Customer Reviews

Surf Culture: The Art History of Surfing

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

 

 

In reponse, to Shannon David Earle review...As I was reading the book again last night I couldn't help but be amazed at how everything was so easy to read-and at the same time so illogical and chaotic. Something only Carson could make work. This book is critical for any surfer's library as the book not only is extremely well written, but it also incorporates the art it talks about into its page design. Buy it.

After elevating the development of skateboarding from criminal activity to its proper place in modern culture with Dogtown and Z-Boys Stecyk, a long-time contributor to The Surfer's Journal, presents the artifacts of surfing culture in an equally intelligent manner. This book is developed from the recent exhibition at the Laguna Arts Museum. A must have for anyone interested in surfing. Steyck has come a long way from epoxying bronzed roadkill to major California roadways. He's an artist too.

Surf Culture is an amazing marriage of words and pictures. David Carson's "interpretation" is pitch-perfect, a complete masterpiece. It's all here: an historical perspective, tons of full bleed imagery and contemporary artistic musings on the aesthetics of surfing. I suppose the "hater" with the negative review would propose a clean rectilinear design, too bad the whole thing just went right over his head.

Wet behind the ears review makes me really sad.
The fact you're buying a book on surf culture and you
don't know the name david carson, well that's just mind numbing.
I don't even know what to say about the whole "being arty" comment.

This is the most expansive book on the aesthetics of surfing! The impact on modern popular culture and design in general becomes evident after reading this book. Great writing throughout includes a Tom Wolfe essay.

Please be advised that the layout of this book is riddled with jumbled double print in varying type sizes overlaid over other print, making it impossible to read. I suppose that this was done in a failed attempt at being "arty". Make sure that you peruse a copy prior to buying it and then decide if you want to spend the money on a book with illegible text. In fairness, there are some interesting representations of surfing and art, presented chronologically. It's just a shame that the material wasn't presented in a format worthy of the subject.

i surfed with david carson a couple of times
for all his talk the guy is a total fraud!
he sat on the shoulder and didnt catch anything for hours