I buy a lot of books. My wife would tell you too many. A nasty habit I acquired from my old man. Buy three, read one. But coffee table books don't count. Because you can't really "read" them. You pick it up on occasion, peel through a few pages, ogle some images and then return it to its home on the hardwood (cause glass coffee tables should have stayed in the 80s). This book, however, is an exception, as it accompanies
Come Hell or High Water, a body surfing film made by Keith Malloy. Now, to be completely honest, I didn't watch the movie until after I'd already browsed through the book. Maybe a mistake. But the images inside
The Plight of the Torpedo People are incredible, and as far as I'm concerned, they can be appreciated with or without an introduction to their importance. There are also screen grabs from the film, which offer the "reader" a window into the world of a surfer sans stuff. A poem by Mark Cunningham captures their connection - Torpedo People pulling to big peelers, falling down the face, escaping underwater. A connection us above water wave riders can't have. It's a beautiful book. One that'll make you wanna pick up a pair of fins and swim out when it's shitty. Or when it isn't.
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This review originally appeared on Stoke Harvester's blog.
