Synopses & Reviews
A finalist for the PEN Center USA Award for NonfictionFor two months every winter, when Pacific storms make landfall, Oahu's paradisical North Shore turns into a fiery hell. Its population more than triples as mainlanders, Brazilians, Australians, and Europeans transform the normally sleepy shore into a lawless, violent, drug-addled, and adrenaline-soaked mecca where fearless men paddle into thirty-foot waves breaking over a razor-sharp reef. And when the sun goes down, the true danger comes out as drug money, fights, murder, and extortion rule the surfing underworld. The North Shore during winter is downright dangerous but also exhilarating, and Chas Smith paints a true picture of what it feels like to be in the middle of it all. Welcome to Paradise, Now Go to Hell is both a breathtaking and wildly funny tale of beauty, wickedness, and the unyielding allure of ocean waves in all their glory.
Review
“Absolutely the most entertaining surf book in years, a breathless adrenalized romp. More importantly, its a jaw-dropping introduction to Smiths greatest--and most promising--literary creation, himself. This man-and this book-are both going places.” Daniel Duane, author of Caught Inside: A Surfer's Year on the California Coast
Review
“Chas Smith is a stone-cold original-a globe-trotting, war-reporting, motorcycle-driving, cigarette-smoking, tube-riding, fashion-obsessed international dandy with a penchant for dangerous people, places, and, most of all, prose. Welcome To Paradise, Now Go To Hell is absolutely the most entertaining surf book in years, a breathless adrenalized romp.” Daniel Duane, author of < i=""> Caught Inside, A Surfer's Year on the California Coast <>
Review
A vivid and somewhat disconcerting depiction of the world of surfing and its attendant problems . . . An uncommon read for those interested in surfing or those seeking a look at Hawaii from a vantage point not normally found in history books. Library Journal
Review
A hip exposé of Hawaiis North Shore surfing culture . . . entertains, while superior reporting informs and illuminates much about the surf industrys peculiar machinations, its cavalcade of sun-bleached heroes and the troubled history of Hawaii itself . . . effortlessly shifting from the profound to the profane. Kirkus
Review
A mix of reportage and gonzo journalism…. [with] trenchant…astute observations…. If Hunter S. Thompson circa Hells Angels merged with a fashion critic to write about surfing for Maxim, the result might be similar. Publishers Weekly
Review
Smith grabs us with his first sentence [with] this exciting and revelatory book Booklist
Review
[A] ripping profile of the surf culture on Oahus North Shore . . . Smith[s] storytelling is taught . . . Wall Street Journal
Review
A book of real literary style and grace . . . gleefully mischievous . . . handles like a ‘54 Porsche: smooth, glamorous, and totally out of control. Flaunt
Review
Made me think hard about the North Shore . . . To the best of my knowledge, nothing like it exists.” The Inertia
Review
Smith doesnt simply stand in judgment. He loves the world of the North Shore, and he hates it. With gleeful defiance and feral wit, he harnesses his ambivalence to fuel this compulsive, wild ride of a book. Sydney Morning Herald, Pick of the Week
Review
A wild and unflinching look at the adrenalin-soaked world of surfing. Melbourne Herald Sun
Synopsis
A finalist for the PEN Center USA Award for NonfictionWelcome to Paradise, Now Go to Hell, is surfer and former war reporter Chas Smiths wild and unflinching look at the high-stakes world of surfing on Oahus North Shore—a riveting, often humorous, account of beauty, greed, danger, and crime.
For two months every winter, when Pacific storms make landfall, swarms of mainlanders, Brazilians, Australians, and Europeans flock to Oahus paradisiacal North Shore in pursuit of some of the greatest waves on earth for surfings Triple Crown competition. Chas Smith reveals how this influx transforms a sleepy, laid-back strip of coast into a lawless, violent, drug-addled, and adrenaline-soaked mecca.
Smith captures this exciting and dangerous place where locals, outsiders, the surf industry, and criminal elements clash in a fascinating look at class, race, power, money, and crime, set within one of the most beautiful places on earth. The result is a breathtaking blend of crime and adventure that captures the allure and wickedness of this idyllic golden world.
About the Author
Chas Smith has spent his whole life surfing. Born on the Oregon coast, he fled to Los Angeles for university and has lived there ever since. For a decade, he wrote adventure/travel stories for a variety of magazines, including Vice, GQ, BlackBook, and the New York Times Magazine. He has covered wars in Lebanon, conflicts in Yemen, dirty oil dealings in Azerbaijan, and fashion in Somalia. In 2006, he decided to turn his attention solely to surf and since then he has become the raconteur of the lavish, partying surf elite. He is editor-at-living-large for America's largest surf publication, Surfing Magazine, and writes for Australia's controversial Stab, a hip icon of fashion, surf, and culture. He has spent five winters on the North Shore.