scofer3 (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} scofer3) wrote in ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} 50bookchallenge,@ 2008-04-20 08:12:00 |
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#17: Off the Deep End by W. Hodding Carter
17. Off the Deep End by W. Hodding Carter
Hodding Carter, a 45 year old struggling writer and father of four, is pursuing a place on the 2008 Olympic swim team. The book chronicles his journey, although my advance review copy did not include the last chapter which will let the reader know whether he achieved his goal. Off the Deep End is a quick and somewhat enjoyable read, filled with humor and self deprecation (which is very much deserved). Parts of the book were highly entertaining, including a chapter recounting a trip to the Virgin Islands as part of a story for Outside magazine where Hodding and a friend swim between the islands, carrying their gear by surfboard tethered to their feet.
I am pulling for Hodding to secure a spot on the Olympic team despite the fact that the book makes it difficult to identify with or even like Hodding. I can’t help but be honest that the book provides a little too much information that is, frankly, a turn off. For example, Hodding is extremely arrogant and clearly enamored of his “buff” physique which he discusses quite a bit, including one annoying episode where he is flexing his muscles in the mirror for 15 minutes while Lisa (his wife, a lawyer and breadwinner of the family) is folding laundry nearby. At another point, Hodding is training at an exclusive and expensive swim camp, financed by his wife who is at home taking care of their four kids, and Hodding describes flirting with one of the staff. The mention of ogling women and flirting appears several times, in fact, which I find astonishing since he is honest about his marriage difficulties. But, most disappointing of all, while Hodding clearly loves to swim, it is evident that he is doing all of this in an attempt to secure endorsements. I wish I did not know that. In the end, I hope that Hodding achieves his goals … and grows up along the way.
Rating: 3/5
17. Off the Deep End by W. Hodding Carter
Hodding Carter, a 45 year old struggling writer and father of four, is pursuing a place on the 2008 Olympic swim team. The book chronicles his journey, although my advance review copy did not include the last chapter which will let the reader know whether he achieved his goal. Off the Deep End is a quick and somewhat enjoyable read, filled with humor and self deprecation (which is very much deserved). Parts of the book were highly entertaining, including a chapter recounting a trip to the Virgin Islands as part of a story for Outside magazine where Hodding and a friend swim between the islands, carrying their gear by surfboard tethered to their feet.
I am pulling for Hodding to secure a spot on the Olympic team despite the fact that the book makes it difficult to identify with or even like Hodding. I can’t help but be honest that the book provides a little too much information that is, frankly, a turn off. For example, Hodding is extremely arrogant and clearly enamored of his “buff” physique which he discusses quite a bit, including one annoying episode where he is flexing his muscles in the mirror for 15 minutes while Lisa (his wife, a lawyer and breadwinner of the family) is folding laundry nearby. At another point, Hodding is training at an exclusive and expensive swim camp, financed by his wife who is at home taking care of their four kids, and Hodding describes flirting with one of the staff. The mention of ogling women and flirting appears several times, in fact, which I find astonishing since he is honest about his marriage difficulties. But, most disappointing of all, while Hodding clearly loves to swim, it is evident that he is doing all of this in an attempt to secure endorsements. I wish I did not know that. In the end, I hope that Hodding achieves his goals … and grows up along the way.
Rating: 3/5
