Before the Wind, Jim Lynch
Before the Wind, Jim Lynch
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Before the Wind

Author: Jim Lynch

Narrator: Roger Wayne

Unabridged: 9 hr 9 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/19/2016


Synopsis

Joshua Johannssen has spent all of his life surrounded by sailboats. His grandfather designed them, his father built and raced them, his Einstein-obsessed mother knows why and how they work (or not). For Josh and his two siblings, their backyard was the Puget Sound and sailing their DNA. But both his sister and brother fled many years ago: Ruby to Africa and elsewhere to do good works on land, and Bernard to God-knows-where at sea, a fugitive and pirate. Suddenly thirty-one, Josh—who repairs boats of all kinds in a Steinbeckian marina south of Seattle—is pained and confused by whatever the hell went wrong with his volatile family. His parents are barely speaking, his mystified grandfather is drinking harder, and he himself—despite an endless and comic flurry of online dates—hasn't even come close to finding a girlfriend.  

But when the Johannssens unexpectedly reunite for the most important race in these waters—all of them together on a classic vessel they made decades ago—they will be carried to destinies both individual and collective, and to a heart-shattering revelation.

About Jim Lynch

Jim Lynch has won national journalism awards and published short fiction in literary magazines. A Washington state native, Lynch currently writes and sails from his home in Olympia, where he lives with his wife and daughter.


Reviews

I love books about dysfunctional families and while I enjoyed that aspect of the book, the boating references dominated the story. I love the water but mostly from the beach or balcony or walking along the beach....not from inside a boat. After owning two boats (my husband's idea, not mine), I can s......more

Goodreads review by Angie

Four generations of the Johannssen family have built and raced sailboats around Puget Sound. Sailing is the adhesive that unites the Johannssens, and it is a sailboat race that destroyed them. Now the family comes together for the first time in twelve years for the Swiftsure race. Sailing a classic......more

Goodreads review by Blaine

Such mixed feelings about this book. For me, it did not live up to Lynch's past efforts and that was a major disappointment. Not sure if it was his writing style or rather that this book really appears to be written to boating/sailing aficionados instead of the general readership. I got totally lost......more

Goodreads review by Patty

Tengo que reconocer que este libro no termino de engancharme. No logre conectar con los personajes, en realidad, un solo personaje habla de su vida en familia, recordando... No es lo mio. No me gustó el estilo. No digo que no sea un buen libro, tampoco niego la capacidad de Jim Lynch para contar una......more