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The Lost Boys of Montauk: The True Story of the Wind Blown, Four Men Who Vanished at Sea, and the Survivors They Left Behind by [Amanda M. Fairbanks]

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Amanda M. Fairbanks

The Lost Boys of Montauk: The True Story of the Wind Blown, Four Men Who Vanished at Sea, and the Survivors They Left Behind Kindle Edition

by Amanda M. Fairbanks (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

1,071 ratings

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An immersive account of a tragedy at sea whose repercussions haunt its survivors to this day, lauded by New York Times bestselling author Ron Suskind as “an honest and touching book, and a hell of a story.”

In March of 1984, the commercial fishing boat Wind Blown left Montauk Harbor on what should have been a routine offshore voyage. Its captain, a married father of three young boys, was the boat’s owner and leader of the four-man crew, which included two locals and the blue-blooded son of a well-to-do summer family. After a week at sea, the weather suddenly turned, and the foursome collided with a nor’easter. They soon found themselves in the fight of their lives. Tragically, it was a fight they lost. Neither the boat nor the bodies of the men were ever recovered. The downing of the Wind Blown has since become interwoven with the local folklore of the East End’s year-round population. Its tragic fate will never be forgotten.

In this “riveting man-vs.-nature story and compelling tribute to those who perished” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), journalist Amanda M. Fairbanks seeks out the reasons why an event more than three decades old remains so startlingly vivid in people’s minds. She explores the ways in which deep, lasting grief can alter people’s memories. And she shines a light on the powerful and sometimes painful dynamics between fathers and sons, as well as the secrets that can haunt families from beyond the grave.

Print length

328 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Gallery Books
Publication date

May 25, 2021
File size

34543 KB
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From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A memorable lost-at-sea narrative focusing on a Montauk-based commercial fishing boat... well-documented, page-turning ... a no-brainer for fans of The Perfect Storm and similar books. A riveting man-vs.-nature story and compelling tribute to those who perished.”
—Kirkus (starred review)

“Deeply reported and moving...A memorable portrait of loss.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Readers fascinated by stories of shipwreck such as Sebastian Junger’s The Perfect Storm may be similarly intrigued by this sad tale.”
—Booklist

“Fairbanks deftly handles the story, with an eye for detail and page-turning prose. An evocative, well-researched, and compelling account, this highly recommended book will stay with readers past the last page.”
—Library Journal (starred review)

“A sweeping, and often devastating, portrait of a community on the brink of transformation, and of how grief can ricochet across generations.”
—Vanity Fair

“[A] must-read.”
—Town & Country

“In 1984, commercial fishing boat Wind Blown left Montauk Harbor in a routine voyage with four souls aboard, ran into a nor'easter, and never returned. This thoughtful account explores the tragedy at sea and the repercussions for those left behind.”
—USA Today

“A remarkable feat of reporting… The Lost Boys of Montauk is a poignant tale of how an incident nearly 40 years old can still reverberate in a town much changed by money but not by memory.”
—Air Mail

"A relentlessly reported page-turner about the collision of man and nature on the ocean and the collateral damage back on land.”
—Tom Clavin, New York Times bestselling author of Dodge City and Tombstone

“This extensive and stunningly reported true story of a tragic shipwreck off Montauk is tinged with that rebel late-hippie-era vibe of the late seventies and early eighties. It's about family secrets, romances cut short, the fishing life, and the evolving history of the East End of Long Island, now known as ‘The Hamptons.’ It’s an honest and touching book, and a hell of a story.”
—Ron Suskind, bestselling author of Life, Animated

“The Lost Boys of Montauk is riveting. Combining gorgeous prose and exhaustive research, Fairbanks paints a fascinating portrait of a shipwreck and its aftermath. It's a complex tale of class divides in the Hamptons, of grief, passion, memory, and youth. Over the course of the book, we come to know and care deeply for the young men who were lost at sea and for those who live on to tell their story. A must-read.”
—J. Courtney Sullivan, bestselling author of Friends and Strangers

“Not since Peter Matthiessen’s Men’s Lives has there been such an insightful depiction of the struggles, joys, and dangers of being a fisherman out of Montauk. The Lost Boys of Montauk is beautifully written and impeccably researched. You’ll never again hear the words ‘lost at sea’ and not think of this book.”
—Steven Gaines, bestselling author of Philistines at the Hedgerow

“Four commercial fishermen perished in a late-winter storm off the coast of Long Island in 1984. Through obsessively detailed reporting, clear, powerful writing, and the unstoppable storytelling of a thriller, Amanda Fairbanks has made this one event stand for a whole world. The Lost Boys of Montauk is an unforgettable portrait of fishermen’s culture, of the peculiarities of a place inhabited by ordinary people and the very rich, and of the ways in which a tragedy can exert a force on people’s lives down through the decades.”
—Nicholas Lemann, author of Transaction Man

“The Lost Boys of Montauk describes the permanent shadow cast across the lives of the women, men, and children affected by the sinking of the Wind Blown in a winter storm forty years ago, with all four young men aboard lost at sea. Amanda Fairbanks collects the histories of the men and their families and describes the atmosphere of a fishing town at the eastern end of Long Island. Her book is a kind of collective testimony, a chorus of voices that would not otherwise have been heard.”
—Alec Wilkinson, author of The Riverkeeper

“This grippingly reported book is about social class and boundaries, about family, about the web of pain — grief, drugs, alcoholism, divorce, loneliness — that spins out of devastating loss. From generation to generation, from family to family, Fairbanks documents trauma’s insidious effect on an entire East End community.”
—Susan Scarf Merrell, author of Shirley

“An arresting, awesome story — vivid and sensory, and as hypnotic as the tides of the sea. Fairbanks is an in-depth reporter who weaves wonderfully a vastly researched tale into a cinematic page-turner.”
—Mira Ptacin, author of The In-Betweens

“The Lost Boys of Montauk gives something of an idea of what Steinbeck and Melville might have produced had they written narrative nonfiction together. In telling the tragic tale of four men whose lives were cut short, Fairbanks crafts a gripping portrait not only of the characters, but of a time and place now trapped in the amber of the not-too-distant past.”
—Graydon Carter, Editor of Air Mail

“Amanda Fairbanks' story of the Wind Blown and the four men who died at sea, their lives, and the disaster's long effects is a brilliantly reported, heartrending epic that captures the beautiful, complicated—and in this case, tragic—threads in a community that I have long called home and that my family's newspaper has covered for generations. This book belongs in every South Fork collection.”
—David Rattray, Editor, The East Hampton Star

“[R]iveting... powerful and poignant ...This is a book eloquent with the sorrow and the beauty of being on this earth, and no less expressive of the love. After all, the author writes, 'grieving is the last way we get to love someone.'”
—The Wall Street Journal

“In The Lost Boys of Montauk, Sag Harbor-based writer Amanda M. Fairbanks, through skillful reporting and masterful writing, captures in haunting detail the lives of the four young crewmen and the foregone world they came to represent.”
—Newsday

About the Author

Amanda M. Fairbanks is a journalist who has worked in the editorial department of The New York Times, as a reporter for HuffPost, and at The East Hampton Star, where she wrote investigative stories, features, and profiles. Her writing has also appeared in The Boston Globe, Newsweek, The Atlantic, and The San Francisco Chronicle. A graduate of Smith College and a former Teach for America corps member, she has two master’s degrees from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, and currently lives with her family in Sag Harbor.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08LDYVYKX
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gallery Books (May 25, 2021)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 25, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 34543 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 328 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #42,723 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #4 in Aviation & Nautical Biographies & Memoirs
- #10 in Aviation & Nautical Biographies
- #11 in Ship History (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
1,071 ratings

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Amanda M. Fairbanks

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Amanda M. Fairbanks is a journalist and author of The Lost Boys of Montauk: The True Story of the Wind Blown, Four Men Who Vanished at Sea, and the Survivors They Left Behind. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Atlantic, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Columbia Journalism Review, and the East Hampton Star. A graduate of Smith College and a former Teach for America corps member, she has two master’s degrees from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. The California native lives with her family in Sag Harbor.

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Love Music

Fascinating in many ways

Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2021

Verified Purchase

I loved this book on a lot of different levels. Loved it just as history of place, of Montauk and Manhattan, and of fishing, boating, and surfing. Loved the relationships among townies and the country club "elites." And was just very intrigued and inspired by the ways these people process a tragedy and interact within their families. Crisp, clear writing, too. Highly recommended, and not just for the Hamptons set!

28 people found this helpful

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Duke2

My Kind of Book about an Area Where I Grew Up.

Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2021

Verified Purchase

I am an avid reader transitioning from fiction to historical based non fiction. I also grew up in the area where the events in this book took place. For these reasons, I ordered the book immediately as soon as I became aware of it. It did not disappoint. I could tell that the author did an exhaustive amount of research that went into this book. In addition there was an excellent review of the cultural, social, and economic history of the East End of Long Island. Some have commented the book jumps around too much and is disorganized. I did not find this to be a problem as different characters and family members were focused on at different times so a neat chronological sequence in the book was not possible. Additionally, the pieces of the story came together for me easily, first the tragedy and then the whole backstory.

26 people found this helpful

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Homebody

Disorganized and poorly written

Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2021

Verified Purchase

The author did do research, and in the course of that research, some participants did not want to speak with her. I can see why. This is indeed a tragedy, but the book is disjointed and mixed with irrelevant history which seems to be for filling out the narrative. Right in the middle is some personal information about the author. Toward the end some very personal details about the boys' families are revealed in a manner that seems shallow and disrespectful, possibly because of the inconsistent and confusing narrative throughout. What "true story" is fully and respectfully and masterfully told? None.

65 people found this helpful

Helpful

Judy M. Millner

The Lost Boys of Montauk is a fabulous, intoxicating read!

Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2021

Verified Purchase

You must read this book! As an avid reader, it is rare to come across a book this well written. The Lost Boys of Montauk is a riveting piece of non fiction which brilliantly reads like fiction. With Ms. Fairbanks’ journalism background, I found this book to be beautifully researched and, in heart wrenching detail, delivered. It is a sea tale of family and betrayal, of societal discrepancies and privilege, of young love and devastating family grief. This book will pull on your heartstrings, allow you to relive your carefree youth, and will take you on a voyage of your highest expectations. We owe it to these beautiful souls and their families left behind, to know them and to honor them. It is a must read!

17 people found this helpful

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Valerie

Reading This Book Requires Patience

Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2021

Verified Purchase

This book was informative and sometimes quite moving. However, it was not what I had expected, and it was far more difficult to follow than was necessary. First of all, know that the four young men who drowned are no more central to the narrative than are many other people; in fact, there are several people who are more prominent. It seems that anyone who ever was acquainted with the young men and available for an interview were included in the book. The story includes descriptions and analyses of far-flung family members going back generations. All kinds of peripheral individuals make an appearance, including the author herself.

Prepare for a panorama of Long Island life. A reader interested in the privileged lives of the wealthy as compared to the the lives of blue collar working class folk will not be disappointed. The geography, history, and development of eastern Long Island are covered, as well as cultural differences between seasonal visitors and locals. Habits of fish and the economics of fishing are included. Highs and lows of life, secrets and lies, family legacies of achievement and trauma - all are investigated. The sinking of a fishing boat serves as a thread that is meant to hold it all together, but it is a slender thread that often all but disappears, only to emerge again later on.

The book is an ambitious undertaking that falls short in the way it is put together. It's a very disorganized read, swerving back and forth between topics and individuals and generations. There are too many people for the reader to keep straight, as they surface and sink, surface again and sink, haphazardly throughout the book. All too often, a reader is likely to ask, "Wait - who was that guy again?" Perhaps it would have helped if the author had included a few family trees or a list of characters at the beginning of the book. A map of eastern long island would have been good, too.

31 people found this helpful

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sassy

An absolute must read

Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2021

Verified Purchase

The Lost Boys of Montauk is a heart wrenching story of the “Wind Blown” a fishing boat that was lost at Sea.
I couldn’t put the book down, but had to pace myself reading it as I didn’t want the story to end!
The author Amanda Fairbanks is a master at weaving together a story within a story. The way she
describes her interviews made me feel as though I had personally met the characters in her book.
I loved how she chose to share details of her own life throughout the story.
She reminded me that every choice we make impacts our lives and those around us.
Choose wisely and purchase this book!

5 people found this helpful

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Lisa Williams

This story is more than you expect it to be....

Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2021

Verified Purchase

First of all, I love boats and the ocean. I have a tenuous connection to Montauk through extended family, but my main interest in this book was the deep love of the sea. We are avid boaters. I was intrigued by the premise and framing around class struggles.
What I found here was a profound story of loss. With twists that seem so out of left field. But they resonate. Who is the truth teller when the other person is dead. What narratives do we get to create when no one alive can debate them or push back?
Thank you for telling this story of this beloved place and adding the realism and color to a location many consider rich people's playground. I appreciate the time I sent with these characters and their complex stories.

2 people found this helpful

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