Sweetness and Blood: How Surfing Spread | The Booksmith

Submitted by the Event Organizer

While living in Germany, travel adventurer, journalist, and surfer Michael Scott Moore unexpectedly stumbled upon a vibrant German surf scene. Surprised, he set out to uncover how an obscure tribal sport from pre-colonial Hawaii (and associated mostly with his home state of California) managed to spread so far across the planet. Moore chronicles his quest to answer that question in his new book Sweetness and Blood: How Surfing Spread from Hawaii and California to the Rest of the World, with Some Unexpected Consequences.

Moore’s journey took him beyond Germany to some of the sport’s other unlikely destinations, including the Gaza Strip, Northern England, Japan, Morocco, and more. In explaining how surfing made its way across the globe, Moore masterfully weaves in the complicated political and cultural histories that have played key roles in the spread of the sport — uncovering the sometimes “sweet,” sometimes “bloody” forces that shaped both surf culture and that of the places it traveled. His exploration goes far beyond surfer dudes and stereotypes — it’s a thrilling, moving, and revealing look at a subject we only think we know.

Michael Scott Moore is a novelist and journalist who has written on politics and travel for publications such as The Atlantic, Slate, The Financial Times, among others. He lives in Berlin, Germany.

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