Barbarian Days

December 24, 2019 6:53 AM - by William Finnegan

**Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Autobiography** Surfing is the star of probably 90% of the pages in the book. So it’s fair to say it’s a book about surfing. However, it’s also a book about growing up and about making decisions, both good and bad. It’s a travelogue, taking you to places around the globe that you will probably never visit, because you don’t have a driving obsession with finding the perfect wave. It’s one big metaphor, with surfing standing in for all sorts of other things. You’d think there are only so many ways to describe a wave in the ocean. Finnegan will disabuse you of that thought,
posted by COD (3 comments total)

About 30 pages into this book, I had a brief thought that I didn’t care that the book won a Pulitzer, there was no way I was reading 400+ pages about surfing.

I went to bed early several times last week so I'd have more time to read. I finished the book.
posted by COD at 6:54 AM on December 24, 2019

I found his New Yorker essay about learning to surf incredibly moving... I will put this on my to read list.
posted by latkes at 7:36 AM on December 24, 2019

I tried surfing because of this book. (I stuck with other hobbies instead, but it’s a lovely book.)
posted by tautological at 11:15 PM on December 24, 2019