Richard J. King is a visiting associate professor in Maritime History and Literature with the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. He has been sailing on ships throughout the Atlantic and Pacific for twenty-five years and in 2007 sailed across the Atlantic alone in a 28-foot sailboat. He is the author of Ahab's Rolling Sea- A Natural History of Moby-Dick, The Devil's Cormorant- A Natural History, Lobster, Meeting Tom Brady and co-editor of the anthology Audubon at Sea- The Coastal and Trans-Atlantic Writings of John James Audubon.
An engaging, beautifully written history of single-handed sailing
... Packed with ripping yarns and driven characters.
*The Economist*
Those who have chosen to face the dangers of the ocean alone are a
colourful and inventive bunch ... I was delighted to read of
[King's] amazement.
*The Times*
The book is as much a feat as the crossing ... something to be
marvelled at ... I’ve already started plotting my own ocean
crossing.
*Prospect*
First-hand accounts evoke the elation, frustrations and dangers of
life in a small boat crossing the ocean ... King assembles a truly
eccentric, even flamboyant cast of solo sailors.
*Financial Times*
Richard King is a superb and gifted writer, and Sailing Alone is an
exceptional book. Into his account of his own singlehanded ocean
crossing, he has woven a rare and compelling history of the real
explorers, the extraordinary 'ordinary' people-men, women, and even
children-who took off alone, in tiny, often crude boats, and found
what we are all searching for. Here is the real story of what it's
like to be alone at sea. A real achievement that will provide
inexhaustible re-reading, Sailing Alone belongs on the very small
shelf of the true classics of the sea.
*Peter Nichols, author of Sea Change and A Voyage for Madmen*
Sailing Alone is a beacon, a lighthouse of luminance for the
experienced and inexperienced alike. Richard King's insightful
reflections on the stories of lone voyagers make this required
reading for all who dream fervently of such voyages. A nuanced
study in aspiration, endurance, terror, and triumph, it's a
treasure.
*Jon Wilson, Founder, WoodenBoat*
Praise for Richard J. King's Ahab's Rolling Sea: A Natural History
of Moby-Dick: 'Anyone who loves Moby-Dick should read this
book'
*Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In the Heart of the Sea*
A superb work of popular scholarship that rivals the best books of
maritime non-fiction currently in print ... a joy to read.
*Dan Brayton, author of Shakespeare’s Ocean*
A wide-ranging, highly personal, richly eclectic, and extremely
well-researched book whose style and humour, combined with its
rigor, suggest the potential for popularity beyond the fascinations
of this self-confessed whalehead ... A contemporary, witty, almost
postmodern field guide.
*Philip Hoare, author of The Whale*
A marvellous guide to the magic and mystery that was Melville's
gift to us.
*Carl Safina, author of Song for the Blue Ocean and Becoming
Wild*
Brilliantly written, I have been drawn back to Sailing Alone again
and again; each new reading brings a different perspective, and has
also introduced me to remarkable sailors I really should have known
about.
*Practical Boat Owner*
King has an academic's research skills and a deep appreciation of
the link between solo sailing and writing. He has also had the
ocean-time to develop questions that could never have been
formulated from a library ... An important, stimulating book.
*Yachting Monthly*
Ask a Question About this Product More... |