* A NATIONAL BESTSELLER * GOODREADS MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF SUMMER 2025 * TOWN & COUNTRY BEST
BOOK OF SUMMER 2025 * 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.
