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Mark Foo's Last Ride
This classic essay from Jon Krakauer is now available as an unabridged audiobook download. This essay is also included in the Classic Krakauer collection.
From the best-selling author of Missoula and Into the Wild: a selection of the singular investigative journalism that made Krakauer famous, covering topics from avalanches on Mt. Everest to a volcano in Washington state; from a wilderness therapy program for teens to an extraordinary cave in New Mexico so unearthly that is used by NASA to better understand Mars.
In these fascinating essays - first published in the pages of The New Yorker, Outside, Smithsonian, and Rolling Stone, among others - Jon Krakauer shows why he is considered one of the finest investigative journalists of our time. The articles, gathered together here for the first time, take us from an otherworldly cave in New Mexico to the heights of Mt. Everest; from the foot of the volcano Mt. Ranier to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska; from the notebook of one Fred Becky, who has catalogued the greatest unclimbed mountaineering routes on the planet, to the last days of legendary surfer Mark Foo. These extraordinary articles are unified by the author's passion for nature and unrelenting search for truth.
From the best-selling author of Missoula and Into the Wild: a selection of the singular investigative journalism that made Krakauer famous, covering topics from avalanches on Mt. Everest to a volcano in Washington state; from a wilderness therapy program for teens to an extraordinary cave in New Mexico so unearthly that is used by NASA to better understand Mars.
In these fascinating essays - first published in the pages of The New Yorker, Outside, Smithsonian, and Rolling Stone, among others - Jon Krakauer shows why he is considered one of the finest investigative journalists of our time. The articles, gathered together here for the first time, take us from an otherworldly cave in New Mexico to the heights of Mt. Everest; from the foot of the volcano Mt. Ranier to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska; from the notebook of one Fred Becky, who has catalogued the greatest unclimbed mountaineering routes on the planet, to the last days of legendary surfer Mark Foo. These extraordinary articles are unified by the author's passion for nature and unrelenting search for truth.
Audiobook
Published February 27, 2018
78 people want to read
About the author
Jon Krakauer
54 books16.9k followersJon Krakauer is an American writer and mountaineer, well-known for outdoor and mountain-climbing writing.
https://www.facebook.com/jonkrakauer
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 4, 2022
“Big wave surfing has little in common with fun and games at the beach. The incumbent hazards and challenges lend the activity a seriousness of purpose. A certain nobility, even.”
This epic little essay details the final wave of “surfing Demi god” Mark Foo, who drowned while surfing the Mavericks near Half Moon Bay, California on December 23, 1994. A “respected elder of the big wave fraternity”, Foo was a cocky 36 year old professional surfer who survived on 30k a year and spent his days chasing the next big wave. Krakauer does great justice to Foo in this essay, providing a wholesome overview of his life as a Singaporean immigrant breaking the mold of what his parents wanted him to do and living for the surf.
First of all, Krakauer could write about taking a shit in the morning and it would be art. This essay is no different. The man knows how to word craft so beautifully and he draws the reader into the cold pacific waters so convincingly, it’s almost as if it is them being slapped in the face by the “guillotining lip of the wave.”
Look at this: “imbedded in the wall of the heaving green barrel, unable to penetrate the wave to escape”.... “dropping into history”... “meaty gaping barrels”... Spectacular and evocative (sometimes punny) writing!
I really appreciated how this essay told Foo’s story, but also taught so much about surfing and surf slang. The background on how surfing was changed by capitalism, with surfers exhibiting more reckless behavior and dangerous attempts just to score a drop photo and earn a buck, was fascinating. All around very solid reporting and read.
If you don’t like this, you’re on some kook behavior. ;)
This epic little essay details the final wave of “surfing Demi god” Mark Foo, who drowned while surfing the Mavericks near Half Moon Bay, California on December 23, 1994. A “respected elder of the big wave fraternity”, Foo was a cocky 36 year old professional surfer who survived on 30k a year and spent his days chasing the next big wave. Krakauer does great justice to Foo in this essay, providing a wholesome overview of his life as a Singaporean immigrant breaking the mold of what his parents wanted him to do and living for the surf.
First of all, Krakauer could write about taking a shit in the morning and it would be art. This essay is no different. The man knows how to word craft so beautifully and he draws the reader into the cold pacific waters so convincingly, it’s almost as if it is them being slapped in the face by the “guillotining lip of the wave.”
Look at this: “imbedded in the wall of the heaving green barrel, unable to penetrate the wave to escape”.... “dropping into history”... “meaty gaping barrels”... Spectacular and evocative (sometimes punny) writing!
I really appreciated how this essay told Foo’s story, but also taught so much about surfing and surf slang. The background on how surfing was changed by capitalism, with surfers exhibiting more reckless behavior and dangerous attempts just to score a drop photo and earn a buck, was fascinating. All around very solid reporting and read.
If you don’t like this, you’re on some kook behavior. ;)
Displaying 1 of 1 review