Welcome to Paradise, Now Go to Hell: A True Story of Violence, Corruption, and the Soul of Surfing

by Chas Smith, Joan Jett Narrated by Chas Smith

Overview

Welcome to Paradise, Now Go to Hell, is surfer and former war reporter Chas Smith's wild and unflinching look at the high-stakes world of surfing on Oahu's North Shore-a riveting, often humorous, account of beauty, greed, danger, and crime.



For two months every winter, when Pacific storms make landfall, swarms of mainlanders, Brazilians, Australians, and Europeans flock to Oahu's paradisiacal North Shore in pursuit of some of the greatest waves on earth for surfing's Triple Crown competition. Chas Smith reveals how this influx transforms a sleepy, laid-back strip of coast into a lawless, violent, drug-addled, and adrenaline-soaked mecca.



Smith captures this exciting and dangerous place where locals, outsiders, the surf industry, and criminal elements clash in a fascinating look at class, race, power, money, and crime, set within one of the most beautiful places on earth. The result is a breathtaking blend of crime and adventure that captures the allure and wickedness of this idyllic golden world.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

09/02/2013
This debut effort from Smith, a war correspondent turned surfing journalist with a cruel, sometimes witty eye, is a mix of reportage and gonzo journalism for the surfing set. Mixing shameless, fey bluster that he dubs “Trash Prose” and occasionally trenchant observation, Smith delves into the scene surrounding the big-money surfing contests on Oahu, Hawaii’s legendary North Shore. As the pro circuit arrives for the winter wave season, Smith sketches an exposé of the tensions between local Hawaiian surfers and low-level gangsters and the established surfing professionals, surfwear brand representatives, and out-of-towners during this seasonal demographic change. Smith’s favorite subject, however, is himself: he sees himself as an outlaw raconteur whose articles garner so much resentment he gets roughed up at a party. He also provides endless descriptions of his wardrobe—he calls his style his “version of Island Dandy,” which is “purposefully at odds with everything Oahu’s North Shore stands for.” If Hunter S. Thompson circa Hell’s Angels merged with a fashion critic to write about surfing for Maxim, the result might be similar. Smith’s approach is myopic, writing for an audience that already knows the sport and the names. There are some astute observations (particularly his analysis of why surfing is essentially a lonely sport), but ultimately the book fails to reveal much beyond the author’s considerable self-regard. Agent: Ryan D. Harbage, Fischer-Harbage Agency (Dec.)

From the Publisher

[A] ripping profile of the surf culture on Oahu’s North Shore . . . Smith[’s] storytelling is taught . . . — Wall Street Journal

“Chas Smith is a stone-cold original-a globe-trotting, war-reporting, motorcycle-driving, cigarette-smoking, tube-riding, fashion-obsessed international dandy with a penchant for dangerous people, places, and, most of all, prose. Welcome To Paradise, Now Go To Hell is absolutely the most entertaining surf book in years, a breathless adrenalized romp.” — Daniel Duane, author of Caught Inside, A Surfer's Year on the California Coast

“Absolutely the most entertaining surf book in years, a breathless adrenalized romp. More importantly, it’s a jaw-dropping introduction to Smith’s greatest—and most promising—literary creation, himself. This man-and this book-are both going places.” — Daniel Duane, author of Caught Inside: A Surfer's Year on the California Coast

A vivid and somewhat disconcerting depiction of the world of surfing and its attendant problems . . . An uncommon read for those interested in surfing or those seeking a look at Hawaii from a vantage point not normally found in history books. — Library Journal

A hip exposé of Hawaii’s North Shore surfing culture . . . entertains, while superior reporting informs and illuminates much about the surf industry’s peculiar machinations, its cavalcade of sun-bleached heroes and the troubled history of Hawaii itself . . . effortlessly shifting from the profound to the profane. — Kirkus Reviews

A mix of reportage and gonzo journalism…. [with] trenchant…astute observations…. If Hunter S. Thompson circa Hell’s Angels merged with a fashion critic to write about surfing for Maxim, the result might be similar. — Publishers Weekly

Smith grabs us with his first sentence [with] this exciting and revelatory book — Booklist

A book of real literary style and grace . . . gleefully mischievous . . . handles like a ‘54 Porsche: smooth, glamorous, and totally out of control. — Flaunt

Made me think hard about the North Shore . . . To the best of my knowledge, nothing like it exists.” — The Inertia

Smith doesn’t simply stand in judgment. He loves the world of the North Shore, and he hates it. With gleeful defiance and feral wit, he harnesses his ambivalence to fuel this compulsive, wild ride of a book. — Sydney Morning Herald, Pick of the Week

A wild and unflinching look at the adrenalin-soaked world of surfing. — Melbourne Herald Sun

The Inertia

Made me think hard about the North Shore . . . To the best of my knowledge, nothing like it exists.

Booklist

Smith grabs us with his first sentence [with] this exciting and revelatory book

Flaunt

A book of real literary style and grace . . . gleefully mischievous . . . handles like a ‘54 Porsche: smooth, glamorous, and totally out of control.

Daniel Duane

Chas Smith is a stone-cold original-a globe-trotting, war-reporting, motorcycle-driving, cigarette-smoking, tube-riding, fashion-obsessed international dandy with a penchant for dangerous people, places, and, most of all, prose. Welcome To Paradise, Now Go To Hell is absolutely the most entertaining surf book in years, a breathless adrenalized romp.

Wall Street Journal

[A] ripping profile of the surf culture on Oahu’s North Shore . . . Smith[’s] storytelling is taught . . .

Sydney Morning Herald

Smith doesn’t simply stand in judgment. He loves the world of the North Shore, and he hates it. With gleeful defiance and feral wit, he harnesses his ambivalence to fuel this compulsive, wild ride of a book.

Wall Street Journal

[A] ripping profile of the surf culture on Oahu’s North Shore . . . Smith[’s] storytelling is taught . . .

Booklist

Smith grabs us with his first sentence [with] this exciting and revelatory book

Melbourne Herald Sun

A wild and unflinching look at the adrenalin-soaked world of surfing.

Stephanie Garber

A hip exposé of Hawaii’s North Shore surfing culture . . . entertains, while superior reporting informs and illuminates much about the surf industry’s peculiar machinations, its cavalcade of sun-bleached heroes and the troubled history of Hawaii itself . . . effortlessly shifting from the profound to the profane.

Dan Duane

Absolutely the most entertaining surf book in years, a breathless adrenalized romp. More importantly, it’s a jaw-dropping introduction to Smith’s greatest--and most promising--literary creation, himself. This man-and this book-are both going places.

Library Journal

10/01/2013
Surfer and former war reporter Smith takes an in-depth look at the complex world of surfing. To outsiders, the north shore of Hawaii's Oahu looks like an island paradise, home to some of the best surfing in the world and host of surfing's Triple Crown competition. The author shows another, seamier side. One of the major problems is the prevalence of drugs, and the effects upon those competing, as well as the native population, are well described. Smith presents a historical perspective of the sport and island history and includes many little-known facts, such as the real story behind the murder of Captain Cook at the hands of rival Hawaiian warlords. The result is a vivid and somewhat disconcerting depiction of the world of surfing and its attendant problems, which may be overwhelming to the casual reader. VERDICT An uncommon read for those interested in surfing or those seeking a look at Hawaii from a vantage point not normally found in history books.—Claire Franek, Greenville, KY

Kirkus Reviews

2013-10-20
The clown prince of "trash prose" cracks the coconut-wireless wide open in a hip exposé of Hawaii's North Shore surfing culture. Each year, the best surfers in the world converge on Oahu's North Shore for a chance to get "barreled" by the world-famous Bonzai Pipeline. There are riches to be won and legends to be created for all those fortunate enough to survive the monster wave's curling caress. But that's only the frothy, foamy surface of this story. According to Smith, ex–war correspondent and adventure writer and current "editor-at-living-large" of Surfing magazine, a much grimier truth exists far beyond dreamy visions of swaying palm trees and hula girls dispensing fragrant leis to wide-eyed tourists. Basically seen through the lens of a single day covering a high-stakes surfing showdown, Smith paints an oppressive, although darkly amusing, landscape of ramshackle frat houses and hair-trigger Hawaiians with punishing "Toyota Land Cruiser–sized" arms. The ultimate insider, the author spends his days tiptoeing around the island's nativist elite and trying hard to remember the etiquette that will spare him from being "slapped" or "choked out." The droll personal narrative, evocative of Hunter S. Thompson at times, entertains, while superior reporting informs and illuminates much about the surf industry's peculiar machinations, its cavalcade of sun-bleached heroes and the troubled history of Hawaii itself. "I will always remember that first trip to the North Shore," he writes. "It seemed run down. It seemed unkempt. It seemed used. It seemed rotten. It was not the gilded expanse of my imagination. It was rough and dirty." Effortlessly shifting from the profound to the profane, and back again, Smith is alternately self-reverential and self-mocking in tone but totally engrossed in the "madness" that ensues every winter when "the pipe is pumping." A boozy and often funny investigation into a little-understood corner of America.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940177380070
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	12/22/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

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