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Jaws Maui is much more than bonzai surfers defying gravity on moving walls of blue. It is the photography of Blue Max, whose colorful, full-paged shots juxtapose landscape and seascape, faunal quietude vs. rolling thunder. And it is the words of the wave riders themselves, waxing their boards poetic about the beauty of the island, surfculture, and the spirit that relentlessly calls them to the water. This stirring salute to a place called Jaws on the island of Maui is a must for anyone ever wowed by the waves.--
D.G. McDonald
From Library Journal
This dramatic picture book tries to convey the roaring, adrenalized experience of riding the largest waves ever surfed, giant swells found off a Maui reef called "Jaws." For decades, surfers stared helplessly at Jaws's rises, which can exceed 50' and roll in too quickly for human paddling. Then, four years ago, a quartet of the sport's best tried having a jet ski tow them just ahead of the wave. Unlike Philippe Cariou's artier portrait book, Surfers (LJ 3/15/98), this tells a visual adventure story, and if the photographic scale seems all off, there is a scary reason: the difference between these and what used to be considered a peak surfing wave is like Everest vs. McKinley. Photographer McFeeley (a.k.a. Blue Max) shot much of the crashing action from a helicopter. The reader needn't be a surfer to enjoy these startling photos. In each scene, a tiny saddle-colored guy stands on a board while unfathomable tonnage curls angrily above his head. The occasional text consists mostly of the surfers' own awestruck words. Recommended for photography and sports collections. [This book will be excerpted in December's National Geographic.?Ed.]?Nathan Ward, "Library Journal.
-?Nathan Ward, "Library Journal"Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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