Crazy for the Storm : A Memoir of Survival
Overview
Commentary
Norman Ollestad's father, an adventurist and FBI agent, was fairly obsessed with channeling his son's course through life. Almost from the time Norman took his first steps, his father was strapping skis to the toddler's tiny feet and hurling him down the side of a mountain. Norman was also forced to learn how to surf by the notorious "sink-or-swim" method. While he soon came to resent his father's stubborn and abusive training techniques, Norman is alive today because of those hard lessons. In 1979, the eleven-year-old Norman was the only survivor of a small plane crash that killed his father and two other people. Stranded on a treacherous mountainside amidst the blizzard that caused the plane to go down, young Norman used his skiing and survival skills to escape certain death. His riveting memoir tells his incredible story of strength and endurance, balancing the chilling winds of his mountain ordeal with the brilliant sunshine of the beaches where he learned to surf.
Publisher's Notes
A personal account set against a backdrop of southern California's surf culture in the late 1970s describes the author's struggles with constant fear in the face of his father's thrill-seeking personality, his forced participation in dangerous ski and surf sports, and his efforts to survive a plane crash that killed his father and stranded him in the Gabriel Mountains. 300,000 first printing.
Reviews
"Ollestad...succeeds in making this book an elegant memoir as well as a transformative coming-of-age tale. When he leaves his father's limp body behind on the icy plateau...it's clear he takes his first perilous steps not just into survival, but into adulthood."
Ginger Adams Otis
"[A] breathtaking 'memoir of survival,'....[This] portrait of a father's consuming love for his son...will keep you up late into the night."
Bill Gifford
"[In this] engrossing story of adventure, survival and psychological exploration....Ollestad hits several notes that should make his memoir irresistible to those looking for page-turning but thought-provoking summer reading along the lines of Jon Krakauer's INTO THIN AIR."
"There's enough drama in the plane crash alone to sustain a novel, but Ollestad has done something much more. He's written a beautiful story about a thrill-loving father...who taught his boy not just how to live but also but how to thrive."
Maggie Galehouse
Full Details
| Author | |
| Format | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9780061766725 |
| List Price | $25.99 |
| Publisher | |
| Publication Date | 06/02/2009 |
| Fiction/Non-Fiction | |
| Release Status | In Print |
| Language | |
| Pages | 272 |
| Measurements | Weight: 1.05 Pounds |
| Height: 9.5 Inches |
| Length: 6.5 Inches |
| Thickness: 1.25 Inches |
Inc. For personal non-commercial use only. All rights reserved.
