilers included. It is in many ways, and for the first time, a surfer in full. Barbarian days, a surfing life by william finnegan surfline sits down with author and journalist william finnegan.
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. A surfing life william finnegan, 2015 penguin 464 pp. 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. William finnegan surfs the meaning of his barbarian days. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Without a doubt, the finest surf book ive ever read. Raised in california and hawaii, william finnegan started surfing as a child. A surfing life highly recommended, excellent writing. At the bay area book festival, pulitzer prize winning writer william finnegan, author of barbarian days. Early in the book, finnegan examines how the pull of waves is intimately connected to their lethal nature. Finnegan has certainly written a surfing book for surfers, but on a more fundamental level, barbarian days offers a cleareyed vision of american boyhood. A surfing life is more the subtitle than the title that is, a surfing life.