Told through the eyes of an ex-pat professor of American literature, author Norman Fischer describes The Rincón Notebooks as "... a postmodern update of Hunter S. Thompson's The Rum Diary and Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises " while surfing historian Scott Laderman says "if Hunter S. Thompson wrote about surfing it would probably look a lot like The Rincón Notebooks. Sex, drugs, surf, and Buddhism The Rincón Notebooks has it all."
The Rincón Notebooks will challenge the non-surfing reader's notions of just about everything and for those familiar with surf culture and the pitfalls of colonialism it will strike even deeper chords.
Brian Unger the author of The Rincón Notebooks studied medieval and classical literature and languages at C.C.N.Y. studied Zen Buddhism at San Francisco Zen Center and earned an M.A. in English at New York University and a Ph.D. in English & American Literature at The CUNY Graduate Center. He is editor and publisher of Zen Monster a journal of art literature religion and politics relative to the practice of buddhism in North America and Europe. His critical edition of Zen monk Philip Whalen's journals Bowed Some & Chanted A Little: The Literary Journals of Philip Whalen 1948 - 1990 is due out in late 2018. Unger lives in Rincón Puerto Rico where he is writing a sequel to The Rincón Notebooks.
"If Hunter S. Thompson wrote about surfing it would probably look a lot like Brian Unger's The Rincón Notebooks. Sex drugs surf and Buddhism The Rincón Notebooks has it all. " - scott laderman university of minnesota author of empire in waves: a political history of surfing
"This novel perfectly encapsulates the ex-pat surfing culture of Rincón within the broader historical frame of the Puerto Rican nation. It is a must-read for surfers Puerto Ricans and any North American who wants a true taste of Caribbean life on this island. " - fiore de castro artist, Rincón surfer.
"Set in a surf town on Puerto Rico's far west coast this cockeyed novel is a postmodern update of Hunter S. Thompson's The Rum Diary and Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. Like its protagonist Brendan McGuinness author Brian Unger is a Marxist Zen Buddhist surfer-intellectual a literary scholar and professor trying to figure out the flotsam and jetsam of his life while having drinks with many friends who are doing the same. This is a smart funny sad read a must for the surfing community. " - norman fischer noted poet and zen priest author of experience: thinking writing language and religion (essays).
"The Rincón Notebooks is an intriguing and insightful yarn about surfing colonialism love and life. It will challenge non-surfing readers' notions of just about anything and for those familiar with surf culture and the pitfalls of colonialism it will strike even deeper chords. " - steve fitzpatrick, photographer-author of puerto rico's surf culture.
