Before the wind

Jim Lynch's fourth novel is his long-awaited breakthrough-a grand saga of a sailing-obsessed family that can stand alongside Ken Kesey's Sometimes a Great Notion . Joshua Johannssen has spent his whole life among sailboats. His grandfather-Grumps, a.k.a. Bobo Sr.-famously designed them, his father-Bobo Jr.-raced and built them and his mother-enthralled by Einstein and mathematics-knows exactly how and why they work, or not. For Josh and his sib...