May 1, 2025
A middle-aged man learns to surf--and tolerate Joe Rogan devotees, too. "Surfing is for lunatics," declares former Obama speechwriter Litt. As a case in point, he recounts the surf-happy ways of his brother-in-law, who thinks nothing of cruising the waves off New Jersey on Christmas Day, behavior that Litt finds inexplicable. But then comes Trump's first election and Covid-19, "a towering lasagna of calamity." Seeking something new to do to cope with the pandemic, Litt wanders into a surf shop, buys a wetsuit, and arranges for lessons. "I imagined learning to surf would be a fun but manageable challenge, like learning a language," he writes. "It was only later...that I revised my view. Learning to surf is like learning a language that wants to kill you." Anxieties and early disasters notwithstanding, Litt sticks to it, and in time he becomes a competent if not Olympic-level surfer, and one with a big goal: to surf the huge waves off Hawaii's North Shore. A few test runs send the message that maybe that's not such a good idea, but he pairs up with that brother-in-law, very much Litt's opposite in temperament and especially in politics ("My brother-in-law wasn't a Trump supporter. But he also wasn't not"), and rides it out, carrying a bit of advice from an old-timer in the front of his mind: "You've just got to go out and get your ass kicked." So he does. A neat trick in Litt's amiable memoir is that his language becomes more and more surfer-dudish page by page ("when waves approach from the perfect angle...they compound themselves into supersized rights that peel for hundreds of yards"). It's all good fun, and if it lacks the bravado of Daniel Duane's mad-dog surf writing, it's both honest and entertaining. A pleasing paean to the art of learning something new--and something "pretty great."

COPYRIGHT(2025) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from May 1, 2025
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, Litt, a journalist, former speechwriter for President Obama, and best-selling author (Democracy in One Book or Less, 2020), found himself in fear about the rise in fascism and suffering from depression. At the encouragement of his wife and as a way to help cope with his crisis, Litt took on a new challenge, surfing. In the spirit of ""finding common ground"" by meeting him on his turf, Litt turns to his brother-in-law Matt, an experienced surfer and nonvoting Joe Rogan fan. With self-deprecating humor and a tenacious spirit, Litt exposes his own insecurities and shares lessons learned as he improves his fundamental skills from balancing on a foam board and reading waves to wiping out a lot. Together, he and Matt surf the familiar Jersey Shore waters and eventually branch out to California, Spain, France, and the mecca, Hawaii. Litt's chronicle offers beautiful writing and laugh-out-loud humor and will engage anyone who has dreamed about learning to surf or undertaking any other seemingly improbable challenge. Litt also navigates the ebb and flow of familial relationships, sharing his own experience as an example of how to agree to disagree without demonizing one another. Timely and uplifting.

COPYRIGHT(2025) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

April 18, 2025

Litt (Democracy in One Book or Less) once worked as President Obama's speech writer, a job that included composing the script for several White House Correspondents' Association dinners. The skills Litt honed by speech writing--especially being quick, clever, and funny while imbuing meaning--are on full display here. Though this book is nominally about learning to surf, at the heart of the tale is Litt's learning to see beyond his assumptions. Litt's brother-in-law Matt provides the foil, and the two could not be more different. Driven into despair by the pandemic and the political landscape, Litt decides to learn to surf. Matt is already a surfer, and that one connection haltingly fuels more closeness as the two travel to surf spots and ultimately face the overhead waves of Hawai'i. Along the way are details of surfing and scenes rife with amity, quarrelsomeness, and bewilderment--but always, Litt and Matt strive for something that looks like neutral ground. VERDICT This mix of sports memoir, near-midlife crisis narrative, and buddy adventure offers easy reading with a political edge.--Neal Wyatt

Copyright 2025 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 7, 2025
In this affable memoir, former Obama speechwriter Litt (Democracy in One Book or Less) reflects on the value of stepping outside of one’s ideological comfort zone. When Covid hit, Litt’s political optimism was replaced by a conviction that “a world on fire was not a challenge to be overcome but a permanent condition to be endured for the rest of our lives.” Meanwhile, his brother-in-law, Matt—Litt’s political opposite—appeared to thrive. When Litt decided to take up surfing as a pandemic activity, he turned to the Joe Rogan–loving Matt for help and discovered unexpected commonalities between them. As Litt’s affinity for surfing grew, so did his and Matt’s tentative friendship: “For the most part, I treated his views on current events the way he treated mine about swell direction and fin placement—by saying, ‘Hmm, maybe,’ and changing the subject.” Wisely, Litt never preaches nor purports to offer secrets to finding common ground. Instead, he illustrates the virtues of “neutral ground,” which allowed him and Matt to experience “so much more together than we ever would have apart.” This buddy adventure packs a surprisingly substantial punch. Agent: David Greenberg, Levine Greenberg Rostan.