Customer Reviews

The History of Surfing

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am not a surfer. But I am a history buff who was given an advance copy of this gorgeous book. I'm only on page 174, but I have to stop and share my excitement about The History of Surfing. How can you not love a book that describes the crowds at surf movies of the late 1950's like this:

"Firecrackers were lit and rolled across the floor to the next row of seats. Bottlecaps zipped through the air. High decibel beer-belches rang out. A motorcyclist might blow in through the side door, ride up one aisle and down the other, then gun back out the way he came.

"What older surfers invariably describe first when talking about early surf movies is the tearing thunderclap of cheers and whistles and stomping feet that began when the lights dimmed and the first blue-green image lip up the screen--a roaring noise signifying not just a manic willingness to be entertained, but the pure joy of an otherwise staunchly nonaligned multitude coming together briefly, powerfully, ecstatically as a group."

Now that's the way to write history. Kevin Starr, California State Historian, eat your heart out.

When I got this book I was a bit afraid it would take me forever to read, but as soon as I opened it up and read the first few pages I discovered just how good a writer Matt Warshaw is and how hard it would be to put it down. Matt has gotten the words right using each one with careful consideration and has somehow been able to cover all the bases with an unbiased yet engaging perspective that is different from just reading facts. Reading along and having a slight idea of what was to come made it exciting to see how the bits and pieces of surf history I knew of would be played out in the pages. It was a bit like watching a movie version of a really good book. Most cases you go in expecting a letdown because how can someone match what the book did on the screen, but every once in a while you are surprised. How could someone take the history of surfing and impress in a book? Well somehow this author has. I would recommend it to surfers and non-surfers alike. Great photos, nice job on the page titles, and above all else really great writing.

This is it, the definitive story of surfing, surfers and beach culture.
It's a big thick textbook like collection of information, photos, stories and anecdotes.
Warshaw has set the bar so high with this work, I doubt anyone will ever have the balls to approach the subject again.
I will be reading and re-reading this one for a long time to come

Having read some of Matt Warshaw's other work (mostly shorts and Maverick's: The Story of Big Wave Surfing)I already knew that I liked his writing style. Being an aging surfer and having read a good bit of both historic and modern surf literature, I wasn't sure if a comphrehensive HOS would be able to hold my attention. Simply put, it did, and then some. I was generally familiar with a good bit of the content from my disjointed readings of the past. There is enough new stuff and some surprises in the old stuff, more than enough, and written in a manner that makes it an enjoyable and refreshing cover to cover read.

Having a degree in history, an ex-pro surfer, having established the most extensive surf database anywhere in existence, as well as having recently completed The Encyclopedia Of Surfing, Matt is unquestionably the authority on the subject, uniquely qualified to write the history of surfing. Yes, as a reviewer noted there is some "opinion" to be found here and there, not a lot, but it is clearly such and I found it to be more insightful in nature, an "insider's" perspective, not opinion masquerading as fact.

As a surfer of course I'm obviously biased to the subject, but I do agree that non surfers with any interest what-so-ever in surf history or culture should find this to be the best, most comphrehensive and enjoyable single source read available today on surfing.

The bottom line is: if you are a grom or an old surfer you really should give this a read regardless of how you come by it. Get it from your local library, borrow it from a bro, steal it. Just kidding, don't steal- we're finally getting a little main stream respect these days. I found the Amazon price to be the best. It is pretty beefy. If you buy it and don't like it, you've still got one hell of a door stop.

Surf historians take note - Matt Warshaw has just put y'all out of business. Seriously, this book should be in the NYTimes Top 100 books because, far from being a mere surf history - it's the 'Story' of surfing - how an incredibly difficult yet photogenic sport wormed its way into mainstream culture. Warshaw's prose crackles off the page - no cliches, no hashing over old stories, just bringing a fresh eye and perspective to the 'original' action sport. Oh, to have this kind of encyclopedic knowledge of a topic and the ability to write authoritatively and entertainly as Warshaw does. Bravo!

Well written. Historically solid with entertaining stories and interviews/quotes. Comprehensive. Warshaw's writing style is a cool mix of surfer and cultural anthropologist/novelist/historian.

The photos and presentation make the book worth it alone. The information is interesting and super engaging. I bought it as a gift, but after looking at it--almost wanted to keep it. He's a surfer I'm not---tell you anything about the book?? It's great....

A few years back, the Modern Library ranked James Joyce's novel "Ulysses" first on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.
Like this one, that's a big book too.
Well, this is the Ulysses of surf books.

My nephew surfs and loves reading about surfing as much as actually surfing. This book presents a lot of information in a well-written manner.

Matt Warshaw is a tireless researcher and writer when it comes to surfing. He's got the dedication and skill to research and write about a subject that could start and go in any direction. Warshaw gives surfing a direction, from it's beginning to where it's at, now.