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In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean
Doubleday
September 2010
On Sale: September 14, 2010
352 pages
ISBN: 0767928849
EAN: 9780767928847
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
From Susan Casey, bestselling author of The Devilβs Teeth, an astonishing book about colossal, ship-swallowing rogue waves and the surfers who seek them out. For centuries, mariners have spun tales of gargantuan waves, 100-feet high or taller. Until recently scientists disΒmissed these storiesβwaves that high would seem to violate the laws of physics. But in the past few decades, as a startling number of ships vanished and new evidence has emerged, oceanographers realized something scary was brewing in the planetβs waters. They found their proof in February 2000, when a British research vessel was trapped in a vortex of impossibly mammoth waves in the North Seaβincluding several that approached 100 feet. As scientists scramble to understand this phenomenon, others view the giant waves as the ultimate challenge. These are extreme surfers who fly around the world trying to ride the oceanβs most destructive monsters. The pioneer of extreme surfing is the legendary Laird Hamilton, who, with a group of friends in Hawaii, figured out how to board suicidally large waves of 70 and 80 feet. Casey follows this unique tribe of peoΒple as they seek to conquer the holy grail of their sport, a 100Βfoot wave. In this mesmerizing account, the exploits of Hamilton and his fellow surfers are juxtaposed against scientistsβ urgent efforts to understand the destructive powers of wavesβfrom the tsunami that wiped out 250,000 people in the Pacific in 2004 to the 1,740-foot-wave that recently leveled part of the Alaskan coast. Like Jon Krakauerβs Into Thin Air, The Wave brilliantly portrays human beings confronting nature at its most ferocious.
 Media BuzzMartha Stewart - December 17, 2010
Daily Show with Jon Stewart - November 30, 2010
Oprah - November 17, 2010
Good Morning America - September 16, 2010
Weekend Edition Saturday - September 11, 2010
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