by Tim Winton

I have long been a fan of Tim Winton’s stories (Cloudstreet, Dirt Music, The Riders, among others) and Breath is another winner. Here Winton explores the extremes of life and death through the eyes and experiences of a boy growing up in a remote coastal town in Western Australia. From kids holding their breath for too long under the river for kicks, to the extreme world of the surf dude seeking the ultimate killer wave, to the empty desperation of asphyxiation sex games, it’s all to do with dicing with death, living life to the max by pushing at the limits of human endurance, defying the rules of safety, sanity and acceptability. Some passages in this shocked me (gentle soul that I am), many left me short of breath and as exhilarated as an armchair surfer can be.

©Julia Welstead 2011