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Surfing Brilliant Corners details a decade of extreme global surf travel, illustrated by the exquisite photographs of John Callahan. I journey from the living vodou of Haiti, through vibrant African highlife, to a serene Buddhist oasis in communist China. Amongst other adventures, I look deep into the jet black eye of a surfacing shark in Kenya and face a stacked set of foaming lips during storm surf in South Korea with bemused lifeguards waving me and my companions in from the beach to point out that surfing is banned. Framing surfing through metaphors of jazz, the book celebrates genius bop pianist Thelonious Monk’s 1950’s album Brilliant Corners. Monk’s album was famed for its outrageous, groundbreaking compositional originality, and I explore how talented surfers think like great jazz musicians, using invention, complex rhythm, timing and spontaneity to turn impossible wave scenarios into beautiful but challenging music.Alison Hodge Publishers Woodslane Amazon
Reviews: Andy Martin/The Independent, Tim Kevan, Drift Magazine, Matthew Branton, SurfersVillage, Huck Magazine, Cornwalls Coolest, Arts Desk, Pacific Longboarder, SurfCaribe, Flicka, SpinalSurfer
