Synopses & Reviews
“Breathtaking....Crazy for the Storm will keep you up late into the night.”
—Washington Post Book World
Norman Olsteads New York Times bestselling memoir Crazy for the Storm is the story of the harrowing plane crash the author miraculously survived at age eleven, framed by the moving tale of his complicated relationship with his charismatic, adrenaline-addicted father. Destined to stand with other classic true stories of man against nature—Into Thin Air and Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer; Sebastian Jungers The Perfect Storm—it is a literary triumph that novelist Russell Banks (Affliction) calls, “A heart-stopping story beautifully told….Norman Olstead has written a book that may well be read for generations.”
Review
"A heart-stopping adventure that ends in tragedy and in triumph, a love story that fearlessly explores the bond between a father and son and what it means to lead a life without limits." Susan Cheever
Review
"Cinematic and personal...Ollestad's insights into growing up in a broken home and adolescence in southern California are as engrossing as the story of his trip down the mountain." Chicago Tribune
Review
"Tragic and exotic ...[with] short, punchy chapters and...nonstop emphasis on adrenaline-fueled excitement." New York Times
Synopsis
"Breathtaking....
Crazy for the Storm will keep you up late into the night."
--
Washington Post Book World
Norman Olstead's
New York Times bestselling memoir
Crazy for the Storm is the story of the harrowing plane crash the author miraculously survived at age eleven, framed by the moving tale of his complicated relationship with his charismatic, adrenaline-addicted father. Destined to stand with other classic true stories of man against nature--
Into Thin Air and
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer;
Sebastian Junger's
The Perfect Storm--it is a literary triumph that novelist Russell Banks (
Affliction) calls, "A heart-stopping story beautifully told....Norman Olstead has written a book that may well be read for generations."
Synopsis
Destined to stand with other classic true stories of man against nature--Into Thin Air and Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer; Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm--Crazy for the Storm is a literary triumph.
Norman Olstead's New York Times bestselling memoir is the story of the harrowing plane crash the author miraculously survived at age eleven, framed by the moving tale of his complicated relationship with his charismatic, adrenaline-addicted father.
"A heart-stopping story beautifully told....Norman Olstead has written a book that may well be read for generations." --Russell Banks
"Breathtaking....Crazy for the Storm will keep you up late into the night." --Washington Post Book World
Synopsis
A riveting and moving memoir, written in crisp Hemingwayesque prose and set amid the wild, uninhibited surf culture of Malibu and Mexico in the late 1970s.
From the age of three, Norman Ollestad was thrust into the world of surfing and competitive downhill skiing by the intense, charismatic father he both idolized and resented. Yet it was these exhilarating tests of skill that ultimately saved his life when the chartered Cessna carrying them to a ski championship ceremony crashed 8,000 feet up in the California mountains, leaving his father and the pilot dead. The devastated eleven-year-old Ollestad had to descend the treacherous, icy mountain alone.
Crazy for the Storm is a powerful and unforgettable true story that illuminates the complicated bond between an extraordinary father and his extraordinary son.
About the Author
Norman Ollestad studied creative writing at UCLA and attended UCLA Film School. He grew up on Topanga Beach in Malibu and now lives in Venice, California. He is the father of a nine-year-old son.