by The Editors on May 24, 2022
In these days of “influencers” and “getting paid” and “content as commerce” it’s difficult to look at a personality profile in a national magazine (like The New Yorker) as anything more than a puff piece designed to increase revenue for the person being featured.
How can a writer, in this case surfer and Pulitzer Prize winner William Finnegan, feel like anything more than a small cog in Kai Lenny’s PR machine? Does it even matter if the story is good? Or well written? Or insightful? It’s Kai Lenny in The New Yorker, getting more views and more attention so he can get more cash from more sponsors. And maybe that’s how it’s always been, but lately, it seems just a little blown out. Then again, we’re likely part of the problem as we’ve written and posted this before even reading the story, because, why?
[Link: The New Yorker]
by The Editors on December 15, 2018
Nick Carroll, a writer who surfs well, gives his take on Dirk Ziff’s wave pond in a really, really long story on BeachGrit.com. Deja vu. As much as we love Nick, and cherish his contributions to surfing lit, we again didn’t read the entire story, however, we don’t think he mentioned William Finnegan nor The New Yorker magazine. He did however offer up an epic butter-em-up-then-poop-on-their-plate overview of the place in the last few paragraphs. Here it is:
You ride waves, but that’s it. . . And ultimately, this is dissatisfying. The WSL Surf Ranch is an ideal venue for major pro surfing competition. It’s an epic showcase for pros, and a theme park for good surfers. It’s almost impossibly original, and fun as hell. I’m flabbergasted by what Kelly has done up there at Lemoore; at some moments I think maybe it outdoes all his world championships. After all, people won world titles before him, and they continue to do so since; none, however have built anything like this. . . But as a surf experience, it just doesn’t hit the spot.
We’re assuming you can learn how Nick arrived at this conclusion by reading the entire piece.
[Link: BeachGrit via BoardRap]
by The Editors on December 10, 2018
William Finnegan, a surfer who writes well, gives his take on Dirk Ziff’s wave pond along with a recap of nearly everything wave pool related that has happened in the last four years in a really, really long story in the December 17, 2018 The New Yorker magazine. It starts out a little like this:
The first few hours I spent at the W.S.L. Surf Ranch, a wave pool built for surfing in the farmlands south of Fresno, California, were for me a blur. I was fine on arrival, hiking through a little forest of scaffolding, eucalyptus, and white tents with a publicist from the Kelly Slater Wave Company, which built and runs the place. The valley heat was fierce but dry. House music rode on a light northwest breeze.
Not really sure how the story finishes because we lost interest about three paragraphs in, but you might not. Give the link a click and see for yourself.
[Link: The New Yorker]
