"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" Mary Oliver

Diana Nyad is nothing short of an inspiration, whether one is looking for a story of athletic achievement, triumph over adversity, dogged refusal to give to give up on a goal, or fully embracing life long after conventional wisdom might have said the best days were behind you.

"Find a Way" is a chronicle of Diana Nyad's life, including her successful record-setting 110.86 mile swim from Cuba to Florida (52 hours, 54 minutes, 18 seconds) in 2013. I'm not sure what is more amazing -- that Nyad completed this swim at the age of 64, or that she did it after 4 failed attempts, including instances where she nearly died (I think I would have thrown in the towel, called it impossible, and walked away!)

Nyad studied comparative literature as a graduate student, and worked as a journalist. These skills are forefront in this book as she is a fluid and captivating writer. I felt her passion most as she described her childhood, the several attempts at the Cuba swim, and in the final chapter of the book. Other sections of the book (relationships, her 20s, and too-detailed descriptions of the final swim preparations) meandered and I found myself less engaged.

3.5 stars ( )

It was okay. I listened to the audio version. While her feats are impressive, the book was not. It was difficult listening to her talk about her sexual abuse at the hands of her father and then her high school swim coach.

After reading this memoir, I seriously would rather climb Mt. Everest than attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida.

Diana Nyad relates her multiple attempts to complete this swim, and it certainly is inspirational. Talk about tenacity and energy. Honestly, I felt like the mental effort to simply organize her attempt(s) were equal to the physical effort of the swimming. I was exhausted merely reading about it.

Her message is one she encapsulates toward the end of her book in the following quote:

Whatever your Other Shore is, whatever you must do, whatever inspires you, you will find a way to get there.

Well, it really makes me want to get going on some long held life goals toward which I've made little progress (that novel isn't going to write itself, Anita).

So five star message!! And five stars for inspiration! The read itself was good - - especially if you like outdoor adventure stories (and I really, really do), but there's a repetitive quality to her tale that was probably unavoidable, and her Team is huge, so it was hard to get a real sense of who they were, even though they contributed tremendously to Diana's success.

The cool thing is Diana is speaking in Baltimore tonight, and I have tickets so looking forward to hearing her inspirational message in person! ( )

I know authors are supposed to suspend modesty a bit when they write a memoir, but something about Diana Nyad really rubbed me the wrong way in this book. Like, she couldn't just relate an anecdote about which ocean is her favorite without name dropping a major actor who came up to her and asked at a gym. She couldn't talk about getting through her marathon swims without bring up her perfect pronunciation of words in four different languages. It just rubbed (like salt water?) after a while.

That said, I didn't really know anything about Diana Nyad, and she did some impressive stuff. The narratives about the Cuba to Florida attempts are the best part of this book. ( )

The story is amazing. The will, the effort, it makes you want to dig a little deeper on your own adventures. ( )