Deep

Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us About Ourselves

By: James Nestor

Narrated by: James Nestor

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice.
An Amazon Best Science Book of 2014. A Scientific American Recommended Read.

Deep is a voyage from the ocean's surface to its darkest trenches, the most mysterious places on Earth. Fascinated by the sport of freediving - in which competitors descend to great depths on a single breath - James Nestor embeds with a gang of oceangoing extreme athletes and renegade researchers. He finds whales that communicate with other whales hundreds of miles away, sharks that swim in unerringly straight lines through pitch-black waters, and other strange phenomena. Most illuminating of all, he learns that these abilities are reflected in our own remarkable and often hidden potential - including echolocation, directional sense, and the profound bodily changes humans undergo when underwater. Along the way Nestor unlocks his own freediving skills as he communes with the pioneers who are expanding our definition of what is possible in the natural world - and in ourselves.

©2014 James Nestor (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Fascinating, informative, exhilarating." ( Wall Street Journal)

"A journey well worth taking." ( New York Times Book Review)

"Nestor pulls us below the surface into a world far beyond imagining and opens our eyes to these unseen places." ( Dallas Morning News)

Excellent!

This is a fantastic book. Fascinating stories and solid info on freediving and oceanic state of affairs.

beautiful!

this is the second book by James Nestor that I've listened to. love it!

he has a wonderful way of weaving his information into story form that keeps my attention at all times.

What a wild book.

Seriously, sports writer becomes so curious about free diving he dives into the rabbit hole, and just keeps digging... err... diving? I absolutely loved this book, even though that it seemed a bit all over the place at times. I felt like I was learning all about this new world right along with the author and had a ton of fun listening to his journey unfold.

Interesting

Interesting and informative. Well researched and developed. Certainly provides insight into a lifestyle that is unknown to most of us.

Great listen!

Fantastic story and one that when I finished it left me wishing all books were this cool. The science stuff is not overwhelming and ties in neatly to the free diving stories. Both inspiring and interesting, the authors perspective is well thought out and kept me listening for hours.

Deeply moving

Absolutely loved this dive into the world of the ocean and culture and science. I absolutely loved it. To tears at points. Thank you James.

Absolutely fascinating

I’ve always been terrified of the ocean and yet have always felt it beckon to me. Listening to this, I almost feel as if I now understand why I felt that the ocean’s call. Maybe it’s because the sea is out original home: for all of us.

Forgive me if I sound melodramatic, that isn’t my intent. I simply wish to convey the intuition listening to this book brought to me.

I definitely recommend it.

I didn't expect this book to be so amazing!

I picked up this book when it was on sale and didn't have any expectations going in, so I was genuinely surprised when it gripped me from the very first few minutes. It covers a lot of fascinating territory that is catnip to me: extreme sports and people who push their bodies to their limits (and sometimes die in the process); diving disasters generally; the amazing science of what happens to your body under extreme pressures; brilliant or crackpot scientists (hard to tell) who believe they're on the cusp of translating dolphin speech; and the author's own journey from skeptic to free diving with sperm whales off the coast of Sri Lanka. My only complaint is that I wish it were longer--I want to spend more time in this world of people who free dive with sharks and whales.

I knocked one star off for the performance only because when the author/narrator does people's voices, they seem a little stoned. I didn't realize until writing this review that the author/narrator are the same person, though--if his narration is true-to-life and the people in his book *were* stoned when they talked to him (or at least they sounded that way), then I apologize.

And, edited to say, unless the author is also a performer (thinking of Tina Fey or Amy Poehler), I tend to find the narration in author-narrated books disappointing. Nestor does an EXCELLENT job.

Most interesting shit I’ve ever read!

I’ve never read a book that is as informative as it is interesting. Inspiring is another adjective I’d use to describe it. The story is well written, keeps you on your toes and allows you to almost dive down with him as you listen. I’ve learned a lot from this book and hope to jump into my own research. I have found a new passion for free diving and breathing techniques. Thanks to James for getting his ass out there and writing about it. I Appreciate it more than I can explain!

Short Dive

I was once told that if I wanted to be deep I should go buy a submarine. And this book did in fact deliver that submarine. However, I found myself wanting more when I was done with this book. I felt that "Deep's" focus wasn't entirely clear. It had some truly astounding moments and then would go off in another direction. One chapter free diving, then with aquanauts, then with whales, and then tell everyone about the dying coral just for good measure. I understand wanting to spread knowledge about these topics, but it felt a little thin. Overall I did enjoy the book though and would recommend.