Under The Wave At Waimea, Paul Theroux
Under The Wave At Waimea, Paul Theroux
3 Rating(s)
List: $39.99 | Sale: $28.00
Club: $19.99

Under The Wave At Waimea

Author: Paul Theroux

Narrator: Jim Meskimen

Unabridged: 18 hr 21 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Mariner Books

Published: 04/13/2021


Synopsis

“Theroux’s work is like no one else’s.” –Francine Prose, New York Times Book Review

From legendary writer Paul Theroux comes an atmospheric novel following a big-wave surfer as he confronts aging, privilege, mortality, and whose lives we choose to remember.

Now in his sixties, big-wave surfer Joe Sharkey has passed his prime and is losing his “stoke.” The younger surfers around the breaks on the north shore of Oahu still idolize the Shark, but his sponsors are looking elsewhere. One night, while driving home from a bar after one too many, Joe accidentally kills a stranger near Waimea, a tragedy that sends his life out of control. As the repercussions of the accident spiral ever wider, Joe's devoted girlfriend, Olive, throws herself into uncovering the dead man’s identity and helping Joe find vitality and refuge in the waves again.
Set in the lush, gritty underside of an island paradise readers rarely see, UNDER THE WAVE AT WAIMEA offers a dramatic, affecting commentary on privilege, mortality, and the lives we choose to remember. It is a masterstroke by one of the greatest writers of our time.

Narrated by Jim Meskimen

About Paul Theroux

Paul Theroux is the author of many highly acclaimed books. His novels include Burma Sahib, The Bad Angel Brothers, The Lower River, Jungle Lovers, and The Mosquito Coast, and his renowned travel books include Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, On the Plain of Snakes, and Dark Star Safari. He lives in Hawaii and on Cape Cod.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Andrew on March 11, 2024

Joe Sharkey is a big wave surfer. At sixty two maybe his best days are behind him, but when he wakes every day his first thought is still to check out how the waves are today, and living on Hawaii’s North Shore he’s in the perfect spot to take advantage of any opportunity to wax his board and get in......more

Goodreads review by switterbug (Betsey) on April 28, 2021

I never read a Theroux novel that I didn’t absolutely love, until this one. Interesting events happen to Joe Sharkey, lifetime solitary surfer and champion, but as for Joe himself? He just didn’t come across as all that compelling. In fact, I found him rather unexciting and tedious. Theroux has a wa......more

Goodreads review by Michelle on April 17, 2021

This just kept plodding along. I think there might have been a decent story buried in there somewhere, but I feel like some major editing is needed (especially for the middle part that went back to Joe's younger years). This was probably 1.5 stars for me, rounded up as I liked the descriptions of Ha......more

Goodreads review by Jim on July 31, 2022

With this novel, I do believe that Paul Theroux has crossed over from travel books to become a major American literary figure. Under the Wave at Waimea is miles beyond Theroux's other fiction. Joe Sharkey is a famous surfer, widely known on across O'ahu for his exploits on the waves. Life has been ea......more

Goodreads review by John on May 10, 2021

If you read one book about surfing read Barbarian Days. If you read two books about surfing...well it shouldn’t be this book. Waimea is a mess. The fractured time seems to be there only for effect and the character of Joe and the events surrounding his loss of self seem just off from what real people w......more