Cabin Pressure: One Man's Desperate Attempt to Recapture His Youth as a Camp Counselor (Hardcover)

by Josh Wolk (Author) "EVER SINCE I MOVED TO NEW YORK CITY IN 1991 AFTER GRADUATING FROM college, the word "summer" lost all of its verve..." (more)
Key Phrases: cabin duty, cabin trip, green bandana, Free Swim, New York, Senior Cove (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Wolk bids adieu to carefree living by returning one last time to summer camp before he gets married. In his account of his eight-week stint as a counselor at Camp Eastwind in Maine, he takes the reader on a romp through male adolescence, which, for Wolk, has retained an archetypal purity. Through the humor ("apoopeatersayswhat?"), the diving board games ("arrrgh, ya got me!"), the smell ("a mixture of feet, old olive loaf and an un–air-conditioned morgue"), he captures the essence of the male teenager with tender, wistful insight. The book evokes in the reader the same nostalgia for camp—and even adolescence—that Wolk feels as he anticipates his return to Eastwind. What propels the memoir, though, is Wolk's frank description of his own re-emerging insecurities inherent to his adolescent self. When he receives a tepid reception from the other counselors, for instance, he calls his fiancée and expresses his reservations about his plan, sounding like a homesick camper calling home. Then there is Mitch, the "action-sport junky" counselor from Wolk's youth, creating the perfect balance between tension and fun-loving innocence: Wolk's domination over his campers in backgammon just cannot compare to Mitch's speedboat rides. But Wolk undergoes a significant transformation, leaving behind his adolescent misconceptions about manhood and re-entering the world on his own terms. (June)
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From Booklist
A few months before his impending wedding, before the full weight of adulthood descended upon him, Entertainment Weekly senior writer Wolk realized he needed to take some time and get reacquainted with his younger self. He returned to the summer camp where he spent some of the best weeks of his life, both as a camper and as a counselor. A lighthearted take on the whole you-can't-go-home-again theme, his memoir is like the best bits of a whole bunch of summer-camp movies (remember Meatballs? or Indian Summer?) mixed together. Not that it's just a rehash of stuff you have seen before: Wolk puts a new spin on his perennial topic, observing camp life from the point of view of someone who knows what it was like 20 years ago and who is in the position to compare the boy he used to be with the man he is today. Sometimes poignant, but mostly just very funny, Wolk's reflections will get readers thinking about maybe, just maybe, taking one last plunge into childhood before it's too late. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (May 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401302602
• ISBN-13: 978-1401302603
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #162,502 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So funny, June 5, 2007

By	Elizabeth "Almost a Mom" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

I bought this book for my Dad for Father's Day and when it arrived just wanted to read the first page or so...and couldn't stop. It is really well written and although it's a cliche I really did laugh out loud while reading it. The perfect gift for any guy...which is why I am buying my Dad a new copy.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Entertaining, Perfect Summer Read, June 25, 2007

By	J. R. Reynolds (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This was a very enjoyable book, easy to read (in a good way) and laugh out loud funny in a lot of spots. Josh Wolk has a great way with words and some of his quips are quite clever and extremely amusing. I have never been to summer camp, but that didn't stop me from appreciating this entertaining book. By the time the campers were being picked up by their parents at the end of the book, I actually realized I was going to miss some of these characters (even ADD Kid). Highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes me ALMOST want to try camp again some day!, February 9, 2008

By	Suzanne Amara (MA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

I am never at all sure why I like reading camp books. I hated the actual camp experience, due to overwhelming homesickness and general dislike of being in groups! But I love reading about camp, and this is probably the best book about it I've ever read. Josh Wolk spends the summer before getting married working as a counselor at the camp he attended for many summers as a boy. The best part of this book is that it really doesn't romantize the experience. Josh feels like a misfit much of the time, the 14 year old boys in his cabin can be very, very hard to deal with, the other counselor in the cabin doesn't pull his weight at all...but still, he has many moments of remembering what he loves about the camp. It sounds like a great camp. I have 13 and 10 year old boys, and I wish now that overnight camp wasn't out of our price range, as it sounds like it could be a wonderful experience.

I hope Wolk writes more books. I'd love to hear about his life as a parent, as he seems like someone with real insights.