Great Surfing Books

Saltwater Buddha By Jaimal Yogis


http://www.amazon.com/Saltwater-Buddha-Surfers-Quest-Find/dp/0861715357

Or Caught Inside

http://www.amazon.com/Caught-Inside-Surfers-California-Coast/dp/0865475091

 

"All For a Few Perfect Waves" by David Rensin

Biography of Miki Dora. A little different in that the writer guides you through Dora's life but doesn't really "tell" the story himself. Instead, he interviewed hundreds of people, and let their own words speak for themselves. So you have people who worshiped Dora, people who hated him, people he cheated, people he was kind to, etc.

From all these different perspectives you get to draw you own conclusions on who Dora was and what he meant to surfing. And you get to learn a lot about surfing history and its roots at the same time.

I'm not a Dora fan, but I though it was great book. The writer did a great job piecing the various interviews together to create the book's "story." Not an easy thing to do.

http://www.amazon.com/All-Few-Perfe...=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270822072&sr=8-3

 

Great Sufing Books..

In Search of Captain Zero: Weisbecker
On A Wave: Thad Ziolkowski
Breath: Tim Winton
West of Jesus: Surfing, Science & the origins of Belief: Steven Kotler

 

I can definately 2nd "All for a Few Perfect Waves". Very interesting read. It's almost a history of surfing in and of itself.

"Surf is Where You Find It" - Gerry Lopez Flows very well. Good collection of stories from his life, most told with a good amount of detail that will have you holding your breath as he tells his tales of being caught on the inside.

DO NOT READ, I REPEAT, DO NOT READ: "Pipe Dreams" Kelly Slater's biography. Got nothing against the guy at all and I dont' want to get into any sort of Slater debate, but the book is terribly written. Imagine if the bros you handg out with after a rad session had a few beers, just enough to get a slight buzz, and told you the story of their life. I'd imagine they'd leave out a lot of detail and jump all over the place. That's what this book is. I kinda hope someone does one on him in the vein of "all for a few perfect waves". That'd be a lot more interesting.

"under the banner of heaven" - great book on mormon fundamentalism if you're into creeping yourself out and want to get as far away from utah as possible

 

'Good Things Love Water' by Chris Ahrens is a great collections of surfng stories.

 

One more...

Crazy for the Storm: Norman Ollestad...wild, true account of a kid growing up with his adreneline-junkie father.

 

"In search of captain zero" is one of my favorites. Story of an east coast surfer that travels from california to costa rica by car.

"West of Jesus" is more scientific, it kind of tries to explain what makes surfing so much fun/addictive.

both good but different styles.

 

As mentioned above, definitely check out the Dora piece, "all for a few perfect waves."

Both "captain zero" and allan wiesbecker's other memoir "why cant you get along with anybody" are good reads and let you into the seedier side of the expat life in costa rica as well as a tutorial on the giving, receiving, and interpreting of bullsh**. If you really dig weisbecker, try "cosmic banditos" a novel that is very weird, yet pretty charming, but not at all about surfing.

Definitely pick up "zero break" an anthology of surf literature edited by matt warsaw, a former surfer mag editor. this will give you several jumping off points for other surf-oriented reading. "zero break" is a great go-to when you are in between books and want something to read, but don't have the time to dive into a novel.

if you are hitting amazon, try a video called 'zen and zero.' trippy, philosophical and has a really cool soundtrack. 'zen' is the true story of a bunch of austrian expats who live in california who decide to follow allan weisbecker's captain zero path driving from the us down to pavones, cr.

 

DO NOT read Captain Zero, the author is a complete asshole. First the book is well written and does give a good idea of what its like to travel but jeez the man is a JERK. Captain Zero currently lives in Nica, you can even book a surf camp with him. He states that he has not seen a penny from the novel he inspired. What kind of "friend" is Wiesbecker. I clearly shows his character in the real world and I can't take his book whole heartly. The funny thing is Captain Zero doesn't even want the money but rather the recognition he deserves. He's the true spirit of that book so instead read Pipe Dreams by Kelly or I forget the title but the battles of Mark Fo and Ken Bradshaw. These are real surf books not some egotistical novel dissing us shortboarders who, "rip up the wave, rather than feeling the glide." What a joke!!!!

 

Weisbecker is a genuine a-hole. A real arrogant know it all prig. If you read "why cant you get along. . ." you will see more of his a-holism and see him get a bit of comeuppance. After reading his stuff (which is entertaining) you realize that he has edited his life from the typewriter to make himself seem more in control and less of a dumb-ass. The more he criticizes other writers for being full of crap,the more you should realize that he is just as full of it, too.

All that aside, the books are pretty good reading.

 

Stealing the Wave: The epic struggle between Ken Bradshaw and Mark Foo

Bradshaw is not shown in a very good light.

 

Kelly, John M. (1965). Surf and Sea. New York: A.S. Barnes. This is a well-written book that includes two major parts, the sport and the sea. The chapter titled Surfboards includes lots of good information on board design. Well worth taking some time to read through this book.

Klein, H. Arthur. (1965). Surfing. Philadelphia: Lippincott. Klein does a great job of covering the "world of surfing" organized in sets of waves, e.g., Set I is Preliminaries and Set II is Reviewing the Past. Set II includes 4 "waves" including Captain Cook Encounters Surfing and Dark Days Almost Wipe Out Surfing. Klein makes an interesting use of mathematics in discussing board displacements and fin (skeg) surfaces. Also of note is Klein's discussion of the Israeli hasake. All-in-all, he covers everything from bodysurfing through SUP-style waveriding.

Severson, John Hugh. (1964). Modern Surfing Around the World. Garden City, New York: Doubleday. A concisely written book that covers a wide range of topics and does it fairly well.

These books were published 45 or more years ago so they obviously do not cover innovations such as the leash and thruster, nonetheless they make for a good read.

 

Weisbecker may be a bit crazy and you may think he's an a-hole, but the guy can tell a story and Captain Zero is a must read.
And I definitely second Ollestad's Crazy for the Storm

 

i absolutely HATED west of jesus! what a friggin' waste of my time. wish i could have that day & a half back...

that said, i would recommend these, in addition to "good things love water" & "captain zero" (i also agree that weisbecker is an ass):

"big surf, deep dives, & the islands" by ricky grigg
northshore chronicles" by bruce jenkins
"joyrides" by chris aherns
"waves & beaches" by willard boscom
"a collection of short stories" by kimo hollinger
"30 years riding the world's biggest waves" by fred van dyke
i forget what it's called, but the biography of eddie aikau was really good, too
& if you're looking for something heavier...
"surfing & social theory" by nick ford & david brown

 

"Surfing: The Manual Advanced" is a pretty interesting book because it focuses on stuff that surfers who already know the basics would want to learn. So cutbacks, floaters, airs, getting speed, as well as nutrition facts and facts about waves themselves. It'll keep you busy for a while... of course, the only way you can really get better is by surfing, I think this book gives you a "push" over the edge when learning maneuvers.

"The Big Drop" by John Long is a pretty god read too. It's not a novel, but it's a collection of big-wave horror stories told by many of the most renowned big wave surfers, from the first paddle out at Waimea Bay, to towing in to Jaws. Who doesn't love a good, ol' fashion, fingerlicking, big-wave story?

 

"Walking on water" ECspongers suggestion thou.Very good read.

 

Here a few good ones-Enjoy!

Nat's Nat and That's That
Bustin Down the Door
Surfers Code
Force of Nature
Eddie Would Go
Mr. Sunset
Da Bull
Morning Glass
Good Things Love Water
Joy Rides

 

well i'd rather rip up the wave than feel the glide any day