Monday, February 04, 2013

Adventure writing - by C.J. Chivers, Steven Rinella and A.G. Sulzberger


There's been some great writing I've come across lately that trafficked in the fairly wide-ranging subject of outdoor adventure.

The most recent piece was "Two Men, One Sky: A Flight to the Finish" for the New York Times. Written by A.G. Sulzberger, it's on the remarkable 10 hour hang gliding solo flights of Jonny Durand and Dustin Martin as they simultaneously went from the border of South Texas to the North Texas Hill Country 438 miles away. It's a well done story of amazing achievement by both men who at the same time were striving to see whose record-breaking flight would be longer.

Additional great writing lately was found in two outdoor focused magazines. I originally saw it last April, but was recently reminded of a Field & Stream piece by frequent war correspondent C.J. Chivers"Operation Thresher: Fishing for Monster Sharks off The Shores of Rhode Island" was an aptly named story of preparation, adventure and time spent between a father and his sons. Really great writing from Chivers in this story.

The final two pieces to note here were each from Outside Magazine and both written by Steven Rinella. From the Jan 2013 issue was "The Joys of Cabin Living in Alaska" and the essay is one of those works of writing that's just lyrical in it's descriptions and ability to pull the reader in. The other Rinella Outside story that I enjoyed recently was a larger feature from 2009 titled "Me, Myself, and Ribeye" on time the author spent searching out and enjoying what's purported to be some of the best steak in the world, that in Argentina. Perhaps not as profound as the essay on time with family at his Alaska cabin, it's nonetheless an entertaining tale of gastronomic adventure.