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.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview: #1 I was a haole, or white, kid in a primarily Hawaiian school in Honolulu. The other kids made fun of me, and I didn’t have any friends. I was too scared to say anything. #2 I was sent to Kaimuki Intermediate School, a racially segregated school, where I was bullied and had no friends. I was bored in class, and spent most of my time watching the trees outside for wind direction and strength. #3 I was excited to be in Hawaii, and I was surprised by how little surf there was. The waves were small and darkfaced, and the wind offshore. I was worried about the coral reef off the beach. #4 I paddled west along a shallow lagoon, staying close to the shore, for half a mile. The beach houses ended, and the steep, brushy base of Diamond Head itself took their place across the sand. The reef on my left fell away, revealing a wide channel deep water where no waves broke.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 I was a haole, or white, kid in a primarily Hawaiian school in Honolulu. The other kids made fun of me, and I didn’t have any friends. I was too scared to say anything. #2 I was sent to Kaimuki Intermediate School, a racially segregated school, where I was bullied and had no friends. I was bored in class, and spent most of my time watching the trees outside for wind direction and strength. #3 I was excited to be in Hawaii, and I was surprised by how little surf there was. The waves were small and dark-faced, and the wind offshore. I was worried about the coral reef off the beach. #4 I paddled west along a shallow lagoon, staying close to the shore, for half a mile. The beach houses ended, and the steep, brushy base of Diamond Head itself took their place across the sand. The reef on my left fell away, revealing a wide channel deep water where no waves broke.

Winner of the Pulitzer Price and William Hill Sports Book of the Year: Barbarian Days is a deeply rendered self-portrait of a lifelong surfer looking for transcendence 'that recalls early James Salter' (Geoff Dyer, Observer) Surfing only looks like a sport. To devotees, it is something else entirely: a beautiful addiction, a mental and physical study, a passionate way of life. New Yorker writer William Finnegan first started surfing as a young boy in California and Hawaii. Barbarian Days is his immersive memoir of a life spent travelling the world chasing waves through the South Pacific, Australia, Asia, Africa and beyond. Finnegan describes the edgy yet enduring brotherhood forged among the swell of the surf; and recalling his own apprenticeship to the world's most famous and challenging waves, he considers the intense relationship formed between man, board and water. Barbarian Days is an old-school adventure story, a social history, an extraordinary exploration of one man's gradual mastering of an exacting and little-understood art. It is a memoir of dangerous obsession and enchantment. 'Reading this guy on the subject of waves and water is like reading Hemingway on bullfighting; William Burroughs on controlled substances; Updike on adultery. . . . a coming-of-age story, seen through the gloss resin coat of a surfboard' Sports Illustrated

Seventeen tales of various islands in the Pacific Ocean.

The filmmaker of the surfing documentary Five Summer Stories and pioneer of the IMAX format tells stories from his adventurous life and groundbreaking career in Hollywood and beyond. Greg MacGillivray is a man with stories. Stories of being a surfer kid in California, and making his first movie at the age of 13; of his early days as a filmmaker, creating iconic surfing documentaries such as the cult classic 5 Summer Stories, with his partner in crime, Jim Freeman; of his years in Hollywood, working in Hollywood with such legends such as Stanley Kubrick (on The Shining, no less); and of his work pioneering the 70mm IMAX film format, creating some of the most spectacular, groundbreaking cinematography celebrating the natural world. There are stories of almost dying in New Guinea, flying into eyes of hurricanes, the perils of shooting in the USSR, and how filming Mount Everest changed his life. Greg MacGillivray has led a life like no other, - and for the first time, he’s telling his story. In this fascinating memoir, Greg chronicles his personal journey as an artist, a self-made filmmaker, a father, and an entrepreneur at the head of the most successful documentary production company in history. It is also a story about MacGillivray’s deep commitment to family, to ocean conservation, and to raising awareness about the importance of protecting our natural heritage for generations to come. Contributions by legendary surfers Gerry Lopez and Bill Hamilton, and filmmakers such as Stephen Judson and Brad Ohlund, plus 40 QR codes to extraordinary film clips, add give even more depth and perspective to this amazing journey. Greg’s compelling stories of adventure, surfing, love, loss, inspiration, conservation, and filmmaking give you a front seat to an extraordinary life - and, just like his IMAX movies, makes you feel as if you are there. EXCLUSIVE VIDEOS: Includes 40 QR codes linked to rare, incredible videos that bring Greg MacGillvray’s stories to life. BEHIND-THE-SCENES SECRETS: Learn the history of the IMAX film format, and how filmmakers achieve an immersive and awe-inspiring visual experience. FROM SURFER TO MOVIE LEGEND: Follow the journey of a man who went from a teenage surfer to the most successful documentary filmmaker in history with hundreds of amazing escapades and achievements in between.

" ... written expressly for the people, especially the workingmen, that is, the farmers, mechanics, laborers, and necessary traders and useful mental workers, and in open hostility to drones, and useless and wasteful, and idle and unnecessary aristocracy, that is living on the vitals of the people, and giving no good in return"--Page 5