“I think money isn't any good sitting around, so I spend some time in the shoe department at Saks.” Quote by Janet Evanovich
“Hawaii is the birthplace of surfing, and many Hawaiians or part-Hawaiians surf, but in the rest of the United States it's a pretty white sport.” StatesSportsWhiteUnitedUnited StatesHawaiiSurfingSurfHawaiiansBirthplace Author:William Finnegan
“There are big surfing communities in every country with an ocean coast that I know in Central and South America. Same with Mexico, Bali, and nearly every island nation that gets waves in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. But that's a relatively recent development in most places.” KnowsCountryBigsAmericaNationsCommunityDevelopmentOceanSouthWaveIndianIslandsMexicoCoastSurfingPacificSouth AmericaBali Author:William Finnegan
“I remember surfing in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, even Madeira, when local fishermen had never seen a surfboard before, and refused to believe that we could ride a wave on one.” BelieveRememberWaveLocalsSurfingFishermanFijiSamoa Author:William Finnegan
“Rich white people show up in a poor country to pursue their leisure-time fun, get served by black and brown people, and live in relative - or absolute - comfort. In the water, that situation can get turned on its head, though. Local kids learn to surf, know the breaks, and take most or all of the best waves, fuming turistas be damned.” PeopleKnowsCountryShowsKidsFunBlackWaterWhitePoorSituationBreakRichComfortAbsolutesWaveLocalsPursueBrownRelativeLeisureSurfPoor CountriesLeisure Time Author:William Finnegan
“Poor-country surf communities can be complex and, to some extent, leveling. The fisherman's kid is competing head to head with the plutocrat's gilded son. Your father can't buy you a good frontside hack.” CountryKidsFatherCommunityPoorSonComplexesCompetingSurfFishermanHacksPoor CountriesGilded Author:William Finnegan
“It's so much harder than it looks - to conjure a fictional world that some passing wolf of skepticism can't just blow down in one breath.” WorldLooksHarderBreathsBlowPassingPassingsSkepticismFictional Worlds Author:William Finnegan
“I always wanted to write. While I was on a long surf trip, supporting myself with various day jobs, I was working hard on a novel. My third novel, in fact.” WritingLongHardFactsWantedJobsNovelThirdsVariousSurfDay Jobs Author:William Finnegan
“I'm trying to find out what's actually true, which is nearly always something, if not a world of things, that you can't read in books.” IfsWorldTryingBook Author:William Finnegan
“The differences between the received wisdom, the standard version of events, and the facts on the ground may be subtle or they may be stark, even profound.” MayFactsDifferencesEventsStandardsProfoundVersionsSubtleStarks Author:William Finnegan
“I need to conduct myself differently in different communities. In my experience, the journalistic conventions - you know, I'm the reporter, you're the subject, the interviewee - actually tend to hold steady much more consistently in rural Africa than they do in the American inner city.” KnowsNeedsDifferentCommunityCitiesSubjectsSteadyConventionsConsistentlyReportersInner CityJournalistic Author:William Finnegan