Surf Books

[oldmansurfer]

Very surprised that in all the replies no one once mentioned the Pulitzer Prize winner, Barbarian Days, by William Finnegan:

‘Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life,’ by William Finnegan
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/book ... negan.html

Incredibly good writing by a war correspondent who surfed wherever, whenever he could.

Go back and read the whole thread .

[oldmansurfer]

By the way Kindle is a great way for me to read. I wish I had it when I read Barbarian Days because there were so many words I didn't understand and the Kindle has a dictionary. You just touch the word and it looks up the meaning. Really good for me except like the last book I read on Bali if I looked up Balinese words it could only find the meanings for a fourth of them. There is also a free Kindle app for my iphone and I can read stuff from my kindle library on it too. Plus I guess I am saving the trees by not using paper.

[jaffa1949]

Very surprised that in all the replies no one once mentioned the Pulitzer Prize winner, Barbarian Days, by William Finnegan:

‘Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life,’ by William Finnegan
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/book ... negan.html

Incredibly good writing by a war correspondent who surfed wherever, whenever he could.

What thread have you been reading , Barbarian days have been commented on at least ten times! Some critical most good , with one comment of too much hyperbole!

[oldmansurfer]

I read A Surfing Adventure in the Mentawai Islands - where Indian Ocean Power disturbs the sea of tranquility
by Clive Woodward. It's a tale of a surfing trip to the Mentawais islands. I often wondered what it would be like. There are often multiple boat loads of surfers as well as land based surf camps at the breaks. The author says that better waves make the surfer surf better or something like that yet there was no indication of that happening on this trip which was made up of older guys. Apparently they all had better waves at their home breaks but never so many good waves all in short period of time. I think to enjoy trips like that you need to enjoy the journey because it won't likely be the best waves you have ever ridden.

[jaffa1949]

Just started on a book called " Life of Brine." By Phil,Jarrat, one time editor of Tracks magazine when it was a irreverent counter cultural gonzo surf newspaper , not the fashionista glossed up,tart it is now. ( my opinion).
An Aussie version of the days when aussies were barbarians?
I haven't said much about Phil....... best left to the book, but he still contributes surf article and varied other books on suits and surfing, Bali .
Read and see.
Explains Aussie thoughts on early surf.

[billie_morini]

Very surprised that in all the replies no one once mentioned the Pulitzer Prize winner, Barbarian Days, by William Finnegan:

‘Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life,’ by William Finnegan
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/book ... negan.html

Incredibly good writing by a war correspondent who surfed wherever, whenever he could.

Go back and read the whole thread .

... and, yeah, Rob! If that isn't good enough, then see this post made before you registered surprise! (tongue-stick-out smiley; ha, ha, pulling your chain a little bit)

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=31974&p=208765&hilit=book#p208765

[Silvery]

Only read one surfing book 'all for a few perfect waves ' the Miki Dora book that's been mentioned several times, though I have read it three times
Interesting wandering around Guethary looking at the bar basque is old apartment and other places mentioned in the book.
His plaque on the bench at the terrace overlooking the wave has been stolen again.
Now reading 'wanderer ' the biography of Sterling Hayden, very good so far

[kookRachelle]

Anyone read "The Big Drop" by John Long? I did a search and couldn't find anything so hope I'm not being redundant. A friend sent it to me while I'm out of the water nursing an injury for 4 weeks (2 more left!!!).

I'm really enjoying it so far - lots of old school nostalgia and I love the history lessons. It is 32 really unique big wave surfing stories starting way back to the very beginning with Greg Noll at North Shore and Woodie Brown talking about the death of Dickie Cross.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/255974.The_Big_Drop

[oldmansurfer]

I am not sure if I mentioned it somewhere here but I have read The Big Drop and The Big Juice by the same author. Yeah that story of Woodie Brown and Dickie Cross is epic and sad. There are a few variations on the story depending on the source. However it stands to remind one of the unexpected dangers of surfing. My personal philosophy about surfing is to always hold back and have some reserve ability and endurance. The closer you push yourself to your limits the more likely you will be injured or killed so always hold back a little for unexpected consequences (and the more dangerous the conditions the more you should hold back)

[kookRachelle]

I am not sure if I mentioned it somewhere here but I have read The Big Drop and The Big Juice by the same author. Yeah that story of Woodie Brown and Dickie Cross is epic and sad. There are a few variations on the story depending on the source. However it stands to remind one of the unexpected dangers of surfing. My personal philosophy about surfing is to always hold back and have some reserve ability and endurance. The closer you push yourself to your limits the more likely you will be injured or killed so always hold back a little for unexpected consequences (and the more dangerous the conditions the more you should hold back)

don't be a pussy! just kidding of course, I agree and know first hand from experience what happens when you push yourself through exhaustion.

[oldmansurfer]

Yeah save the pushing yourself through exhaustion when it is a life or death matter. If you exhaust yourself sooner it becomes a life or death situation sooner

[oldmansurfer]

I just finished reading "Scratching the Horizon ; A Surfing Life by Izzy Paskowitz. Really interesting story about life with the Paskowitz's and the beginning of Surfers Healing. Boy the Paskowitz's were a wild bunch.

[oldmansurfer]

I just finished reading No Bad Waves: Talking Story with Mickey Munoz by Yvon Chouinard. Interesting like did you know Mickey Muniz used to wrestle bears?

[CFrantz]

Thanks for sharing the info.

[Silvery]

I am reading "Kook: What Surfing taught me about love life and catching the perfect wave" by Peter Heller. It is so clear to me now that I was never a Kook

Just read this very enjoyable book over Christmas, it is so clear to me now that I am a kook

[oldmansurfer]

I am currently reading "An Old Surfers Story" by Torben Andersen. It is about a guy who decided to start surfing at 59 years old and he was still surfing 2017 when he made 10 years of surfing. I am enjoying it for the different picture it paints about learning to surf. Warning for those who might be grammar Nazis it is written by someone who English is a second language or maybe even just translated from Spanish? to English and published without an English speaking person involved. So he says stuff like air madras instead of air mattress and has all kinds of grammatical errors. But I am used to pidgin English and also to lots of foreigners who speak English as a second language and he uses odd language that is grammatically correct but not often used like using tuition to describe instruction. So far it is mostly from a journal that he kept. Hey but he is obviously the surf addict and it made him a whole lot healthier.

[oldmansurfer]

That book "An Old Surfers Story" Has a lot of useful tidbits for all beginners. I am enjoying it even though he says "rib tides" and he talks about climbing up the "leach" after wiping out. He is one gung ho surfer. I think he was saying that after 3 years of surfing he had logged about 475 days surfing. Some dedication! and it's not coming quickly to him but he has patience and gets lot of personal instruction. He has a blog I don't know if this is ok but remove it if not but here it is http://www.silversurferdude.com/

[Silvery]

interesting read that blog page, that wave in Portugal looks very tasty.

[oldmansurfer]

I just read "Women Who Surf" by Ben Marcus and Lucia Griggi. It's about women who are making waves in the surfing world. Interesting to me four of them come from Kauai. However I have only met one of them and have never seen them surfing other than videos

[oldmansurfer]

I just read Morning Glass by Mike Doyle. He must be the most normal surfer that I have read about so far (not that he is entirely normal) but once again I think people who excel at things like sports have something driving them to excel