Surf Nation: In Search of the Fast Lefts and Hollow Rights of Britain and Ireland - Brossura

Wade, Alex

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0743285980 ISBN 13: 9780743285988

Casa editrice: Simon & Schuster, 2007

Riassunto

If golf is the new football, then surfing must be the new golf. People are flocking to the sport in record numbers, often defying the unforgiving British climate to make the best of what can be some world-class waves. But is it all just surf dudes in VW camper vans heading down for a week's hell-raising in Newquay? Or is the sport attracting a wider range of addicts, often eschewing the established beaches in pursuit of a more solitary, and sometimes more dangerous, goal? In SURF NATION: IN SEARCH OF THE FAST LEFTS AND HOLLOW RIGHTS OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND, Alex Wade takes the pulse of these islands' surfing credentials, and finds a growing army of devotees as well as some stunning locations. A witty and engaging mix of travelogue, reportage and guide to where to find the best breaks, SURF NATION reveals Britain and Ireland to be not just a growing hotbed of surfers but a surf destination of real credibility.

Su questo libro

L'autore:

Alex Wade is a freelance journalist and lawyer who advises several national newspapers on legal issues. He lives with his family in Cornwall.

Dalla quarta di copertina:

'Surfing is life. The rest is details.'
So goes the old saying - but not, surely, in Britain and Ireland? The sea is cold, even in summer, and as for the winter, only a madman would willingly enter those forbidding waters. And once there, what would he find but unreliable surf, the kind of conditions that would provoke derision among Californians or Australians? Surfing, here? Forget it.
But in Barbados, just as a British surfer had won a prestigious international contest, the prevailing view struck Alex Wade as just plain wrong. Looking away from the waves, back to Britain and Ireland, Wade conjured a surf trip that would reverse the stereotypical 'Endless Summer' trajectory and explore the heart of surfing in these islands. Endless chill, maybe, but in meeting and talking to the locals, characters, beginners and professionals who make up an ever-increasing number of dedicated surfers, Wade would find a Surf Nation as vibrant as anywhere in the world.
Taking in our Atlantic, English Channel and North Sea surf spots, Surf Nation also explores the paradoxes of an activity which prizes environmentalism but is nevertheless one of the least environmentally friendly pursuits possible; which celebrates alternative lifestyles but finds itself accused of selling out to the marketing men; and which cannot seem to decide whether it is an art, a sport or a way of life for an exclusive minority. Entertaining, revealing and beautifully written, Surf Nation finds that surfing is emblematic of a fundamental human drive, one as alive in the chill of the Atlantic as the warmth of the Pacific: the drive to accept the siren call of the ocean.
Praise for Alex Wade's Wrecking Machine:
'Every now and then a sports book comes out of nowhere and grabs you by the collar. This is one such book . . . Superb' Sunday Times
SPORT
Simon & Schuster UK
£12.99
0-7432-8598-0

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Simon & Schuster
• Data di pubblicazione: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0743285980
• ISBN 13: 9780743285988
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 352