Wayward Sailor: In Search of the Real Tristan Jones [Paperback]

Anthony Dalton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 11, 2004

"This is a necessary book for anyone who has read Tristan Jones's stories with enjoyment or suspicion, or both."

--Derek Lundy, author of Godforsaken Sea

"I was enchanted from start to finish by Anthony Dalton's biography."

--John Rousmaniere, author of After the Storm

Tristan Jones boasted a worldwide following for his memoirs of extraordinary adventures from the Arctic to the Dead Sea. But, as Wayward Sailor proves, Jones was a fascinating invention of his own imagination. Wayward Sailor is a voyage into the soul of a mysterious adventurer.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An arresting study of a sailor who invented himself as a modern hero and kept embellishing the legend until truth and fiction were impossible to pinpoint...Should appeal to all those who love adventure..." - Publishers Weekly "Valuable, compelling, and sobering." - Sailing "I was enchanted from start to finish by Wayward Sailor." - John Rousmaniere, author, After the Storm and Fastnet, Force 10"

From the Back Cover

The Life of Sailing's Best-Known Storyteller is the Most Incredible Tristan Jones Story of All

No one really knew Tristan Jones. He was larger than life, perhaps the most successful sailing writer of the twentieth century, and by his own account the greatest sailor. But he was not who he said he was. He told us what he wanted us to believe, and he told the tales so well that we either believed or suspended disbelief. As Anthony Dalton reveals in this uncompromising yet admiring biography, the real Tristan Jones was both a lesser and a greater man than his invention. Self-educated, self-taught, enormously creative, he was himself his most creative act.

"A thoroughly researched and absorbing account of Tristan Jones's lives—the one he created for himself, and the one he actually lived. This is a necessary book for anyone who has read Tristan Jones's stories with enjoyment or suspicion, or both."—Derek Lundy, author, Godforsaken Sea and The Way of a Ship

"I was enchanted from start to finish by Anthony Dalton's biography, in which he proves that Tristan Jones's most brilliant creation was his own fascinating life story."—John Rousmaniere, author, After the Storm; Fastnet, Force 10; and The Annapolis Book of Seamanship

"[An] arresting study. . . . Dalton achieves stark poignancy. . . . Jones's story as related here should appeal to all those who love adventure, as well as to those who enjoy analyzing the wreckage of damaged, enigmatic and fascinating personalities."—Publishers Weekly

Anthony Dalton has been a professional expedition leader and adventure guide. A Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and Fellow of the Explorers Club, his articles have been published in Classic Boat, MotorBoats Monthly, Ocean Navigator, SAIL, Sailing, Sea, and Yachting.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press; 1 edition (June 11, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071440283
• ISBN-13: 978-0071440288
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,501,086 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some surprising revelations, September 30, 2003

By 

David Dunn "David1556" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wayward Sailor : In Search of the Real Tristan Jones (Hardcover)

I've only read four of Tristan Jone's books, with the first being The Incredible Voyage. I wasn't far into the book before it became obvious that there was a lot of fabrication and embellishment going on there. ICE! was even more far-fetched. And as Dalton pointed out in Wayward Sailor, the book ICE! was entirely fiction.

Dalton's book serves to confirm what many of us already knew: Tristan Jones was less than truthful. What I was surprised to hear, though, is that Jones wasn't a very nice person in real life, either. He had far more enemies than friends and spent much of his time as an obnoxious drunk. He was not a trustwothy person; for example, he took "Outward Leg", a boat belonging to its manufacturer, and left it abandoned and trashed before completing the agreed route.

But, nevertherless, I will still buy Tristan's books and plan to read them all. Tristan's writing skills are a bit rough around the edges, but he does tell a great story. The important thing is that the books are entertaining and everything in them must be taken with a grain of salt. I would recommend the books to everyone.

While Tristan Jones greatly exagerated his "record voyages" and did not sail anywhere near the miles he claimed, he was still a great seamen and writer.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tony Dalton sets the record straight with his new bio., April 29, 2003

By 

Donald R. Swartz (North Arlington, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wayward Sailor : In Search of the Real Tristan Jones (Hardcover)

I have been in contact with Anthony Dalton over the last couple of years while he was writing this biography of Tristan Jones...Some believe every word he writes in his books, some who knew him doubt many of the stories he wrote. Finally, Tony Dalton has traveled all over the world collecting the facts. He has documented the cold truth in this extraordinary researched biography. I must admit that his conclusions are not the ones I wished for, but the truth is very often hard to accept. I have corresponded with many people who knew Tristan personally, and many have told me that what Tony recorded in his new book is true. Regardless, if you want to read some wonderful stories, read some of Tristan Jones books. Fact or fiction, I loved every one.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative expose' of a fabulous faker, August 12, 2008

By 

moose/squirrel (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wayward Sailor : In Search of the Real Tristan Jones (Hardcover)

This is a fascinating biography of an infuriating poseur. Tristan Jones, Royal Navy, had great skill as a teller of autobiographical tales of danger at sea and adventures ashore. Unfortunately, as Anthony Dalton demonstrates in a book that started out as an attempt to spread Jones's fame, it turns out that most (and possibly all) of his spellbinding tales are untrue. He made them up. They didn't happen.

Old salts are expected to tell "sea stories." Memoirists, however, are not. It will come as a real disappointment to anyone who, like me, enjoyed the hell out of Jones's books, to discover that such wonderful reads like Ice! and The Incredible Voyage are effectively no more than tall tales. They remain great tall tales, I admit (so great you just want to keep on believing them), but fiction should be labeled as such.

Public records revealed to Anthony Dalton that the old sea dog, who died in 1995, simply was not where he claimed to be when he claimed to be there. Dalton himself was reluctant to accept the evidence until it became overwhelming.

Example: Jones wrote a compelling "memoir" entitled Heart of Oak about serving in the Royal Navy in World War II. It's so good that even the prominent, crotchety critic Paul Fussell mentioned its virtues. Turns out Navy records show that Tristan Jones didn't even join the RN till World War II was over. And so it goes.

I used to be a big fan of his, too.