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It's Only Drowning

A True Story of Learning to Surf and the Search for Common Ground

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It's Only Drowning

By: David Litt
Narrated by: David Litt
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About this listen

NATIONAL BESTSELLER * 2025 BOOKLIST EDITORS' CHOICE SELECTION

A former Obama speechwriter moves to the Jersey Shore and learns to surf with the help of his brother-in-law: a tattooed, truck-driving Joe Rogan superfan.

David, the Yale-educated writer with a fear of sharks, and Matt, the daredevil electrician with a shed full of surfboards, had never been close. But as America’s crises piled up and David spiraled into existential dread, he noticed that his brother-in-law was thriving. He began to suspect Matt’s favorite hobby had something to do with it.

David started taking surf lessons. For months, he wiped out on waves the height of daffodils. Yet, after realizing that surfing could change him both in and out of the water, he set an audacious goal: riding a big wave in Hawaii. He searched for an expert he could trust to guide and protect him—and when he couldn’t find one, he asked Matt. Together, they set out on a journey that spanned coasts, and even continents, before taking them to Oahu’s famously dangerous North Shore.

It’s Only Drowning is a laugh-out-loud love letter to surfing—and so much more. It’s an ode to embarking on adventures at any age. It’s a blueprint for becoming braver at a time when it takes courage just to read the news. Most of all, it’s the story of an unlikely friendship, one that crosses the fault lines of education, ideology, and culture tearing so many of us apart.
Water Sports Surfing Feel-Good
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I discovered this after listening to David on the Outside podcast. It was an easy listen and I saw a lot of myself in David. There is wisdom in the book wrapped up in surfing that are presented memorably.

I would love to hear Matt's perspective. Does David understand their relationship correctly, or is it anxiety that clouds the perception.

Funny and insightful

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