Bookreview – The Fat Paddler

If you read a lot about kayaking on the web, I am sure you have seen the name Fat Paddler around. You might even follow his website. Sean Smith (his real name) has written a book about a period in his live where he had to suffer great set backs. Kayaking plays a very important role in his live after these major set-backs…

Sean lets you into his life from the moment he has his first accident until his new live as the Fat Paddler. With his reports about recovering he shows how he coped and with his great travel reports he shows how great kayaking is. His book fits all kinds of genres; motivational, travel, sports or even the memoir genre. Whatever you prefer you are in for a good read.

What makes Sean’s story so special? Two major accidents and being witness to the 2002 Bali bombings is what I call a tough ride. His family, friends and kayaking played a big role in getting his life back on track. This book tells you about the ordeals Sean had to go through.

Imagine this: you are a rugby player and you get into a major incident, after you started playing again this sport brings you to Bali for a tournament where you meet rugby-players from all over Asia only to lose a lot of them because some idiots use explosives to propagate there believes. While your friends seem to cope, you find it hard to get back to everyday life. While life turns for the better with your wife pregnant with your first child a car drives into the side of your friend’s little English sports car leaving you with major injuries. How is that for drama?
Luckily everything turns for the better and while trying to get back to a more active life the Fat Paddler is blogging about his revalidation and process learning to kayak. Not afraid to tell about things that go wrong like capsizing in water that is know for sharks, telling about his many trips like the ones in Santa Cruz, Chicago and Alaska and sharing the preparation for the 111 kilometer Hawkesbury Canoe Classic. These great stories are also written down in his book even including pictures of his accidents, news articles and his trips in Chicago and Alaska.

The book is not just a list of high and lows in Sean’s life. Sean is not afraid to write down his emotions or thoughts. He even is not afraid writing about the discussion with his wife about all the time that goes in paddling. By doing just this I guess everyone will find something recognizable.

The prologue is written by Justin Jones en James Castrission (authors of Crossing the Ditch). They really know how to describe what makes this book special: ‘What we really want in a book is something we can relate to. We want to hear the tales of ordinary blokes, like ourselves, who battle with their weight, who struggle with their work-life balance, who enjoy maybe a drink too many on occasion but have the spirit not to accept that the terms have to be dictated to them.”

I think this is a really great book and I really would recommend it to everyone! And please do not think this book is for paddlers only. Paddling takes a crucial role in Sean’s life but the book is about life not about kayaking.

At this point the book can’t be bought in Europe but the publisher is working on this. However they expect the e-book version on-line soon.