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Barbarian Days
**Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Autobiography**
Included in President Obama’s 2016 Summer Reading List
“Without a doubt, the finest surf book I’ve ever read . . . ” —The New York Times Magazine
Barbarian Days is William Finnegan’s memoir of an obsession, a complex enchantment. Surfing only looks like a sport. To initiates, it is something else: a beautiful addiction, a demanding course of study, a morally dangerous pastime, a way of life.
Raised in California and Hawaii, Finnegan started surfing as a child. He has chased waves all over the world, wandering for years through the South Pacific, Australia, Asia, Africa. A bookish boy, and then an excessively adventurous young man, he went on to become a distinguished writer and war reporter. Barbarian Days takes us deep into unfamiliar worlds, some of them right under our noses—off the coasts of New York and San Francisco. It immerses the reader in the edgy camaraderie of close male friendships forged in challenging waves.
Finnegan shares stories of life in a whites-only gang in a tough school in Honolulu. He shows us a world turned upside down for kids and adults alike by the social upheavals of the 1960s. He details the intricacies of famous waves and his own apprenticeships to them. Youthful folly—he drops LSD while riding huge Honolua Bay, on Maui—is served up with rueful humor. As Finnegan’s travels take him ever farther afield, he discovers the picturesque simplicity of a Samoan fishing village, dissects the sexual politics of Tongan interactions with Americans and Japanese, and navigates the Indonesian black market while nearly succumbing to malaria. Throughout, he surfs, carrying readers with him on rides of harrowing, unprecedented lucidity.
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.
More Books from William Finnegan
Reviews
As a lifelong adventure sports athlete in skating, skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking and with an affinity for the ocean (though too landlocked in Colorado to become a surfer); this book stirs the soul. The next great wave, the next great adventure, the next great buddy to experience this life with. A wondering tale of coming of age, and realizing the further we progress, that Mother Nature who teases us with moments of perfection is subject to our withering from Father Time. And yet, here we are still chasing the fleeting moments of perfection pocked by perilous holes of imperfection in ourselves and the world at large. Prose for the ages or ageless…
By Finny Style
Finnegan’s writing style flows with a wonderful even-keeled-ness; there’s an emphasis on simplicity and realism, despite his deployment of extensive vocabulary and richly potent sentences. In a modern world full of recycled language and clichés, Finnegan’s writing stands out more than ever. His story is inspiring and exhilarating for all who surf—and it likely captures the imagination of anyone and everyone else.
By Jimmy Who?
This book carried me back to the Oahu of my youth and young adult life. The intimacy of each of the south shore breaks, to Makaha and the North Shore, the stoke in William is definitely a soul stoke.
By Paul Fryer
I liked this book so much that I took to reading it in the mornings instead of the newspaper. It seemed fresher and more compelling. I had no special interest in surfing but the brilliant descriptions and recreations of this book hooked me. I used Google earth to see every place Finnegan surfed, watched surfing videos on YouTube, and felt I had had a great vacation by the end, total immersion. Only the highest level of writing can do this. It isn’t built in to the experiences. Shelfsweeper
By shelfsweeper
Finnegan’s spirited autobiography captures a life flooded with adventure and thoughtful reflection.
By Jharper2332