Rockaway

March 2, 2020
Vibe magazine founder and former New York Times reporter Cardwell recounts how she moved to Rockaway Beach, N.Y., after a divorce to pursue her passion for surfing in this detailed story of reinvention. The book spans from 2010 to 2017 and opens as Cardwell—raw after her divorce and feeling she had failed at creating a family—travels to Montauk and watches surfers for the first time. After taking a few lessons, she was hooked. She discusses learning surfing terms like the “turtle roll” (“a way of paddling through breaking waves to get to the outside on a longboard”) and various surfing maneuvers, and she talks about strengthening her body and growing her confidence. “Life really does go on,” she writes. The book’s most engaging sections concern her move to Rockaway Beach, where she bought a house not long before Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012; here, she offers a rich account of living through the disaster and rebuilding in its aftermath. By the end, she has a crew of surfing friends, a new man, and a zest for life. Readers don’t have to surf to be taken away by Cardwell’s story, but it definitely wouldn’t hurt.

April 15, 2020
A journalist's account of how midlife disappointments fueled an unexpected journey into the world of surfing. As she entered her 40s, Cardwell, a founder of Vibe magazine and former New York Times reporter, was the picture of success. She had a prestigious newspaper job and a handsome husband she adored. Sadly, just as she and her husband were trying to conceive, they divorced. Devastated, Cardwell spent the next three years mourning lost opportunities for motherhood and wondering whether she would ever "get to be the girl on someone's arm again." Everything changed when a newspaper assignment took her to Montauk, where she observed a group of surfers--"a secret tribe of magical creatures"--frolicking in the surf. Transfixed, Cardwell suddenly decided she wanted to learn the sport. The impulse shocked her; she was far from athletic. Her first clumsy attempts at surfing made her realize that as much as "the mind was more than willing...the flesh was going to need a lot of work." She began attending a surfing school in Rockaway Beach and going to the gym, and she quickly developed friendships with other surfers who gave her advice on everything from surfing equipment to how to read the ocean and its rhythms. Less than a year and a half later, the author bought a home there, bringing her closer to the people she had come to know and pulling her away from the Manhattan hustle she thought she could never do without. When Hurricane Sandy flooded her home and neighborhood in October 2012, Cardwell realized that despite the risks of living by the ocean in the age of climate change, she had finally found her tribe and a renewed zest for life. In this eloquent narrative, the author offers a moving portrait of a woman in search of herself as well as a joyful celebration of physicality, friendship, and the art of surfing. A bighearted and uplifting memoir.

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March 27, 2020

In search of a good story and at a personal crossroads in life, journalist Cardwell stopped by a surf beach in Montauk, Long Island, in 2010. What she saw changed everything for her--the ease and grace of surfers, the combination of the sun and the water, and an entire subculture that was instantly alluring. Putting internal doubts aside, Cardwell left her marriage and city life behind in order to move to a beach bungalow and begin surfing lessons. Her memoir emphasizes her progress as a surfer, but she doesn't shy away from personal introspection. Cardwell's firsthand account of Hurricane Sandy, and how she and her neighbors survived the devastation together is particularly poignant. Written with a warm and conversational style, this is an unusual story of personal triumph, insight into what makes a community stronger, and a reminder that perceived limitations are often self-imposed. VERDICT Readers looking for an offbeat, uplifting account, and those with an interest in surfing or outdoor challenges, should find this engaging. An ideal selection for book groups and recommended for all public library collections.--Janet Davis, Darien P.L., CT

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2020

An award-winning journalist, the divorced and disenchanted Cardwell found herself watching the surfers at Rockaway Beach, which angles out into the Atlantic from New York City. She decided to learn to surf, but just as she was mastering her balance, Hurricane Sandy washed ashore, and she quickly joined to help a storm-wrecked community get its balance. In-house enthusiasm; with a 40,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.