The Rapture of the Deep: And Other Dive Stories You Probably Shouldn't Know [Paperback]

Michael Zinsley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 19, 1999

Journey with scuba instructor Michael Zinsley as he dives his way through 16 countries, rubbing shoulders with the locals and mixing underwater adventure with after-hours escapades.

The Rapture of the Deep is fast paced and rich in content, consisting of humorous anecdotes, insightful histories, underwater descriptions, and terrifying close calls. The diving stories relate events seen once in a thousand dives. Native cultures are revealed with an awareness that only someone who has lived in those lands can describe. The book's lighter side is the combination of underwater adventure mixed with after-hours escapades (imagine Cousteau extending his documentaries to include closing time in the local bars). The descriptions of coral reef life are written in a way that non-diving readers will be as intrigued as the experts.

Featuring stories from:
Antigua, Australia, Bermuda, Bonaire, California, Fiji, Guam, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Palau, Philippines, Ponape, Saint Lucia, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Tonga, Truk, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vanuatu, Western Samoa, and Yap. Includes over 20 color photos and maps.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

When the economic recession hit California in 1991, I lost my "real" job and headed off to the South Pacific to become a scuba instructor. Seven years later, I was still doing it, after venturing through the Caribbean and Southeast Asia. I first put pen to paper on this project when I was managing a dive shop on the tiny island of Gili Air, located off the coast of Lombok, Indonesia. Most of the book was written there and in Thailand over the next year. Since then, I've managed to wrestle the monster into what you see here - an adventure travelogue based on scuba diving. Readers have described it as a "fast-paced page-turner." Hopefully you will enjoy it this much also.

About the Author

Michael Zinsley studied civil engineering and geology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and then studied secondary education in graduate school at the California State University, Los Angeles. A seasoned traveler, he has been scuba diving in twenty-four different countries and has visited over eighty different countries and territories. He is also an accomplished mountaineer with notable ascents on six continents. Michael currently lives in Alameda, California. His writing has appeared in Skin Diver magazine and technical rock-climbing journals.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: 1st Book Library (December 19, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585007412
• ISBN-13: 978-1585007417
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #440,353 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #53 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Nature Travel > Adventure > Scuba

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A note from Mike, November 16, 2001

By 

Michael Zinsley (Alameda, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Rapture of the Deep: And Other Dive Stories You Probably Shouldn't Know (Paperback)

I was reading through the reviews here and noticed that although most people are really enjoying my book, a few were taken aback. I'd like to mention a couple things so that someone who may not appreciate the book won't end up buying it. (Please read the summary in the editorial review section posted on this web page). A few people mentioned that the book is not about diving and/or involves drinking. I would like to make it clear that the book is a travelogue about the lifestyle of dive instructors in resort locations, not a text on scuba. If books with "Fear and Loathing" in the title don't appeal to you, you may not be making the best choice with this purchase. To all others who praised the book, (and sent encouraging e-mail), thank you very much. Getting positive comments helps make the whole project worthwhile.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Diver's Revenge, July 27, 2002

By 

Bob C. (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rapture of the Deep: And Other Dive Stories You Probably Shouldn't Know (Paperback)

Forget the tourism brochures of exotic isles! Ingore the foreign resort owner's claims of adventure in paradise. This tale tells it as it really is from a professional SCUBA diver's perspective. Although this is basically a journal of his travels to these exotic locales, Michael Zinsley tells the story of his behind-the-scenes experiences in a truly humorous and honestly unabashed style. It's like getting a tour of Disney World's back lot, behind the facade of it's glitzy street-front attractions, and witnessing how the employees really talk and act when they're not with the tourists. In places it's almost like you can see him composing sections of his book while experiencing the very thing he's writing about. A bedtime reader, I would often keep my wife awake laughing so hard it made the bed shake. This book is a dive-travel guide to the Pacific Islands, Bermuda and the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia written by someone who actually lived there (not just visited), someone who experienced life among the natives (not only with the beach front resort vacationers). It was an honestly good read.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It wasn't exactly what I have expected, but it was very good, November 21, 2003

By 

"hargikas" (Greece, Heraclion) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rapture of the Deep: And Other Dive Stories You Probably Shouldn't Know (Paperback)

I got this book to read some diving adventures, and stories. The book is more about the stories of a Diving Instructor in many places in the world, rather than Underwater. It is written in a way that is very easy to read and has a lot of fun in it.
Despite what I have expected, it is very good book to read, if you want to travel around the world. You can learn about places that you'll never be there in a way that not any tourist guide can do it. Everything in this book is personal opinions.