Destined to stand with other classic true stories of man against nature—Into Thin Air and Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer; Sebastian Junger’s The Perfect Storm—Crazy for the Storm is a literary triumph.
Norman Olstead's New York Times bestselling memoir is the story of the harrowing plane crash the author miraculously survived at age eleven, framed by the moving tale of his complicated relationship with his charismatic, adrenaline-addicted father.
“A heart-stopping story beautifully told….Norman Olstead has written a book that may well be read for generations.” —Russell Banks
“Breathtaking....Crazy for the Storm will keep you up late into the night.” —Washington Post Book World
A riveting and moving memoir, written in crisp Hemingwayesque prose and set amid the wild, uninhibited surf culture of Malibu and Mexico in the late 1970s
From the age of three, Norman Ollestad was thrust into the world of surfing and competitive downhill skiing by the intense, charismatic father he both idolized and resented. Yet it was these exhilarating tests of skill that ultimately saved his life when the chartered Cessna carrying them to a ski championship ceremony crashed 8,000 feet up in the California mountains, leaving his father and the pilot dead. The devastated eleven-year-old Ollestad had to descend the treacherous, icy mountain alone.
Crazy for the Storm is a powerful and unforgettable true story that illuminates the complicated bond between an extraordinary father and his extraordinary son.
"Never a dull moment....[Ollestad has] written a beautiful story about a thrill-loving father - 'the man with the sunshine in his eyes'- who taught his boy not just how to live, but how to thrive."
