The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas

Short stories from Davy Rothbart - Found Magazine guy/ NPR's This American Life
Hi, my name is Jamie Baker, you can also call me C.J. Right before I shipped out overseas (USMC) I got this book "The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas" because I thought it was about surfing. Well there's no real surfing in it, but the book basically changed my life. You don't have to ship out and go kill "bad guys" if you want adventure, there's plenty of adventure to be had right here in the U.S. of A. I realize that over and over every time I read this book. To make a long story short I got back from Afghanistan, gave the Corps a big "F-- YOU!", and now I'm back here playing music, reading, working, taking care of my Dad, and surfing every day,
I e-mailed Davy Rothbart (the guy from Found Magazine) telling him how much I LOVED the book and he wrote me back, cool. I told him how I basically force the Lone Surfer book on everyone who comes innto the bar, and how people always thank me later... "anything else I can do, brother to spread the word let me know." He said how bout make a MySpace page for the book, so now you're lookin at it.
IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THIS BOOK YET, FIND A COPY AND READ IT!! I know you'll love it as much as me. I am making it my personal mission for you to read it. They have it at most libraries, even the shitty one around here, they probably have it at yours. They have it at pretty much every bookstore and you can buy copies on Amazon for like 5 bucks, So read it and let me know what you think!!!
When I show people the book they say "what's it about??" Life! Falling in love with girls you just met, road trips, prison, the Midwest, the Southwest, drinking too much, the true punk experience (even if the characters don't identify themself as punk.) I can't explain it but just read it and let me know what you think.
Now I'm hitting K.B. for the afternoon. Back later.
Praise for THE LONE SURFER OF MONTANA, KANSAS by Davy Rothbart
“Davy writes with his whole heart. These stories are crushing.”
—Arthur Miller
“It’s always exciting to discover a talented new writer. Davy writes with such energy, wit, and heart.”
—Judy Blume
“Like Kerouac’s best novels, these stories are breezy and energetic dispatches from obscure corners of the country… Rothbart mines his material to heartbreaking effect.” —The Washington Post
“It is storytelling at its simplest and finest…a blend of melancholy and bravado. It’s the pleasure of Rothbart’s writing that each yarn begins with a moment that feels so real and yet so out of the ordinary that you’re hooked from the opening scene.” —The Chicago Tribune
“Provocative, original, and potent—at one moment hilarious, at the next heartbreaking… robust with flavor… we’re left yearning for more.” —Elle
“I believe in Davy. He’s a force to be reckoned with.” —Ira Glass
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Note from Davy: (from www.foundmagazine.com)
I’ve always drifted around the country a lot, and perhaps what I love most about this kind of travel are the brief, fleeting moments of crossing paths with strangers—a truck-stop waitress, kids at a basketball court, a guy who’s broken down on the side of the road and needs a jump.
These little exchanges, I think of them as found moments; just like the notes from FOUND Magazine, you get a little glimpse into someone else’s life, enough to make you wonder about the rest of their story.
I’m real big into writing stories, and a lot of the time it’s a found note or one of these tiny moments—a stranger I’ve blundered across for an instant—that sparks an idea for what I want to write about.
A few years ago, I was driving on a small two-lane highway through rural Kansas when I saw a bizarre and riveting sight—-a teenage kid had slung a surfboard between two dead tractors in the middle of a cornfield and was balanced on top, like he was practicing how to surf. Here he was, thousands of miles from either coast, the sun setting in glorious colors behind him—-I was mesmerized and sat there watching for ten minutes or so, and then I drove away; I don’t think he even saw me. But that image of him surfing in the cornfields stuck with me, and my curiosity about him kept growing more intense, so finally I decided to write a story about him, imagining what his life was like and what might have happened had our paths intersected. I called the story The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas (Montana is the name of a tiny town in Kansas) and it’s the title story of my new book. I hope you'll check it out.
–Davy