Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival

Just as a reminder to how personally lazy I am, I like to read about people who, like my sister, insist on going outside and being sporty. Norman Ollestad is one of those people.

My friend, LW is a high powered executive assistant at Warner Brothers and this book is being made into a movie. She suggested I read it the day before my Kindle got here, so it won the prize of first reading. Written simply and directly, Ollestad relives his eleventh year as if were yesterday instead of 1979. On Februaly 19th of that year, he was in a plane crash with his father and his father's girlfriend on his way to a ski competition in Big Bear. He had competed the day before, but drove back down to Santa Monica for a hockey game he was in that night. See? Really insanely sporty. The kid also surfs.

So the plane crashes and the kid has to walk down a mountain by himself to safety. It makes for a very interesting story. But the true art of this book is in the structure. The crash is woven through all kinds of other memories about his father and growing up on Topanga Beach, a little pocket of leftover hippies during the 70's. His father's insistence on physical activity of all sorts, the pressure of being a talented but pushed kid, and the struggle of figuring out the difference between what you want and what you parents want are all pretty standard themes, but when placed in juxtaposition to the incredible act of willpower that was Ollestad's survival of the crash, I was pretty glad his dad had been so tough on him. It saved his life.

I think I should probably point out at this point that I probably won't be putting out many bad reviews. If I finished it, it was good. Just wait, I have read some reeeeaallly shitty books and still loved them. So this is no exception. The writing didn't roll my socks up and down but the story was riveting. And true, which is also awesome. Now, I will go to my windowless gym and get on the elliptical for 37 minutes, because that's how sporty I am.