By embarking on a quest to dunk a basketball at the age of 34, journalist Asher Price investigates the limits of human potential — starting with his own — in the memoir, Year of the Dunk: A Modest Defiance of Gravity. William Finnegan’las memorias de Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life is deeply rendered self-portrait of a lifelong surfer by the acclaimed Neoyorquino writer.