The Unexpected

Sean Snowdon's memoir is unlike most of the memoirs on bookshelves today. It is not a memoir written from decades of looking back; instead, it is written from a near distance, before the author was forty years old. The author exhibits a daredevil behavior making forays into adventures in deep-sea diving, rock climbing, driving to Alaska, and playing with the most dangerous wildlife, pushing life and death to the limits. He also shows his deeply human and compassionate side when, throughout the memoir, he creates surprise holidays and gifts for his wife and children. The Unexpected brings together an array of experiences from working on fish farms in small places in British Columbia to becoming a contractor and learning to settle down with a family. This memoir presents a compelling and evocative picture of what it is to be "out there" in the sometimes-chaotic world in Western Canada, where money can be earned and lost quickly.