Reviews

Años salvajes by William Finnegan

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sabrinacabrera's review against another edition

this did not have to be 400+ pages. at several points in every chapter my brain started to fog from the endless stream of dialogue.

i appreciate Finnegan’s painter-like storytelling and how well he captured his surfing adventures in different coastlines around the world, and for most of it it felt like i was there chasing swells with him.

but damn. i wasn’t really sure when it was ever gonna end.

bobmcbobson's review against another edition

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3.0

I liked this book (though I didn't love it) because the author's unwavering passion for surfing was fascinating to me. He literally built his life around the sport, travelling the world seeking out the best as-yet "unspoiled" waves (meaning not so well known they become overrun with other surfers). The fact that he was doing this in the time before internet and cell phones made the adventure that much more exciting. Ultimately, though, this book should have been at least 150 pages shorter. It got very repetitious in every chapter as he described the same places over and over and over again. I feel like he may have literally catalogued every wave he ever surfed in this book.

carknapp's review against another edition

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slow-paced

2.5

claire_dobson's review against another edition

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4.0

I thoroughly enjoyed this biography, living vicariously through the author. I've always wanted to learn to surf and wondered what the lifestyle would be like so this first hand account kept me enthralled.