Customer Reviews

All for a Few Perfect Waves: The Audacious Life and Legend of Rebel Surfer Miki Dora

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rensin took on a nearly impossible task- the bio of Miki Dora- and hit it out of the park!
As a life long surfer fascinated with Dora, I, like most, have been craving the real story of this surfing icon. Very often, a warts-and-all bio can deflate its subject, but this book makes Miki even more interesting by showing his human frailties.
It's an oral history told by the people who knew him, and it's apparent from the start the exhaustive work Rensin must have done to make this book happen.
Humorous and tragic at the same time, Dora comes to life through his peers, many of them characters in their own right.
I could not put this book down, do yourself a favor and grab a copy.

I'm not a surfer. I've never been on a board and until recently had little interest in surfing at all. I've only known of Dora for a few months but I pre-ordered this book as I knew he was someone worthy of understanding better.

The problem with writing a bio on Dora is that he was very private and very complex. Putting together anything that accurately conveys who he was is a monumental task. Was he a legend or a bum? Paranoid self-saboteur or rugged individualist? A guy who never quite got over his glory days at Malibu or mythic icon? Rensin doesn't discriminate or judge. By including all sides of Dora the picture is very complex yet complete - or as complete as it can be. He can't be written off as a self-absorbed con-artist and petty thief. Nor can he be written off as a hero. He was both of these things and much more and the author has done an excellent job of showing this.

Nearly all the negative reviews I've read here and elsewhere have been negative about the subject not the writing or the research. Disliking Dora is fine but don't blame writer. Does every bio of Hitler have a 1 star rating? No. Nor should you be knocking this book because Dora was a jerk.

And my question for Mr. Rensin: where's the movie? If I'm not mistaken the rights have been sold and I think an A-list actor owns those rights. Any chance of seeing Dora's story on the big screen anytime soon?

David Rensin has written an excellent life story of our old Malibu friend Mickey (as he was then known to us in the late 50's and early 60's). My friend Toni Donovan and I still, to this day, use our favorite Mickey quote: "What are friends for but to use" and David's book certainly makes it clear that Mickey took this adage to heart. I always wondered what happened to him after the mid 60's and now I know his unique life story. Great book from start to finish. Couldn't put it down!

By the time author David Rensin contacted me regarding the book he was writing about Miki Dora I'd already spoken to or exchanged emails with several people who were writing books or articles about Miki and his life.

From the story I'd written before Miki's death and the tribute I'd written after he'd died (on surfwriter.net), it was assumed I knew Miki somewhat. "Somewhat" being the operative word.

What impressed me from the beginning was David's integrity and absolute commitment to somehow capturing Miki and the story of his remarkably convoluted and sometimes Byzantine life in a book. He wanted it to be a fair, balanced and comprehensive account that reflected the dynamic vitality, complexity and mystery of this enigmatic individual.

In my opinion he not only succeeded in that ambitious quest, but produced a real page turner in the process.

As I said to David at the beginning, "Miki's and my paths crossed several times over the years - both in and out of the water - and each encounter was unforgettable."

In the water, Miki was the most skilled, accomplished and naturally gifted surfer I've ever had the pleasure of seeing on a wave ... and for that he will always have my deepest respect.

Out of the water, he could be forceful, intelligent, clever, funny, generous, charismatic, charming and challenging one minute, and confrontational, difficult, disagreeable, selfish, unpleasant and paranoid the next.

In other words, he was fascinating, totally unknowable, and the most puzzling, unpredictable individual I've ever met.

So, naturally, I was looking forward to seeing what David could make out of Miki's labyrinth of a life based his own conversations with Miki and after talking with literally hundreds of Miki's friends, family, acquaintances and enemies.

What he has done is weave all that information - and all those memories, anecdotes, comments, reminiscences, revelations, facts and fiction - into a seamless account that brings Miki and pivotal events in his life back to life.

As an extra bonus, the book contains dozens of revealing photos from Miki's childhood onwards, many of which have never been published before - or I've never seen before - including the last portraits of Miki taken for a Vogue Hommes International article by Prosper Keating before Miki's death.

To say I couldn't put the book down would be an understatement. I'm usually a slow reader, but I raced through the book because I couldn't wait to find out where it would take me next.

The funny thing is, my wife - who never met Miki and whose only interest in surfing is through me and the kids - couldn't stop reading it either. When she finally put the book down all she could say is, "Whew! That was an amazing read ... whether or not you're a surfer or know anything about Miki Dora or even care. Amazing! A genuine tour de force."

Personally, I think I was expecting to simply read a book when I started. But it ended up as a deeply moving experience that often left me laughing and sometimes led to tears.

The book is rich in information and background I only became aware of when I read the book. I was constantly surprised - both by the subject's pathos and the author's ability to express it so poignantly.

That depth of feeling and understanding could only have been achieved by the author getting to know Miki through their personal encounters as well as by reading his letters, faxes and other writings - combined with countless hours of interviews and conversations with the people who knew him best.

The research is impeccable.

Congratulations, David. You've really met the challenge you set for yourself and produced the definitive biography of the man I will always think of as the "Wavemaster."

It is a truly fascinating book about a fascinating life and legend.

Whether or not you like the way Miki Dora lived his life is your problem. The book is a great read. In some sections I laughed, in others I shook my head in disbelief. The way his bio is told, by interviews with the people involved who many times gave conflicting stories, gave an interesting perspective to this enigmatic figure.

It amazes me that someone could market his entire life, taking advantage of other people (and sometimes the same ones twice!), off a few years of surfing at Malibu.

Some of the quotes are very insightful like: "I was a little smarter and a little quicker than everyone else so I've been able to live the way I've wanted to live. But I wouldn't recommend it."

The book lets the reader reach his own conclusions about Miki Dora. Nice touch.

I have read many biographies of famous surfers, but this book is my favorite. Miki Dora lived an enigmatic and mysterious life and probably no book could do justice to such a larger-than-life character, but Rensin's book will be hard to top. Filled with classic stories and epic tales, I didn't want the book to end. Whether you hate Dora for being such a jerk, or love him for being the ultimate soul surfer, this book will not disappoint.

I can hardly begin to tell you how very much I enjoyed this book about Miki. It is so well written and so rich in it's descriptions. I felt like I was there with him from Malibu to Africa and France. Knowing Miki in the 50's and 60's, all of my encounters with him were favorable. He loaned me surfboards, treated me and my daughter with courtesy and always had something interesting or funny to say. I wept reading the part about his beloved "Scooter Boy" and his own involvement with his death. What a tremendous tragedy for anyone to go through and especially Miki as that dog was the closest and most loved being in his life. You are a fantastic writer David. Miki was an incredible person and for you to capture him in the manner that you have is brilliant. His Dad must have high regard for your book. I would be proud that I had a son that was so unique and marched to a different drummer than anyone else. He had a pure, pure love for the sea and nature in spite of his many short-comings. In a very strange way he knew a lot about some of what is important in life.

Toni Donovan Colvin

This book was given to me by my sister, for the holidays. She knew I dated Miki a long time ago -- world champion surfer, iconoclast and con, mysterious and meglomanical--- there's just no end to the adjectives to describe him.

Beautifully written, painfully researched, and lovingly told, this story proves truth is stranger than fiction.

Growing up in San Diego in the 60s and having read biographies of Greg Noll and Mike Doyle already, I idolized the surf scene and have followed it from my landlocked location. Dora is the ultimate enigma. Wants the attention when he wants it but wants to be elusive also. But what he really wanted more than anything, was the post WWII check out of society and never have to work, the ultimate Surf Bum but with taste. And really, he accomplished this. BUT, sometimes the methods to achieve this didn't square with the law so Dora was granted the opportunity to spend time in prison after an international search involving all major police bodies.

As he approaches his unfortunate death Dora seems to come to grips with who he is, the powers he possesses and the desire to set things right. And then after death, the ultimate surprise that is pure Dora. If you want to know about the surf culture at the beginning, USA in the late 50s early 60s, or a fascinating tale of a bizarre intersting person, read this book. Not a typical life, but a life well lived.

An ideal personality for close observation, obviously. A lifestyle to envy, the stuff of fantasies. An excellent read, that's an understatement. Coming to a movie theater near you, bet on it!

Quite simply, Dora's life and its immaculate chronicling herein ought to have the big shots in his hometown of LA salivating over the rights to bring this story of the ultimate Silver Surfer to the silver screen.

If you only read one surfing book in your life, this is the one. If you only read one biography this year, same conclusion.

My only wish is I coulda been Mr. Dora. Having surfed since 1963, I always tried but never came close by any measure.

R.I.P. Miki Dora. Your legacy's intact.