Review
`a jazz-inspired song of surfing...
`Bleakley argues persuasively that surfing, and therefore life generally, consists of imparting some new syncopated swerve to an old standard and improvising amid the maelstrom, "between chaos and control".' --Andy Martin in The Independent, 9 July 2010
`A book worth reading if you're looking for a one-man jazz-infused tip-toe along the road of life. ... Sam simply shares his past, his present and his frequencies with us, which is worth sharing. He's well travelled, a Cambridge alumni, and speaks with soft tones.' --Drift, 22 June 2010
'a beautifully written book ... accompanied by some stunning photos ... packs in some incredible trips which are well off the beaten track ... A great read and a wonderful contribution to the increasingly rich library of literature by British surfers' --Tim Kevan, The Barrister Blog, 29 June 2010
`un piacevolissimo mix di surf-report, avventura (quella in cui qualcosa va necessariamente storto) e raffinata letteratura di viaggio, resa palpabile dalle immagini di Callahan.'
--SurfNews, June 2010
Surfing Brilliant Corners is unlike anything else in the surf writing genre - and all the better for it.
--Cornwall Today, August 2010
... the insights into some of the more remote quadrants of the surfing world are inspirational ... The photos are excellent, the words perfect
--Wavelength, 194, August 2010
'a highly entertaining surf-travel book ... Written with the same elegance with which he rides a board'
--The Cornishman, 29.07.10
`a vibrant collection of writing... John Callahan's photos are fantastic as always...
`... it's a pleasure to have a solid gold dose of surfing literature from some of the world's waveriding frontiers.'
--Pacific Longboarder, August 2010
`Um amor incondicional pelo surf, pelo mundo e pela grande aventura humana.
`As imagens deslumbrantes de John Callahan fornecem o apelo visual ideal para ilustrar as palavras de Bleakley, neste que é um dos grandes livros de surf atualmente disponíveis no mercado.'
--Surf Portugal, Agosto 2010
`There's rhythm and fun... Bleakley has, in the surfing genre and beyond, rare writing skills and sensitive powers of observation. He also has passion and a dexterous imagination.'
--The Surfer's Path, September 2010
`it is Bleakley's lyrical stylings that set the tone, coloured by John Callahan's photography that fleshes out the lifestyle entailed in the search for waves in the planet's furthest-flung corners.' --Action Asia, September/October 2010
`Ever respectful and humbled by the places he visits, the people he meets and the breaks he surfs, this is an inspiring travel journal... . Stir in bold and expansive photography by JS Callahan and you've got yourself a winner.'
--Cooler Magazine, October 2010
`an atypical surf book delving into the deeper meaning of surf travel and its path to self-discovery'
--SurfCaribe, October 2010
`Sam Bleakley has converted 10 years of world traveling into 190 pages of lyrical anecdotes and vivid photographs by J.S. Callahan' --Surfer Magazine, November 2010
`the pages conjure up a lifestyle far removed from that of your average weekend surfer, and show how, when you are lucky enough to be as talented as the author, the sport can take you places you had never dreamed of visiting. ... The photographs by John Callahan are, simply, gorgeous. In full colour, they bring far-flung corners of the world and its people vividly to life.'
--Tavistock Times Gazette, 04.11.10
`sizzling photography ... Bleakley's a thoughtful, extremely well traveled chronicler, and Corners is a fine introduction to his world.' --The Surfer's Journal, vol 19, no. 6, 2010
`voll geladen mit inspirierenden Geschichten und traumhaften Fotos. Sam blickt in seinen Geschichten hinter den typischen Surf-Tourismus und zeigt faszinierende Menschen, Kulturen und Abenteuer, bringt einen aber durch seine kritische Sicht auf die Dinge auch immer wieder selbst zum Nachdenken. Für jeden Weltenbummler eine Pflichtlektüre!' --Surfers, August/September 2010
`This book is not the norm... there is poetry and there is earnestness. The divide between photography and journalism, just got smaller... it was a serendipitous discovery indeed.' --Spinal Surfer blog, 24.11.10
`an outstanding book... loads of longboarding photos in amazing surf spots... a great read.' --Australian Longboarding, no. 72, November/December 2010
`A colourful glossy collection of a decade's worth of the global surf adventures (to some of the world's most offbeat destinations) undertaken by the surfer/shooter team of Sam Bleakley and John S. Callahan.' --Slide, no. 17, January 2011
`O livro Surfing Brilliant Corners, escrito pelo longboarder profissional Sam Bleakley e ilustrado com fotos de John Callahan, relata viagens aos cantos mais remotos do planeta em busca de ondas perfeitas.' --Hardcore, Mar 2011
`Bleakley argues persuasively that surfing, and therefore life generally, consists of imparting some new syncopated swerve to an old standard and improvising amid the maelstrom, "between chaos and control".' --Andy Martin in The Independent, 9 July 2010
`A book worth reading if you're looking for a one-man jazz-infused tip-toe along the road of life. ... Sam simply shares his past, his present and his frequencies with us, which is worth sharing. He's well travelled, a Cambridge alumni, and speaks with soft tones.' --Drift, 22 June 2010
'a beautifully written book ... accompanied by some stunning photos ... packs in some incredible trips which are well off the beaten track ... A great read and a wonderful contribution to the increasingly rich library of literature by British surfers' --Tim Kevan, The Barrister Blog, 29 June 2010
`un piacevolissimo mix di surf-report, avventura (quella in cui qualcosa va necessariamente storto) e raffinata letteratura di viaggio, resa palpabile dalle immagini di Callahan.'
--SurfNews, June 2010
Surfing Brilliant Corners is unlike anything else in the surf writing genre - and all the better for it.
--Cornwall Today, August 2010
... the insights into some of the more remote quadrants of the surfing world are inspirational ... The photos are excellent, the words perfect
--Wavelength, 194, August 2010
'a highly entertaining surf-travel book ... Written with the same elegance with which he rides a board'
--The Cornishman, 29.07.10
`a vibrant collection of writing... John Callahan's photos are fantastic as always...
`... it's a pleasure to have a solid gold dose of surfing literature from some of the world's waveriding frontiers.'
--Pacific Longboarder, August 2010
`Um amor incondicional pelo surf, pelo mundo e pela grande aventura humana.
`As imagens deslumbrantes de John Callahan fornecem o apelo visual ideal para ilustrar as palavras de Bleakley, neste que é um dos grandes livros de surf atualmente disponíveis no mercado.'
--Surf Portugal, Agosto 2010
`There's rhythm and fun... Bleakley has, in the surfing genre and beyond, rare writing skills and sensitive powers of observation. He also has passion and a dexterous imagination.'
--The Surfer's Path, September 2010
`it is Bleakley's lyrical stylings that set the tone, coloured by John Callahan's photography that fleshes out the lifestyle entailed in the search for waves in the planet's furthest-flung corners.' --Action Asia, September/October 2010
`Ever respectful and humbled by the places he visits, the people he meets and the breaks he surfs, this is an inspiring travel journal... . Stir in bold and expansive photography by JS Callahan and you've got yourself a winner.'
--Cooler Magazine, October 2010
`an atypical surf book delving into the deeper meaning of surf travel and its path to self-discovery'
--SurfCaribe, October 2010
`Sam Bleakley has converted 10 years of world traveling into 190 pages of lyrical anecdotes and vivid photographs by J.S. Callahan' --Surfer Magazine, November 2010
`the pages conjure up a lifestyle far removed from that of your average weekend surfer, and show how, when you are lucky enough to be as talented as the author, the sport can take you places you had never dreamed of visiting. ... The photographs by John Callahan are, simply, gorgeous. In full colour, they bring far-flung corners of the world and its people vividly to life.'
--Tavistock Times Gazette, 04.11.10
`sizzling photography ... Bleakley's a thoughtful, extremely well traveled chronicler, and Corners is a fine introduction to his world.' --The Surfer's Journal, vol 19, no. 6, 2010
`voll geladen mit inspirierenden Geschichten und traumhaften Fotos. Sam blickt in seinen Geschichten hinter den typischen Surf-Tourismus und zeigt faszinierende Menschen, Kulturen und Abenteuer, bringt einen aber durch seine kritische Sicht auf die Dinge auch immer wieder selbst zum Nachdenken. Für jeden Weltenbummler eine Pflichtlektüre!' --Surfers, August/September 2010
`This book is not the norm... there is poetry and there is earnestness. The divide between photography and journalism, just got smaller... it was a serendipitous discovery indeed.' --Spinal Surfer blog, 24.11.10
`an outstanding book... loads of longboarding photos in amazing surf spots... a great read.' --Australian Longboarding, no. 72, November/December 2010
`A colourful glossy collection of a decade's worth of the global surf adventures (to some of the world's most offbeat destinations) undertaken by the surfer/shooter team of Sam Bleakley and John S. Callahan.' --Slide, no. 17, January 2011
`O livro Surfing Brilliant Corners, escrito pelo longboarder profissional Sam Bleakley e ilustrado com fotos de John Callahan, relata viagens aos cantos mais remotos do planeta em busca de ondas perfeitas.' --Hardcore, Mar 2011
Product Description
Surfing Brilliant Corners details a decade of extreme global surf travel by professional longboarder Sam Bleakley, illustrated with stunning photographs by John Callahan. It takes surfing beyond the waves and packaged surf tourism to a wider sense of place and cultural identity. Sam travels from his birthplace in West Cornwall to Indonesia and the Philippines; through vibrant West African highlife in Ghana, to war-damaged Liberia; to Mauritania, where landmines litter access to some of the best waves on the planet; to a serene Buddhist oasis in Communist China; to Ecuador, Oman and Haiti, whose complex culture seeps into his psyche and captures his heart. He looks deep into the jet-black eye of a surfacing shark in Kenya, and faces a stacked set of foaming lips during typhoon surf in South Korea. Celebrating Thelonious Monk's 1950s album Brilliant Corners, Sam explores how, like great jazz musicians, talented surfers use invention, complex rhythm, timing and spontaneity to turn impossible waves into beautiful and challenging music. 'Surfing,' he says, 'has opened me up, split my skin, widened my horizons, and closed me down, because any obsession restricts your involvement in other aspects of life.'
About the Author
Sam Bleakley is a writer and professional surfer. He has been a multiple European, British and English Longboard Surfing Champion, and a regular competitor on the Oxbow World Longboard Tour. He has an MA in Geography from Pembroke College, University of Cambridge. He is widely published and featured in international magazines, including Resurgence and The Surfer's Path, and has contributed to numerous surf and travel books, as well as editing The Surfing Tribe: A History of Surfing in Britain.
