Book Reviews
Category
Biographies & Memoirs
The Big Juice: Epic Tales of Big Wave Surfing By John Long and Sam George, editors Falcon Guides, $18.95, 301 pages Surfing is a combination of balance, strength, nerve, intuition, and hard-won knowledge of the sea. A sport to some, a religion to others, there is nothing quite like it on Earth. And for surf enthusiasts who need more adrenaline and
challenge, the final frontier is big wave surfing. Whether paddling in or being towed, the potential of conquering a wave stories tall is where it’s at. The Big Juice chronicles the highs and lows of big wave surfing, as told by the men and women who have come to define the sport. From wipeouts so brutal they’re lifethreatening, to the discovery of secret surf spots a hundred miles offshore, from waves that have swallowed entire neighborhoods, to the friends and heroes lost to the unforgiving ocean, the stories in The Big Juice are exhilarating, heartrending, and fascinating. Punctuated by absolutely stunning photography of these monstrous waves -- and the intrepid souls who embrace the challenge of taming them -- this is a glimpse into a totally alien world, and the incredible force nature brings to bear. It’s a celebration, a warning, a tribute, a memorial, and a historical document all at once. Reviewed by Glenn Dallas Pauline Kael: A Life in the Dark By Brian Kellow Viking, $27.95, 417 pages I was looking for just the right anecdote to lead off this review. It needed to be both bright and telling of Pauline Kael’s personality, as well as indicative of those qualities that brought her legions of fans and a rather impressive selection of haters. I’m going to go with this one. Charlie Seligman, who had been a fact-checker at The New Yorker before going on to become an editor, shares the following in Pauline Kael: A Life in the Dark - “She was funny and lethal right up to the end,” said Seligman. “One day when she was near death and I was trying to divert her with chatter about working as an editor, I said, ‘It never ceases to amaze me how many people who call themselves writers actually can’t write.’ And she said, very weakly, ‘Yes - they say things like ‘It never ceases to amaze me’.” That’s just the sort of death ray one-liner that always makes me fall to my knees and bow down to the speaker. Far too many people are far too polite, which makes them far too boring to quote. Pauline Kael, the late film critic best known for her 1968-1991 stint as the movie reviewer for The New Yorker, was never, ever boring. She wasn’t overtly
San Francisco Book Review • December 2011 • 86