Book description
If golf is the new football, then surfing must be the new golf. People
are flocking to the sport in record numbers, often defying the
unforgiving British climate to make the best of what can be some
world-class waves.
But is it all just surf dudes in VW camper vans heading down for a
week's hell-raising in Newquay? Or is the sport attracting a wider
range of addicts, often eschewing the established beaches in pursuit
of a more solitary, and sometimes more dangerous, goal?
In SURF NATION: IN SEARCH OF THE FAST LEFTS AND HOLLOW RIGHTS OF
BRITAIN AND IRELAND, Alex Wade takes the pulse of these islands'
surfing credentials, and finds a growing army of devotees as well as
some stunning locations. A witty and engaging mix of travelogue,
reportage and guide to where to find the best breaks, SURF NATION
reveals Britain and Ireland to be not just a growing hotbed of surfers
but a surf destination of real credibility.
'Surfing is like music - very difficult to translate
into language. Yet Wade, an enthusiast, has produced a work in the
vein of Tom Wolfe's The Pump House Gang that is passionate,
informative and benign'
The Times 7/7
'There is a bloggish,
blokeish authenticity to Wade's guided tour that is impossible to
dislike'
Daily Telegraph 14/7
'An original concept,
triumphantly realised' Independent on Sunday 15/7
'You probably
won't read another book on surfing this year, but even if you do, Surf
Nation would be the best'
Observer 22/06
Alex Wade is a freelance journalist and lawyer who advises several
national newspapers on legal issues. He lives with his family in Cornwall.
