Beyond the Break review: Darren Longbottom's candid memoir about his accident

Beyond the Break

Darren Longbottom and Tim Rushby-Smith

Ebury Press, $34.99

The break is where surfers wait for waves, a place of infinite potential and hope. When Darren Longbottom snapped his spine while surfing in the Mentawai Islands, life beyond the break took on a whole new meaning. While there is plenty of drama in his accident, his bungled rescue and the emergency surgery that saved his life, it is Longbottom's honesty about life as a quadriplegic and his devotion to his daughter that gives this memoir its emotional wallop. It's a reminder that while surfing big waves might look gutsy, real courage is much less obvious. It means living with the stares because you're in a chair, accepting your limitations as a parent and not being able to surf with your mates. Beyond the Break is a story of fortitude told with humour and a remarkable absence of self-pity.