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Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

William Finnegan (Author, Narrator), Audible Studios (Publisher)

9,733

Editors' pick Best Biographies & Memoirs

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Pulitzer Prize, Biography, 2016

A deeply rendered self-portrait of a lifelong surfer by the acclaimed New Yorker writer.

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 entirely: 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 listener in the edgy camaraderie of close male friendships annealed in challenging waves. Finnegan shares stories of life in a whites-only gang in a tough school in Honolulu even while his closest friend was a Hawaiian surfer. 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. He and a buddy, their knapsacks crammed with reef charts, bushwhack through Polynesia. They discover, while camping on an uninhabited island in Fiji, one of the world's greatest waves.

As Finnegan's travels take him ever farther afield, he becomes an improbable anthropologist: unpicking the picturesque simplicity of a Samoan fishing village, dissecting the sexual politics of Tongan interactions with Americans and Japanese, navigating the Indonesian black market while nearly succumbing to malaria. Throughout, he surfs, carrying listeners with him on rides of harrowing, unprecedented lucidity.

Listening Length

18 hours and 8 minutes
Author

William Finnegan
Narrator

William Finnegan
Audible release date

July 21, 2015
Language

English
Publisher

Audible Studios
ASIN

B00YMLTTNW
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	18 hours and 8 minutes
Author	William Finnegan
Narrator	William Finnegan
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	July 21, 2015
Publisher	Audible Studios
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B00YMLTTNW
Best Sellers Rank	#6,154 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #2 in Water Sports (Audible Books & Originals) #2 in Surfing #9 in Adventure Travel (Audible Books & Originals)

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4.5 out of 5

9,733 global ratings

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adel

The More Things Change, the More the Waves Stay the Same

Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2015

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A terrific book on waves written by a professional reporter, Barbarian Days smashes the stereotype of the inarticulate surfer. The watery descriptions are so vivid you can taste the salt, even when the going gets so tough, its hard to understand why the hell anything but a fish would be out in such major surf. While many tails about summiting mountains, distance swimming in open oceans or surfing waves "three refrigerators high" seem rather tall, Barbarian Days stays grounded in factual detail. The in-depth descriptions approach meditations on ocean currents, winds, reefs, surfing technique and surf board models, and yet fails to explain the question why. Certainly not the pursuit of glory, the author makes clear. Despite popular misconceptions, in the early days, the original surf culture downplayed heroics; boasts were bad form and showing off on a wave was as uncool as scoring points in a contest. In a sort of "right stuff" tone, Barbarian Days captures the authentic experience, without romance or glamour and portrays surfing as a cold, solitary test of courage. Though the author tells all, starting with his teenage addiction to waves, a mystery hangs over the book. Why freeze in stormy waters for eight hours, or summit peaks or struggle with a terminal disease against insurmountable odds? Is it human or superhuman to push the limits of tolerance when agony seems prevalent and ecstasy elusive? I once asked a three-time channel swimmer what kept him going in the cold dark ocean for 13 hours and he said "Beatle songs mostly, they just run though my head. I could almost hear the author humming in Barbarian Days, pretending the adventures are normal, though some accounts include an implicit "don't try this at home" caveat cause maybe it wasn't so smart to take such risks. In some instances, he confesses that he can't believe he came out alive. This is not a dull memoir.
The childhood sections were so touching I wished my teenage son would read the book. On the other hand, I am relieved that my son doesn't read because he is growing up in a very different world. Though the quest to discover unknown waves in remote corners of the globe took knocking about to extremes, in the 1960's -1980's, traveling around was a coming of age ritual. Sadly, in this day and age, the world is not nearly as safe and faced with school and career pressures most kids won't have the luxury of an extended time out. One theme of the book concerns change. The author returned some early haunts later in life to find a remote island transformed into a luxury resort, or a coastal fishing village overrun by tourists. Lives and places change. The author aged, married, became a war correspondent, but chasing big surf remained a constant. The interplay took on a rhythmic symmetry, the more things changed the more the waves stayed the same. Like climbers with their mountains, and swimmers with their channels, for surfers the waves serve as a measure, a proving grounds, a retreat, a source of friends and a challenge that never stops calling.

11 people found this helpful

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Kaui

Read this book; you will enjoy it.

Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2015

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I thought this book was a masterpiece. I enjoy the genre of "adventure memoirs," of which this is definitely a lead member. Though it is not as thrilling as Lansing's Endurance, or as compelling as Krakauer's Into Thin Air, this book is an intense meditation about surfing and how it shaped William Finnegan's life. Reviews talk about how Finnegan explores themes like family. I did not think so. I think Finnegan explores surfing. In Hawaii. In Southern California. In Portugal. In Australia. In Northern California. In New York.

As he learns to appreciate the breaks, currents and tides of each locale, he invariably meets friends, lovers and forms a relationship to his world. In his case, Finnegan's world is at once very large (he travels around the world for several years) and small (he is driven by surfing. That is IT.) The narrative meanders, but compellingly so. I could FEEL the waves with him. Finnegan's writing is excellent, and he is a well-read fellow, sprinkling many literary references throughout. These, in my opinion, added a depth of deliciousness to an already very enjoyable book.

If you are from Hawaii, you have to read the first chapter; it is hysterical. If you are from Santa Cruz, or surf Ocean Beach, you must read about his SF days - they are... interesting. If you are from New York, you must read about his discovery of awesome surfing on Long Island and the Sound.

That I read this book during the summer months, that I am from Hawaii, live in the Bay Area and have a deep connection to Manhattan only served to expand this book's dimensional delightfulness further for me. Even without these personal connections, this book deserves the attention it is getting. My only thought is I wonder how Finnegan feels about the popularity of this book and how it compares to the popularity and reach of his political publications.

Either way, read this book. It is excellent.

3 people found this helpful

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M Dodds

An Interesting Life

Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2023

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This is a memoir of a lifelong surfer who lived an incredible life. William Finnegan grew up in Hawaii and California navigating the waves and racism. He went on to travel the world in search of the perfect wave. He becomes a distinguished writer and war reporter.
This book is beautifully written and makes you want to quit your job and travel the world. There are many surf scenes throughout the book so you must like reading about surfing and the surf community.

One person found this helpful

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Ben

Couldn’t put it down

Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2024

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A well written narrative of time well spent chasing waves and figuring out life.

One person found this helpful

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Harry Brown

A true story of the quest for experience

Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2024

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Thought provoking story of friendship and a quest for meaning. I stopped surfing after being pile driven in the shore break. Maybe I'll give it another go at 65. Thank you!

One person found this helpful

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BG Seattle WA

Great Book

Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2024

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LIfelong Surfer here, about 50 years and counting.

This book explains the lifestyle and draw better than any other I have read. I enjoyed the descriptions of several places I am (or was) very familiar with.

My wife, who has had to put up with my surfing all of these years, also enjoyed it.

One person found this helpful

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L. Lopatin

I really wanted to love it

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2024

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I mean, I really did wanna love it.

Surf. Check.
Pulitzer. Check.
Travel. Check.

But at times it was plain boring or even worse, it seemed that the author was trying hard to sound smart or use uncommon words.

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Top reviews from other countries

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justme

Great book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 5, 2023

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Its just a very well written account of this dude (surfing) life. Great read.

Gysel

Amazing biography about a surfing live

Reviewed in Germany on August 18, 2023

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This is probably the best book I've read in a very long time. There are so many amazing stories about all the surfing adventures of the author.

From a multi-year trip around the world with surfing sessions around the globe, to some unknown surfing locations like San Francisco, to discoveries of surf spots unknown then, but world-renown now - this book contains all of it!

Filipe Gil

A must read!

Reviewed in Spain on September 22, 2022

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Amazing book, even for non surf enthusiasts. 10/10

Rudyfromcanada

Incredible.

Reviewed in Canada on September 15, 2020

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William is an amazing author, I had never heard of his work outside of his Journalism and New Writing. But he does an amazing job telling his story. You get sucked with his descriptions of the breaks and the swells of his childhood. Makes you feel like you know exactly how it felt to feel the Hawaiian breeze. And He sucks you in again and again I couldn't stop coming back. Great read.

Nicole

Dans le top ten livres a lire pour un surfeur

Reviewed in France on June 24, 2020

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Un beau cadeau pour un surfeur le jour de son anniversaire alors qu'on ne sait plus vraiment quoi lui offrir.C'est un livre formidable et l'un des meilleurs que chaque surfeur puisse lire.

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