Total Page : 304
Publisher : Ecco
Publication Date : 2010 05 01
>> Life on the Edge
Crazy for the Storm is about the relationship between a charismatic man an adrenaline junkie who seemed driven to challenge himself and his son a boy who tried to please his father by accompanying him on his adventures The author Norman Ollestad was only 11 years old when his dad pushed their luck once too often and died in a plane crash on their way to a skiing competition at Big Bear California leaving him alone with a dying woman
The memoir moves back and forth in time framing the boy s epic struggle to escape a blizzard in a mountain wilderness within the narrative of his singular youth He grew up on Malibu Beach in a surfing and skiing culture caught between a mother with an abusive boyfriend and a devoted father who constantly demanded physical prowess But when the unthinkable occured the lessons his father taught him allowed him to survive
The book possesses a momentum and tone that make it a gripping read It vividly describes experiences that most people can hardly imagine and it helps us understand the author a man consumed by powerful memories and by feelings of anger and guilt Finally it makes one reflect upon the question of how much to push a child to appreciate one s passions and how much to allow the child to make his or her own choices
>> Wanted to LIke This More Than I Did
2 Words that describe the book Survival memoir
3 Settings where it took place or characters you met
1 Setting late 1970s California and Mexico
2 Norman Ollestad Jr The author had a unique upbringing in the uninhibited and freedom loving surf culture of the 1970s He lived on Topanga Beach At age 1 his father strapped him to his back and took him surfing see photo at right This was the start of a childhood filled with extreme sports Norman was continually pushed by his father to surf play hockey and ski at levels that were both frightening and somewhat dangerous Yet this background gave Norman a unique mindframe and skills that ended up helping him to survive a plane crash that killed his father his father s girlfriend and the plane s pilot Norman was only 11 at the time of the crash
3 Norman Ollestad Sr A fearless man with a taste for adventure Norman Ollestad was many things a former FBI agent who wrote a book exposing the weaknesses of the agency a successful lawyer and a devoted father who wanted to make sure his son who he affectionately called Boy Wonder experienced the exhilaration and beauty of living life fully by pursuing extreme sports like powder skiing and surfing
4 Things you liked and/or disliked about it
1 I liked the trip to Mexico that father and son take shortly before the plane crash In many ways it acts as a coming of age journey for young Norman This extended sequence is in some ways more the heart of the book than the actual plane crash
2 I disliked how Ollestad structured the book The chapters alternate between his childhood and his struggle for survival on the mountain after the plane crash This technique for telling the story didn t work for me I felt like I kept losing the momentum of the survival aspect of the story The book might have worked better if it had been told in chronological order
3 I disliked that I never got a real grip on the survival story I m not sure if it was Ollestad s writing or my unfamiliarity with some of the terms he used but I never felt that sense of I m right there you get with some survival stories such as Jon Krakauer s excellent Into Thin Air
4 I liked the ending where Ollestad writes about his grown up assessment of his father and his own struggle to find the right amount to push his own son In many ways Norman might not have survived if his father hadn t raised him the way he did But in other ways it seems almost negligent or cruel the pressure his father put on him and the situations he was forced to experience
5 Stars or less for your rating
I m giving the book 3 stars I really wanted to like it more than I did I m a big fan of real life survival stories but this one just didn t do it for me I think much of it was due to the writing Although he has a gripping story to tell I think Ollestad might have benefited from having a co writer that could have helped him tell his story better Surprisingly enough the most interesting part of the book for me was the father son relationship and the unique way Ollestad was raised
>> Sexually explicit to the extreme
Crazy for the Storm is the only book that I have returned to Amazon in many years The language is uncalled for and it is sexually explicit to the extreme It definitely is not a book that I would want my family children or grand children to pick up to read in my home X rated books should be explained in advertizements Not a worthy buy
