Zero Break: An Illustrated Collection of Surf Writing, 1777-2004 [Paperback]

Matt Warshaw (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 8, 2004

The author of The Encyclopedia of Surfing returns with this definitive anthology of the best-ever writing about surfing, illustrated with classic and cutting-edge photographs and artwork. Hip and eclectic, the collection speaks to surfing's widespread and longstanding appeal: from Mark Twain's nineteenth-century description in Roughing It to Susan Orlean's essay on girl surfers in Maui and Tom Wolfe's "The Pump House Gang."
This anthology covers it all-from early surfing literature to descriptions of the sport's most colorful characters, from hair-raising tales of big-wave surfing to an exploration of surf culture.

Includes contributions by:
R. Crumb, Daniel Duane, William Finnegan, Rick Griffin, Frederick Kohner, Jack London, Herman Melville, Susan Orlean, Charles Schulz, Mark Twain, and Tom Wolfe

Editorial Reviews

Review

PRAISE FOR THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SURFING
"Fiendishly addictive . . . Comprehensive and compelling." -Sports Illustrated

"Warshaw is the very best sort of teacher, a passionate storyteller with a thirst for the richest details and a knack for bringing soul and character into each biography or bit of lingo."-Salon

From the Back Cover

"Zero break" is a classic surf-world term referring to an offshore reef where the biggest and best waves form. In this anthology, editor Matt Warshaw has collected the biggest and best surf writing ever, including fiction, nonfiction, verse, cartoons, and screenplays. A must-read for any surfer or adventure lover, ZERO BREAK includes:

MARK TWAIN SUSAN ORLEAN
from Roughing It "The Surf Girls of Maui"

HERMAN MELVILLE JACK LONDON
from Mardi from The Cruise of the Snark

DANIEL DUANE JOHN MILIUS
from Caught Inside from Apocalypse Now

FREDERICK KOHNER BOB SHACOCHIS
from Gidget "Return of the Prodigal Surfer"

TOM WOLFE PHIL EDWARDS
from The Pump House Gang from You Should Have Been Here an Hour Ago

and more than 20 other selections


Including full-color photographs and artwork by SANDOW BIRK, ART BREWER,
JEFF DIVINE, RICK GRIFFIN, TOM SERVAIS, and others


MATT WARSHAW, the former editor of Surfer magazine and an ex-pro surfer, has been writing about surfing for over twenty years. The author of The Encyclopedia of Surfing, he lives in San Francisco.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (November 8, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156029537
• ISBN-13: 978-0156029537
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,085,386 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Matt Warshaw was born in Los Angeles, began riding waves in 1969, and had a brief, undistinguished, resume-padding career as a pro surfer during the early 1980s. He worked at SURFER Magazine for six years, and became editor in 1990. Quitting what has been called "the best job in surfing," Warshaw enrolled at UC Berkeley, and in 1993 took a BA in History, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. He continued to write, and published articles in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Esquire, Interview, and Outside.

Warshaw has written eight books since 1997, including the Encyclopedia of Surfing ("A living, breathing masterpiece," according to Salon.com), and the just-published History of Surfing. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin wrote that "Warshaw has written more cogent words about surfing than any other human," and the UK's Independent added that "the author appears to have attained total omniscience in his field."

Warshaw lives in San Francisco with his wife and son.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Collection of Stories, February 14, 2008

By 

William K. Hoopes (Northern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Zero Break: An Illustrated Collection of Surf Writing, 1777-2004 (Paperback)

I own a large library of surf books and have become a fan of the ones that I slow down to savor. This is one of those. Warsaw chose excellent stories in this collection; the variety is wonderful as is the changing pace of the reads and the subject matter varies nicely. This is one of my favorites.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars zero break, November 7, 2005

By 

JAB "JAB" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zero Break: An Illustrated Collection of Surf Writing, 1777-2004 (Paperback)

excellent reading:informative, entertaining,interesting,due to the diversity of the collected articles that span generations, time,numerous points of view and emotions, well organized. I have purchased numerous copies as gifts to share with old surf buddies!

5.0 out of 5 stars Gold Mine of Surf Writing's Greatest Hits, November 26, 2008

By 

Whamo (San Clemente, California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Zero Break: An Illustrated Collection of Surf Writing, 1777-2004 (Paperback)

Everything from Jack London, Herman Melville (two top echelon American writers), to Mark Twain (perhaps America's foremost writer), to Rick Griffin (my old friend, RIP)! Perhaps the shiniest piece is David Resin's "Finding Mickey Dora" from that old California magazine (I still own that magazine). I'm not a big fan of Warsaw's anal anaylisis of the art of the liquid easel, but his collection of surf writing raises him to icon status in my eyes, as a Kahuna, worthy of fast company like Drew Kampion and John Severson. I would have included Mark Foo's (another old friend, RIP), article on facing destiny at Waimea Bay, an old SURFER article, "Great Writers of the Sea"(or words to that effect), with quotes by poets on our mother ocean, and of course, my 1978 article from SURF magazine on the hybrid surfboard. If you don't buy this book you'll be a retardess kukess for the duration of your short lifetime, a valley cowboy, aircraft worker, or worse! Hail, gremmies, groms, and pros, to the dead surfers! One last question, there's a book out there, I read it a decades ago, about an old kuk with a redwood board that surfs a big wave amid younger surfers with fantastic plastic new boards. It was a paperback. Does anyone know the title?