Cabin Pressure: One Man's Desperate Attempt to Recapture His Youth as a Camp Counselor Hardcover – Bargain Price, May 30, 2007

I take that title from a Frank Black song, which I think is a pretty accurate way of describing the nervous step you take into full-fledged adulthood. "Cabin Pressure" details Josh Wolk's step.I first took notice of Wolk through his terrific writing at "Entertainment Weekly." He wrote day-after commentary on the "Real World" that was so gut-bustingly hilarious my friends and I used to E-mail the highlights to each other. After a while, the writing was so good and the show so bad, we stopped watching the show and just read the wrap-ups.Wolk's best skill as a writer is his gift of observation. Give him any scenario and he can instantly break it down, expose each player's motivation, and end it all with a hilarious analogy.He brings that keen observation to "Cabin Pressure," his tale of heading back to camp as a counselor on the brink of his wedding day. Having remembered camp as a kind of innocent oasis, Josh wants to reexperience it one more time before he becomes, gulp, a husband and a father.Wolk fills us in on summer-camp life -- what he remembered from his day, what has changed, and what hasn't. The best part of the book is Wolk's interaction with the kids in his cabin. He does an amazing job of letting you know each one, whether they are charming, maddening, or depressingly and prematurely stressed-out and miserable.I don't necessarily think I bought into Josh's overall theme here -- this whole nostalgic innocence trip -- but it doesn't matter because "Cabin Pressure" is often hilarious and reading this book is like a well-spoken, really funny friend telling you his best summer-camp stories.The tone can shift from body-odor humor to some strong emotional connections with the boys, and all the while Wolk's razor-sharp observation and pitch-perfect punchlines remain.After reading Wolk in "Entertainment Weekly" all those years, and laughing my butt off, this book lives up to all of my expectations. Funny and insightful, "Cabin Pressure" is a wonderful debut book.

I spent many summers at camp as camper and counselor.Much of Wolk's stories resonated with me. It was an enjoyable read.

Very well written and a ton of fun. Took me right back to being a young guy at camp. You can smell the moldy backpacks when you hold the book. Loved it.

too long to remember

I enjoyed this book from line one. Josh Wolk is a wonderfully funny story teller. Even if you never spent any time in summer camp, you will love the stories and characters. I didn't want it to end!

I bought this book based on articles written by Josh on the Amazaing Race on EW. I loved his reviews, and I love this book. Never been to summer camp, but the book is laugh out loud funny.

This was a very entertaining and introspective telling of a man's trying to relive his youth. He manages to recapture the insecurities of youth, rather than nostalgia that he was looking for.The narration was excellent. Usually for this type of book, I prefer that the author himself reads. But Heller is able to capture all the sentiment and make you believe that he experienced these incidents himself.The only negative that I could find is the Play-away format itself. This was my first, so I am not sure if it was just this one or all Play-aways. The audio seems to be coded to a very low bit rate. It sounds as though Heller is reading to you over the phone. In this case, it's only noticeable for the first chapter. Past that, I was so engrossed that I didn't even notice it.

This was a very enjoyable book, easy to read (in a good way) and laugh out loud funny in a lot of spots. Josh Wolk has a great way with words and some of his quips are quite clever and extremely amusing. I have never been to summer camp, but that didn't stop me from appreciating this entertaining book. By the time the campers were being picked up by their parents at the end of the book, I actually realized I was going to miss some of these characters (even ADD Kid). Highly recommended.

This book is amazing, can't recommend it enough!