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Body Surfing: A Novel
The beach house in New Hampshire which figured in Anita Shreve's The Pilot's Wife, Fortune's Rocks, and Sea Glass is once again featured in Body Surfing. This time, it is the summer home of the Edwards family, Anna and Mark and daughter Julie. Mrs. Edwards has great hopes for Julie, who is "slow," so she hires Sydney to tutor her, in preparation for her senior year. There are two older brothers, Jeff and Ben, whose arrival changes the household dynamic considerably. Once again, Shreve revisits the minefield of love and betrayal that she has explored so well in her best novels. Sydney is 29, twice married, once divorced, and once a widow. She is floundering, not sure she wants to go back to school, accepting whatever job comes along and then moving on. She answers the ad for a tutor and finds herself in the Edwards household, where she discovers that Julie has undiscovered artistic talent. Mrs. Edwards dislikes her instantly, is dismissive, and treats her like a servant. Mr. Edwards befriends her, shows her his roses and talks to her about the history of the house, giving the reader a rundown of the role the house has played in prior novels. Sydney, Jeff, and Ben go body surfing late one night and Sydney is sure that Ben has tried to grope her underwater. She takes immediate umbrage at this and treats him coldly thereafter. Shreve's other work has a steady narrative flow, but this novel is episodic and disjointed. There is the the arrival of Jeff's girlfriend, her departure, an evening when Julie comes home drunk and won't talk about it, and a liaison between Sydney and Jeff which leads to the complications that eventually define the novel. There is a twist at the end, involving the brothers, that is divisive, destructive and rather hard to believe. While this is not Shreve's best effort, because the characters are not well-defined, it is worth reading her take on what happens to people when they compete for love. --Valerie Ryan.
Price: $4.30
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West of Jesus: Surfing, Science, and the Origins of Belief
A spiritual and scientific surf quest, West of Jesus tracks a contemporary surfing myth and looks at the neuroscience that connects spirituality and high risk sport. After spending two years in bed with Lyme disease, Steven Kotler had lost everything: his health, his job, his girl, and, he was beginning to suspect, his mind. Kotler, not a religious man, suddenly found himself drawn to the sport of surfing as if it were the cornerstone of a new faith. Why, he wondered, when there was nothing left to believe in, could he begin to believe in something as unlikely as surfing. What was belief anyway? How did it work in the body, the brain, our culture, and human history? Into this mix came a strange story. In 2003, on a surf trip through Mexico, Kotler heard of “the conductor,” a mythical surfer who could control the weather. He’d heard this same tale eight years earlier, in Indonesia, but this time something clicked. With the help of everyone from rebel surfers to rocket scientists, Kotler undertakes a three year globetrotting quest for the origins of this legend. The results are a startling mix of big waves and bigger ideas: a surfer’s journey into the biological underpinnings of belief itself. .
Price: $7.89
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Force of Nature: Mind, Body, Soul (And, of Course, Surfing)
With a superhero’s physique, a beautiful athlete/model wife, and the ocean as his office, Laird Hamilton’s charmed lifestyle is enviable Now, for the first time, he shares his secrets for living a perfectly balanced life. Force of Nature opens a window onto the unique physical regimens, mental strategies, and spiritual beliefs that has allowed Hamilton to do what he loves, while being surrounded by family and radiating peak health and fitness. Hamilton shares his life-enhancing approach to constantly challenging oneself to improve in three distinct areas: -body—Hamilton's comprehensive guide for fitness, nutrition, injury prevention, and rehabilitation also includes his first-ever surf tutorial with specific how-to information about his sport -mind—in this revealing look at the inner life of a world-class athlete, Hamilton talks about conquering fear, adversity, and negativity while embracing the promise of change that each new day holds -soul—from finding one's passion to traveling a less-trodden path, Hamilton invites readers to look inward, forging their own set of core spiritual beliefs that will literally determine the course of their lives To elite athletes, blockbuster celebrities, and the rest of us, Laird Hamilton has proven to be the authority on performance and living as fully as possible. Now he shares his recipe for living in this highly anticipated book.
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Price: $18.45
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Tao of Surfing: Finding Depth at Low Tide
A New Way of Healing "Tao of Surfing is an inspired book and a unique reflection that will have a lasting effect on anyone who reads it."
—Bob Walch, The Monterey County Herald The roads I travel and the waves I search for and ride exemplify the flowing movement and continuous change of life itself. — From the book “Author Allen…in fine, thoughtful fashion…writes well, informally, and there is haiku in his observations…A delightful book, effortlessly wise.”
—The Book Reader “From the first pages of this remarkable book I was captivated by the gently profound philosophy of riding through life with graceful balance.”
—Greg Ambrose, author of Surfer's Guide to Hawaii and co-author of Memories of Duke, the Legend Comes to Life Internationally acclaimed and Pulitzer Prize nominated author Michael A. Allen, takes you on a journey into the recesses of your soul and explores the ontological question, "What is our underlying essence?" Mr. Allen uses the metaphor of the sea, and its ebb and flow, to describe the Tao of life’s cycle. And he discovers within this unique reflection a new way to comfort and heal the Self from the trauma of death. His long time interest in film brought him to write the screenplay adaptation with his brother in law Alex Carig in order to make Tao of Surfing into a full-length feature motion picture. Mr. Allen was initially inspired to write Tao of Surfing after his brother—his surfing partner—died from the complication of AIDS. .
Price: $8.09
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Surfing Armageddon: Fishnets, Fascists, and Body Fluids in Florida
Having moved from the richest suburb in America to a plantation in Florida (which his father dreams of recreating as Tara, the mansion from Gone with the Wind), George Tabb enters late adolescence with a black leather jacket and a penchant for punk rock — quirks that don’t sit well with his conservative Southern classmates. In Surfing Armageddon, Tabb shares his painfully funny recollections of teenage rebellion, family turmoil, and an abusive father with black humor and real humanity. .
Price: $8.45
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How Do You Know He's Real?: God Unplugged
"How Do You Know He's Real? God Unplugged," the second book in the successful "He's Real series," shares the profound real life journeys and dramatic encounters with the living God by young celebrities from the worlds of sports and music. The book addresses issues that young people deal with, like insecurity, anger, peer pressure, addiction and self-esteem. Always inspirational and often miraculous, "God Unplugged" is a must-read for those who desire to go deeper in their relationship with God..
Price: $8.50
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