Sea Fever: The true adventures that inspired our greatest maritime authors, from Conrad to Masefield, Melville and Hemingway

Maritime stories are staples in the genre of timeless classics. Sea Fever shows the seafaring experience the authors of those classics drew on for their stories, and how it influenced them. For example, did you know that Jack London was an oyster pirate? He would strain the oyster beds of San Francisco (illegally, of course) in the dead of night and then, evading watchmen and enemy pirates, haul in his catch. This was the main inspiration for his early novel, The Cruise of the Dazzler. Other authors included herein are Erskine Childers, Joseph Conrad, James Fenimore Cooper, Ernest Hemingway, and Herman Melville.

This book was very interesting, but kind of depressing. A great quantity of these writers had troublesome lives, involving broken relationships, addictions, ruined health, and suicide. It was fascinating to see what had inspired the literary giants who have evolved and developed the genre of sea fiction, though. The book has excellent analysis and ties the true history to the literature. Fans of the great sea literature will find this adds an interesting depth to those classic tales.