Cliched.

It had promise, but was just too self indulgent.

It had promise, but was just too self indulgent.

I have read, and loved, all of Peter Heller’s fiction. I thought this would be a fun read as I enjoyed Barbarian Days, a different book about surfing. I think Peter Heller is an excellent writer and really enjoyed this story about his surfing quest. There were times it felt the book jumped around some and was hard to follow, but that was my only fault with it.

I really enjoy Peter Heller's writing. Earlier this year I read his fiction book The Painter and now this memoir about his adventures in Baja trying to learn how to surf at age 48.

I learned quite a bit about the plight of the oceans, the history of surfing in Southern California and Mexico, and about Heller's own personality. Is there anything particularly amazing about this book? Not really but there are passages that really made me feel like I was out on the water with him. There were scenes from his marriage that illustrate some things that probably everyone can recognize in their own behavior - and those things aren't always nice.

Some of the surfing stuff is too technical for me, even at the end of the book, but this wasn't really about the technicalities of catching waves it was about the lifestyle of the surfers and the wonder and might of the sea.

I have two more of Heller's books (one fiction one non) and I'm sure I'll read them in the coming year.