“This thing is so full of LIFE! I’d planned to read it in nice little bits, but ended up roaring through the entire piece in one sitting. All senses activated, hitherto unconsidered notions perfectly articulated, and most of all the pulsing, exuberant hum of your life! I couldn’t put it down.”
Kayak racer Susan Starbird explores the physics and metaphysics of kayaking in this contribution to the cult literature of paddlesport. In a series of lyric essays about this challenging, addictive, and humbling activity, her topics range widely across the tragicomic spectrum, from a meditation on paddling, the “autobiography” of a unicellular organism, boat evolution, drowning, flotsam, river access, competition, and a culminating cross-referenced index titled “Everything I Know About Kayaking.” The Second Edition’s expanded volume contains no heroic tales of first descents or global adventure, but plenty of references to mundane B.K.D.s — bad kayaker decisions — and as all boaters know, bad decisions often make good stories.
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Video trailer for The Intertidal Issue:
Reviews for The Intertidal Issue (first edition):
“Your book made me introspective . . . especially the ‘Glory’ piece.”
“I lost a whole morning with your book and have a new appreciation for the attraction of kayak racing. It is strangely compelling, as your writing so often is. I only wish that there was more of it. A marvelous piece of work!”
“Very evocative descriptions of life from the water. Glad you gave us a glimpse.”