In this new work of creative non-fiction, Thomas Farber's language, like surf time, is organized "into sets and lulls" a compelling pattern of thrust, flow, and reflection. With economy and grace, Farber integrates scientific and literary references to his eye-witness accounts of surfing, sailing, and diving the waters of Hawai'i, the South Pacific, and California. The easy sweep of his style accommodates poets, novelists, naturalists, and philosophers, giving the narrative a rich, varied texture.

By turns reverent and playful, Farber muses on everything from the group excretions of dolphin schools to the physiology of drowning. With conversational wonder and uncompromising craft, he addresses both the details of aquatic life and the mysteries implied. Farber poses such questions as: How is human language linked to water? What are the healing properties of water? What is the connection of human sexuality and water? What does water share in common with time?

Farber also appraises the fate of water beds, ponders our hunger for shells, and, over and again, describes with extraordinary clarity yet another moment out on the waves. Reading the intricate text that is water, this scrupulous and lyric meditation takes the reader on an extraordinary voyage of discovery. It brings us finally, to a clearer sense of what it is to be human, as well as to a renewed appreciation of the miracle of language.