Reading Its Only Drowning feels like those early mornings paddling out into an unpredictable swellyou dont know whats coming, but you feel alive just being out there. David's book is not just a surfing memoir it's about the connections that keep us going. LAIRD HAMILTON, legendary big-wave surfer and author of Force of Nature
I have no connection to surf culture and I loved this book! It's witty, insightful, and will leave you feeling surprisingly optimistic about the future. SAMI SAGE, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Democracy in Retrograde
It's Only Drowning is delightful and an instant classic. David Litt has given us a coming-of-age story in the best senseabout a person, a passion, a friendship, and a moment in history. And the book is wickedly funny from beginning to end." JAMES FALLOWS, New York Times bestselling author of Our Towns
David Litt has written a surfing memoir thats about so much more than surfing. It's an insightful, hilarious, surprisingly moving story about the nature of friendship and the search for common ground, and I loved it. JUDD APATOW, New York Times bestselling author of Sick in the Head "I will be honestI did not intend to read beyond the first chapter of this book. New Jersey? Surfing? Crazy brother-in-law? Come on! How wrong I was. One chapter led to the next which led to me setting my alarm for 5 a.m. so I could get up early and finish It's Only Drowning, which is funny and wise and needed for our time on more levels than I can describe. Everybody should read this book which is, in the end, a treatise on humans and humanity." CYNTHIA MCFADDEN, Peabody Award-winning investigative journalist
So funny. So smart. If youre a millennial panicking about middle age, read this book! ILANA GLAZER, cocreator of Broad City
"It's Only Drowning is captivating and engaging, witty and funny, and the deeper issues it raisesabout living with uncertainty, the importance of stepping outside one's comfort zone, and the value in spending time with those who see the world differentlystuck with me long after I put it down. This book is easy to read and hard to forget." ROBERT RUBIN, former U.S. Treasury Secretary and New York Times bestselling author of In an Uncertain World
Litts chronicle offers beautiful writing and laugh-out-loud humor and will engage anyone who has dreamed about learning to surf or undertaking any other seemingly improbable challenge. Litt also navigates the ebb and flow of familial relationships, sharing his own experience as an example of how to agree to disagree without demonizing one another. Timely and uplifting. BOOKLIST (starred review)
"This memoir about finding yourself in unexpected places is inspiring, eye-opening, and very funny; its also much easier to hold onto than a surfboard." TOWN & COUNTRY, Must-Read Books of Summer 2025
"A raucous, insightful and timely memoir about human connection and the schisms that separate us from each other." BARNES & NOBLE, Best Books of June 2025
This buddy adventure packs a surprisingly substantial punch. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"The skills Litt honed by speech writingespecially being quick, clever, and funny while imbuing meaningare on full display here. Though this book is nominally about learning to surf, at the heart of the tale is Litts learning to see beyond his assumptions." LIBRARY JOURNAL
