Crazy for the Storm LP: A Memoir of Survival - Softcover

Ollestad, Norman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061782084 ISBN 13: 9780061782084

Publisher: Harper Large Print, 2009

Synopsis

“Breathtaking....Crazy for the Storm will keep you up late into the night.”
—Washington Post Book World

 

Norman Olstead’s New York Times bestselling memoir Crazy for the Storm is the story of the harrowing plane crash the author miraculously survived at age eleven, framed by the moving tale of his complicated relationship with his charismatic, adrenaline-addicted father. Destined to stand with other classic true stories of man against nature—Into Thin Air and Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer; Sebastian Junger’s The Perfect Storm—it is a literary triumph that novelist Russell Banks (Affliction) calls, “A heart-stopping story beautifully told....Norman Olstead has written a book that may well be read for generations.”

About this title

Review:

'The memoir is as much about a father-son relationship as it is a survival story ... Ollestad says his father's life philosophy about surfing and skiing – ‘’knowing there's always a place to go and find peace, clear your mind’’ – got him down the mountain and through life.'
USA Today

'I could not stop reading this thrilling memoir ... a heart-stopping adventure that ends in tragedy and triumph, a love story that fearlessly explores the bond between a father and a son and what it means to lead a life without limits.'
Susan Cheever

''Crazy for the Storm' is truly extraordinary – an adventure story with a rich psychological foundation from an enormously talented author. Ollestad's portraits are beautifully contradictory and complex – brutal, brave and human – and the book is filled with wonderful dramatic moments. In scene after scene, these images beg to be savoured, yet they drive the story forward with tremendous force. 'Crazy for the Storm' is a powerful book. It deserves to be a bestseller.'
Lucinda Franks, Pulitzer Prize winning author

'As much a thriller as a memoir ... gorgeously written, perfectly controlled.'
Carolyn See

' A heart-stopping story beautifully told ... Norman Ollestad has written a book that may well be read for generations. It's a book that fathers should give to their sons, but sons should give it to their fathers, too. And mothers, wives, sisters and daughters – read it and weep for all the boys and men you have ever loved.'
Russell Banks

From the Back Cover:

From the age of three, Norman Ollestad was thrust into the world of surfing and competitive downhill skiing by the charismatic father he both idolized and resented. These exhilarating tests of skill prepared "Boy Wonder," as his father called him, to become a fearless champion—and ultimately saved his life.

Flying to a ski championship ceremony in February 1979, the chartered Cessna carrying Norman and his father crashed into the San Gabriel Mountains. "Dad and I were a team, and he was Superman," Ollestad writes. But now Norman's father was dead, and the devastated eleven-year-old had to descend the treacherous, icy mountain alone.

Set amid the spontaneous, uninhibited surf culture of Malibu and Mexico in the late 1970s, this riveting memoir, written in crisp Hemingwayesque prose, recalls Ollestad's childhood and the magnetic man whose determination and love infuriated and inspired him—and also taught him to overcome the indomitable. As it illuminates the complicated bond between an extraordinary father and his son, Ollestad's powerful and unforgettable true story offers remarkable insight for us all.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Large Print
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0061782084
• ISBN 13: 9780061782084
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 360