First You Have to Row a Little Boat: Reflections on Life & Living

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Overview

Now with a brand new foreword from New York Times bestselling author Jeffrey Zaslow.

FIRST YOU HAVE TO ROW A LITTLE BOAT first hit shelves in the mid 1990s and has been inspiring readers ever since. Written by a grown man looking back on his childhood, it reflects on what learning to sail taught him about life: making choices, adapting to change, and becoming his own person. The book is filled with the spiritual wisdom and thought-provoking discoveries that marked such books as ...

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More About This Book

Overview

Now with a brand new foreword from New York Times bestselling author Jeffrey Zaslow.

FIRST YOU HAVE TO ROW A LITTLE BOAT first hit shelves in the mid 1990s and has been inspiring readers ever since. Written by a grown man looking back on his childhood, it reflects on what learning to sail taught him about life: making choices, adapting to change, and becoming his own person. The book is filled with the spiritual wisdom and thought-provoking discoveries that marked such books as Walden, The Prophet, and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. For nearly twenty years, it has enchanted and endeared sailors and non-sailors alike, but foremost, anyone who seeks large truths in small things. This refurbished edition will find a place in the hearts of a whole new generation of readers.

Using sailing as a metaphor for life, "this brilliantly written elegy gently teaches the fundamental principles of life and how to navigate its shoals" (M. Scott Peck, M.D., author of The Road Less Traveled.

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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher
"Leaving you inspired to follow a path of which you decide to take in life. Rick Bode allows the reader to ponder with his view, 'So the only matter of consequence before me is what I will do with my allotted time.' The question for the reader then becomes do I stay onshore or embark on a journey into the unknown sea of life?" --Zach Railey, 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist in sailing
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Bode ( Blue Sloop at Dawn ) uses his great love of sailing as a metaphor for the tides of life. Describing his own introduction to sailing at age 12, he stresses the importance of mastering the simple, small things before attempting more complicated actions. Later the author purchases a blue sloop, matures and, as a grown man with children, decides to sell the sloop and sail into new, uncharted waters, assuming he will never forget the many important lessons the boat taught him. Other themes include complacency (``Going with the Wind''), confusion (``Fogbound''), forgiveness (``A Forgiving Boat''), and violence (``A Lazy Sailor at Heart''). Determinedly inspirational, this book will appeal to admirers of Robert Fulghum et al. (May)
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781455545520
  • Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
  • Publication date: 5/21/2013
  • Pages: 260
  • Product dimensions: 5.20 (w) x 7.90 (h) x 0.90 (d)

Meet the Author

Richard Bode worked at McGraw Hill and was editorial director and chief speechwriter at Burston-Marsteller. As a freelance writer, he contributed to Reader's Digest, Good Housekeeping, Sail, Sports Illustrated. He is also the author of Blue Sloop at Dawn (1979), which was excerpted in Sports Illustrated, Newsday Sunday Magazine, and Sail, and wrote the award-winning essay "To Climb the Wind." He died in 2003 of liver cancer.

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