Another Great Day at Sea

Life Aboard the USS George H.W. Bush

By: Geoff Dyer

Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley

Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

From a writer “whose genre-jumping refusal to be pinned down [makes him] an exemplar of our era” (NPR), a new book that confirms his power to astound listeners.

As a child Geoff Dyer spent long hours making and blotchily painting model fighter planes. So the adult Dyer jumped at the chance of a residency aboard an aircraft carrier. Another Great Day at Sea chronicles Dyer’s experiences on the USS George H.W. Bush as he navigates the routines and protocols of “carrier-world,” from the elaborate choreography of the flight deck through miles of walkways and hatches to kitchens serving meals for a crew of five thousand to the deafening complexity of catapult and arresting gear. Meeting the Captain, the F-18 pilots and the dentists, experiencing everything from a man-overboard alert to the Steel Beach Party, Dyer guides us through the most AIE (acronym intensive environment) imaginable.

A lanky Englishman (could he really be both the tallest and the oldest person on the ship?) in a deeply American world, with its constant exhortations to improve, to do better, Dyer brilliantly records the daily life on board the ship, revealing it to be a prism for understanding a society where discipline and conformity, dedication and optimism, become forms of self-expression. In the process it becomes clear why Geoff Dyer has been widely praised as one of the most original—and funniest—voices in literature. Another Great Day at Sea is the definitive work of an author whose books defy definition.

©2014 Geoff Dyer (P)2014 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“[Dyer’s] account of his stay on the ship is mostly blissful, filled with curiosity and with admiration for the crew and the dangerous, difficult work it does: repairing airplanes, flinging them up into the sky and then snagging them when they come back down again.” Los Angeles Review of Books

“Remarkable….the book is very, very funny, from beginning to end. It is also incredibly moving, in the way only fresh and generous writing can be…. By the end of the book Dyer can state unabashedly that he’s had one of the greatest encounters of his life on this boat, and I’m right there with him.” NPR

"Dyer soars for the rest of the book, which shares sea legs with David Foster Wallce's brilliant cruice-ship essay 'A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again'." San Francisco Chronicle

Personal indulgence

This book seems to be more about the author’s wimpy reactions to everything than actual life at sea with America’s Navy. But disappointed.

Civilian in a military world!

Not at all what I expected! As an ex-sailor myself with six years of sea duty, I thought I could read this and take a ride down memory lane. Would have been more interesting had it been written by another sailor. Thanks anyway.

Dyer is rhe greatest person he knows

This author is so full of himself he forgot to write avout the subject. Should have returned it. Ill never get the time spent on it back.

Amazing book, out of place narration

Voice is way too cheery, with upturns all over the place. See the audio version of Jeff in Venice for how it needs to be done.

Could have been great

I hold the militay in very high regard. The job they do and the conditions they face are tremendous. Mr. Dyer does a poor job of emphasizing this and a better job of making the story about him, and his own views. His homophile remarks along with his complete disdain for anyone who is not an atheist are very off putting. I istened to the whole thing, but in truth, it seemed like a waste of time.