Subscribe
  • News
    • Local
    • Bozeman
    • Regional
    • Business
    • Real Estate
    • Outlaw Partners
  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Yellowstone
  • Events
Menu
  • News
    • Local
    • Bozeman
    • Regional
    • Business
    • Real Estate
    • Outlaw Partners
  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Yellowstone
  • Events

William Finnegan: Wave Rider

in News
Outlaw Partnersby Outlaw Partners
August 8, 2017

By Doug Hare EBS Staff

Surf fiction doesn’t immediately conjure up thoughts of great literature. Of course, there is some good writing about the beautiful addiction to riding waves and the allure of the ocean’s ebb and flow. Allan Weisbecker’s “In Search of Captain Zero” and his tales of Central American adventures rival anything Hunter S. Thompson ever wrote. Then there is Kem Nunn’s classic “Tapping the Source,” which captured the seedy underbelly of Huntington Beach surf culture in the ‘80s and inspired the movie “Point Break.” One of Australia’s most celebrated writers, Tim Winton, also penned a classic coming-of-age surf story, “Breathe,” almost a decade ago.  

As far as nonfiction about surfing, one writer stands head and shoulders above the rest. Sure, Mark Twain and Jack London both wrote about surfing Hawaii’s Waikiki in the early 1900s, but their memoirs don’t hold a candle to what William Finnegan accomplished with “Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life,” winner of a 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Biography.

Article Inline Ad Article Inline Ad Article Inline Ad
ADVERTISEMENT

In 1992, Finnegan, a longtime war correspondent, published a two-part article in The New Yorker called “Playing Doc’s Games” which was instantly recognized for its eloquent authenticity, among both surf bums and the literati. Some 25 years later, he writes with even greater precision and critical distance from the overly-mythologized sport. 

For Finnegan, chasing waves is in one sense a noble, ascetic practice which rejects conventional notions of achievement and questions standard obligations of duty. At other times, he feels more conflicted: “Being rich white American kids in dirt-poor places where many people, especially the young, yearned openly for the life, the comforts, the very opportunities that we, at least for the seemingly endless moment, turned our backs on—well, it would simply never be O.K.”

Finnegan’s “Barbarian Days” recounts growing up in the ‘50s and ‘60s in southern California and Hawaii catching waves and getting into fistfights. As he grows up, becomes a journalist, has a family and explores far-flung locales, his love for surfing outlasts the adolescent-rebellion phase, but his innocent passion for the activity doesn’t blind him to the problematic aspects of his pursuits.

Here is a book best read on a beach. It will be awhile before anyone writes about the mysterious cult of surfers with such evocative simplicity and clear-headed reflection. Whether Finnegan is detailing the friendships he has made riding big waves, his close-calls with drowning, or his travels around the globe searching for the perfect break, “Barbarian Days” lays the gifts of Poseidon bare for all to see.

Doug Hare is the distribution director for Outlaw Partners. He studied philosophy and American literature at Princeton and Harvard universities.

Yellowstone National Park Lodge Yellowstone National Park Lodge
ADVERTISEMENT

Listen

Hoary Marmot Podcast

Joe Borden & Michele Veale Borden

Lastest Episode
See More Episodes
outlaw realty montana outlaw realty montana
ADVERTISEMENT
Outlaw Realty Big Sky Bozeman
ADVERTISEMENT

Upcoming Events

Aug 22
August 22 @ 10:00 am - August 31 @ 6:00 pm

Gallatin County RV & Boat Show

Aug 28
11:00 am - 6:00 pm Event Series

Big Sky Artists Collective August show

Aug 29
11:00 am - 6:00 pm Event Series

Big Sky Artists Collective August show

Aug 29
7:00 pm - 9:30 pm Event Series

Trivia at the Waypoint

Aug 30
10:00 am - 8:00 pm Event Series

7th Annual Art for Everyone

View Calendar
Event Calendar

Related Posts

Broadband committee approves $300 million in fiber optic, satellite projects
News

Broadband committee approves $300 million in fiber optic, satellite projects

August 28, 2025
Big Sky Biggie’s seventh year draws hundreds to local trails 
Featured

Big Sky Biggie’s seventh year draws hundreds to local trails 

August 26, 2025
Agencies respond to West Fork Fire about 20 miles south of Big Sky
Featured

Agencies respond to West Fork Fire about 20 miles south of Big Sky

August 19, 2025
Fire departments continue to manage Elk Creek Fire near Gallatin Gateway
Featured

Fire departments continue to manage Elk Creek Fire near Gallatin Gateway

August 17, 2025

An Outlaw Partners Publication

Facebook-f Instagram X-twitter Youtube

Explore Big Sky

  • About/Contact
  • Advertise
  • Publications
  • Subscriptions
  • Podcast
  • Submissions

Outlaw Brands

  • Mountain Outlaw
  • Plan Yellowstone
  • Big Sky PBR
  • Wildlands Music
  • Outlaw Partners
  • Outlaw Realty
  • Hey Bear

Copyright © 2025 Explore Big Sky | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Your Privacy Choices

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Bozeman
    • Regional
    • Business
    • Outlaw Partners
  • Yellowstone
  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Real Estate
  • Events

©2024 Outlaw Partners, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Explore Big Sky Logo
  • News
    • Local
    • Bozeman
    • Regional
    • Business
    • Real Estate
    • Outlaw Partners
  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Yellowstone
  • Events
Subscribe
Facebook X-twitter Instagram Youtube