Cork Boat [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio CD]

John Pollack (Author, Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 6, 2004

In the late 1990s John Pollack was working as a Washington speechwriter when, frustrated by the cynicism and hypocrisy on Capitol Hill, he quit his job to pursue a boyhood dream: to build a boat made entirely of wine corks and take it on an epic journey.

Cork Boat tells the story of Pollack’s improbable quest. Overcoming one obstacle after another, he convinces skeptical bartenders to save their corks, corrals a brilliant but disorganized partner, and eventually cajoles more than one hundred volunteers who help build the boat until their fingers bleed. Ultimately, Pollack completes his vessel of 165,321 corks and sets sail on a fantastic voyage down the Douro River in Portugal, where the Cork Boat becomes a national sensation.

In recounting these adventures, Pollack skillfully meanders through fascinating arcana, from the cork wars to the history of rubber bands (some 15,000 of which help hold his boat together). He also offers an insider’s look at the White House, where he was a Presidential speechwriter and enlisted navy stewards to save corks for the boat.

Written with unusual grace and disarming humor, Cork Boat is a buoyant tale of whimsy, adventure, and the power of imagination.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After a three-year stint as a freelance foreign correspondent in Spain, Pollack returned to the U.S. to win the 1995 O. Henry World Championship Pun-Offs and work as a speechwriter for House Democratic Whip David Bonior. Disillusioned by Capitol Hill hypocrisy, hyperbole and political rhetoric, he yearned for a "creative sabbatical." "Deep down, I knew I had to get out before the rising bile of my cynicism poisoned the last of my idealism." The "antithesis of everything Washington," he decided, would be to build a boat from wine corks, a dream project since his childhood. Teaming with architect Garth Goldstein and collecting corks during visits to D.C. restaurants, Pollack also received some hefty donations: 15,000 corks from California's Cork Supply USA and an equal number of rubber bands from Arkansas's Alliance Rubber. Despite such inroads, Pollack's boat building endeavors went on the back burner when he was invited to join Bill Clinton's speechwriting team. He shares a brief glimpse of White House life, then gets back to boat-building. After several months (and with the help of dozens of volunteers), the boat was finally assembled with 165,321 corks and 15,000 rubber bands. Sailing on a cresting wave of media attention, Pollack landed a sponsorship from Cork Supply and navigated his 22-foot boat down the Douro River in Portugal (the birthplace of cork); the concluding chapters detail that operation's loony logistics. Although a cork boat drawing (not seen by PW) is included, it's not always easy to visualize the boat's construction from the text description. Nevertheless, Pollack offers an amusing tale, with entertaining anecdotes constantly bobbing to the surface.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Pollack tells how he realized his lifelong dream of building a boat from wine-bottle corks. The project involved calling on restaurants (an agonizingly slow process that he grew to loathe); boat design (and redesign) with his architect partner; asking for 60,000 free corks from a supplier; construction (with numerous setbacks) in a Washington, DC, garage by dozens of volunteers who came and went; and the stressful completion of the vessel just barely in time to meet his third self-imposed deadline. The boat was shipped to Portugal (the home of cork) for a trip down the dam-filled Douro from the Spanish border to the Atlantic, with his codesigner and a few family members and friends along to help row. The journey took much longer than planned. This wonderfully inspiring story, told in an amusing and suspenseful way, shows how hard work and perseverance can make improbable dreams happen. Pollack gives credit to his project partner, who remains a friend even though they had serious differences along the way. His tone is so can-do and engaged with life that it cannot fail to affect readers positively.-Judy McAloon, Potomac Library, Prince William County, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Random House Audio Voices; Abridged edition (January 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739310038
• ISBN-13: 978-0739310038
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 4.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,010,066 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Pollack, who won the 1995 O. Henry Pun-Off World Championships, was a Presidential Speechwriter for Bill Clinton. Earlier, he worked as a foreign correspondent in Spain, as a field assistant in Antarctica, and as a strolling violinist on Mackinac Island. His books include "The Pun Also Rises: How the Humble Pun Revolutionized Language, Changed History and Made Wordplay More than Some Antics," "Cork Boat: A True Story of the Unlikeliest Boat Ever Built," and "The World on a String: How to Become a Freelance Foreign Correspondent." He lives in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 165,321 Corks. 1 Boat., January 18, 2004

By 

Sara Hathaway (Pittsfield, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cork Boat (Hardcover)

In addition to fulfilling his childhood dream of building and launching a boat made of corks, Pollack describes a range of fascinating experiences including working for President Clinton, assisting his geophysicist father in Botswana and other far-flung places, winning an international pun competition, touring the untouched 1912 cabin in Antarctica left behind by Captain Scott's ill-fated expedition, and evacuating Capitol Hill on the morning of 9/11. This book would be the perfect gift for a graduating high school or college senior, and will also appeal to wine lovers, sailors, the unemployed, fans of Portugal, and those with an interest in politics.

Pollack's writing flows. He slips in the occasional gentle pun as he tells his story, and briefly shares historic or literary footnotes to further enrich his tale. His appreciation for people and human nature made this book a standout in the adventure travel genre, in my mind, in contrast to the sneering superiority that has disappointed me in travel books by Paul Theroux or Bill Bryson.

Cork Boat leaves the reader feeling that life is interesting, varied and that anything is possible. Pollack finds this richness and achievement by reaching out to others, and letting them contribute to the fulfillment of his dream. It reminds me of the children's story of Stone Soup: "Never had the peasants tasted such a soup. And fancy, made from stones!" (Imagine: a boat made from corks!)

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Saving those corks, November 5, 2005

By 

Matthew Krichman (Durango, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cork Boat (Hardcover)

Self-promoting? Yes. Poorly written? No doubt about it. Filled with annoying, saccharine-sweet vignettes about one man's pseudo-problems and his triumph-of-the-human-spirit approach to overcoming them? Absolutely.

But in spite of all this, I'm almost ashamed to say that it's still a really good book. This story is bound to appeal to everyone. Anyone who still has a childhood dream unfulfilled; anyone who sometimes yearns for a simpler time when life wasn't so complex; anyone who occasionally wishes that the world could be divided into just two groups - those who save corks and those who don't; anyone who thinks it would be fun to sail the Douro River while seemingly an entire European nation rushes to the river banks to cheer you on; anyone with a soft spot in their heart for sappy stories with happy endings is going to find some joy in this little book.

You'll probably also found yourself rolling your eyes at times - like when it suddenly dawns on you that this guy is an awful writer but somehow managed to land a job writing speeches for the most powerful man on the planet. And you'll probably think at least once or twice that this is the guy that you always wanted beat the crap out of in high school because his attitude was way too positive. But that won't stop you from enjoying the magical journey that this book takes you on.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read to Float You Through the Winter., March 8, 2004

By 

Kris S. Thompson (Yardville, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cork Boat (Hardcover)

I read about this book when it was Friday "Hot Pick" in the Boston Herald. I ended up picking this up and found it to be an enjoyable read. John Pollack is a former Clinton speech writer who had a dream since childhood to build a cork boat that floats. He does after assembling over 165,000 corks with an architect friend, alot of neighborhood help, and some large cork donations from a cork facility in CA. This is a pretty quick read that tells a good story about a dream, a boat, and bonding with friends and family. Pick this up today.