Best Selling Books by Norman Ollestad

Dad Said Olestad, we can do i t all. . . . Why do you make me do this? Because it''s beautiful when it all comes together. I don''t think it''s ever beautiful. One day. Never. We''ll see, my father said. Vamanos. From the age of three, Norman Ollestad was thrust into the world of surfing and competitive downhill skiing by the intense, charismatic father he both idolized and resented. While his friends were riding bikes, playing ball, and going to birthday parties, young Norman was whisked away in pursuit of wild and demanding adventures. Yet it were these exhilarating tests of skill that prepared "Boy Wonder," as his father called him, to become a fearless champion—and ultimately saved his life. Flying to a ski championship ceremony in February 1979, the chartered Cessna carrying Norman, his father, his father''s girlfriend, and the pilot crashed into the San Gabriel Mountains and was suspended at 8,200 feet, engulfed in a blizzard. "Dad and I were a team, and he was Superman," Ollestad writes. But now Norman''s father was dead, and the devastated eleven-year-old had to descend the treacherous, icy mountain alone. Set amid the spontaneous, uninhibited surf culture of Malibu and Mexico in the late 1970s, this riveting memoir, written in crisp Hemingwayesque prose, recalls Ollestad''s childhood and the magnetic man whose determination and love infuriated and inspired him—and also taught him to overcome the indomitable. As it illuminates the complicated bond between an extraordinary father and his son, Ollestad''s powerful and unforgettable true story offers remarkable insight for us all.

"Finely wrought; Ollestad builds a delicate tension between the characters, exposing their raw desire and exploring the concept of artistic inspiration...A quietly tense and absorbing read." —Kirkus French Girl with Mother is a provocative, propulsive thriller that marries the spirit of James Salter with a hint of Patricia Highsmith and the velocity of The Art Forger. Nathan is a young artist traveling across Europe in search of the emotional fire that has been missing from his work. He''s been deemed by his mentors and critics as technically skillful but uninspired —criticisms he fears to be true. On a Paris street, he witnesses the volatile breakup of a young French woman and her beau. Nathan pursues a meeting with the woman and it very quickly becomes evident that her provocative charisma and scathing beauty just may conjure the electricity he has been seeking for his work. So when the woman invites him to her parents'' crumbling, centuries–old chateau in the country to allow him to sketch her, he accepts, knowing that this proposition is both ill advised and thrilling. Once enveloped by this isolated estate, a door opens to a world Nathan is not prepared for. The arrival of the young woman''s family—her mother, a volatile, voracious former ballerina, her father, a mysterious businessman with secrets of his own, and her uncle, who might be trafficking in art forgeries.

About the inner structure and operations of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A riveting survival adventure like Hatchet but real, this astounding true story from two New York Times–bestselling authors chronicles how a California sixth grader survived a deadly mountainside plane crash during a snowstorm. Eleven-year-old Norman Ollestad is no stranger to extreme danger. Whether it’s surfing big swells off Topanga Beach or skiing in a blizzard, his thrill-seeking father hurls him from one adrenaline rush to another, pushing his son to realize that “anything’s possible.” And with Dad by his side, sometimes Norman believes him. That motto is put to the ultimate test when, en route to claim a race trophy Norman won the day before, the sketchy small plane they’ve chartered crashes in the San Gabriel Mountains during a snowstorm, killing the pilot and his father—the one person Norman has always counted on for help and encouragement—and badly injuring his dad’s girlfriend. Trapped six thousand feet above sea level, Norman is left to contend with his grief and with his dire circumstances. Should he wait for help and hope rescue arrives before hypothermia sets in, or brave the brutal cold and have a shot at making it out alive? But scaling down a steep, ice-covered peak is unlike any challenge Norman has faced before. One mistake could be the difference between another step toward safety and a very long fall. Inspired by the harrowing true experience of New York Times–bestselling author Norman Ollestad, this astonishing, action-packed survival story, co-written with New York Times–bestselling author Brendan Kiely, is about the complicated forces—and people—that shape us. Fast-paced and unputdownable, Sole Survivor is the perfect read for fans of Dusti Bowling’s The Canyon’s Edge, Megan E. Freeman’s Alone, and the I Survived series.

Als 11-Jähriger überlebt Norman einen Flugzeugabsturz in den Bergen und sucht den Weg zurück in die Zivilisation. Dabei erinnert er sich an die Zeit mit seinem Vater, der ihm Mut und Durchhaltevermögen beibrachte.

El accidente tuvo lugar en las montañas de San Gabriel, a unos 2.600 metros de altitud. En medio de una fuerte tormenta de nieve, la avioneta Cessna que transportaba al autor de estas memorias, a su padre y a la novia de éste se estrelló y quedó suspendida en la ladera helada del monte. Nueve horas más tarde, Norman Ollestad, de once años de edad, fue hallado vivo, único superviviente de la tragedia. ¿Cómo es posible que un niño fuera capaz de sobreponerse al dolor, la conmoción y las brutales inclemencias atmosféricas y lograra salvarse?Bajo la tutela de un padre incansable y carismático, que llevaba un estilo de vida alternativo, a contracorriente del orden establecido, el pequeño Norman se crió en el mundo del surf y el esquí de alta montaña. Mientras sus amigos montaban en bicicleta e iban a fiestas de cumpleaños, Norman se enfrentaba a aventuras cada vez más extremas. Exigido por su padre hasta límites intolerables, aquellos tiempos de difícil aprendizaje forjaron un carácter tenaz y entrenado en la superación que resultó crucial cuando el destino lo puso a prueba.Elegido por los editores de Amazon como uno de los diez mejores títulos de 2009, y aupado a la lista de más vendidos del New York Times durante once semanas, Pasión por el peligro es uno de esos libros que no se ajustan a las categorías existentes. Los hechos narrados son reales, pero tan extraordinarios que mantienen al lector en vilo como si leyera una novela de suspense. El afectuoso retrato del padre, combinado con la pasión por la naturaleza y las adictivas emociones que procura el deporte de riesgo, conforman una historia de unión espiritual que conmueve por su proximidad y autenticidad.

"Mon père était un fou de glisse et d''apesanteur. Il traquait les ouragans et les tempêtes de neige pour vivre l''extase du surfeur de vagues monstres, du skieur de poudreuse. Il avait soif de sensations fortes, n''en avait jamais assez. Et c''est cela qui m''a sauvé la vie". Dès l''âge de trois ans, Norman Ollestad est initié aux sports extrêmes par un père passionné et charismatique qui le déstabilise autant qu''il l''inspire. Pendant que les autres enfants mènent une vie normale, il est entraîné à ignorer la peur. Cette éducation atypique lui permettra de survivre, seul, perdu sur les pentes verglacées d''une montagne. Naviguant entre le récit haletant du crash et les souvenirs de ce père hors norme, Norman Ollestad livre un témoignage puissant et inoubliable qui explore avec une extraordinaire intensité dramatique le lien complexe d''un père à son fils.

Can a man live and love intensely without being crushed under the weight of his feelings? Like Milan Kundera''s The Unbearable Lightness of Being, debut author Norman Ollestad''s Driftwood plumbs the agony and ecstasy of pursuing romantic love. Abandoned by his wife after quitting his job as an attorney, Woody lives in a beach shack with his Labrador retriever Coltrane–his spiritual advisor and the colorful narrator of Driftwood. WoodyÂ''s carefree life of riding the transcendent California waves turns tumultuous when he investigates a mysterious theft on the beach and soon finds himself entangled with two different women–effervescent Anna, and the artfully seductive Ingrid. Through ColtraneÂ''s witty voice, we are taken on a spiritual and psychological journey across mythic, sun-soaked Malibu. Can Woody solve the crime and satisfy his heart? Insightful and profound, Driftwood is a California classic for anyone who has ever lost love and hopes to find it again.

Waargebeurd, autobiografisch verhaal over een intense relatie tussen vader en zoon, die eindigde door een vliegtuigcrash die alleen door de elfjarige zoon werd overleefd.