Down Time: Great Writers on Diving

More than 35 passages from novelists, journalists, poets, playwrights, essayists, and scientists detail an intertwined passion for diving and the written word in this collection. From Robert Stone’s portrayal of a diver who faces the terrorizing prospect of his air running out to Clare Booth Luce's search for the treasures of the underwater realm, every passage reveals a perspective of the world that only divers have known. Humor columnist Dave Barry battles a lobster and explains why staying on the ocean’s surface is like “going to the circus and staring at the outside of a tent.” From Rangiroa to the Red Sea, from deep within caverns to the eerie light under ice, from the lethal silliness of nitrogen narcosis to the elation of soaring over unfathomable depths, every selection, like every dive, is a unique experience.

Ed Kittrell is a writer and editor and an avid diver. He lives in Glenview, Illinois. Casey Kittrell and Jim Kittrell are writers and licensed scuba instructors. Jim lives in Glenview, Illinois. Casey lives in Austin, Texas.