The Encyclopedia of Surfing
02
Mar
- ISBN13: 9780156032513
- Condition: USED – VERY GOOD
- Notes:
Product Description
Now in paperback and updated to include forty new entries, this “leviathan of surf literature” (Surfing magazine) is a remarkable collection of expert knowledge, spine-tingling stories, and little-known trivia. With 1,500 alphabetical entries and 300 illustrations, The Encyclopedia of Surfing is the most comprehensive review of the people, places, events, equipment, vernacular, and lively history of this fascinating sport by “one of surfing’s most knowledgeable hist… More >>
Or so I presume.
This book has the best history I’ve seen on Pacific Ready Cut Homes and that’s why I purchased it. I’m the author of “California’s Kit Homes” and had a devil of a time finding information on this Los Angeles-based company.
I bought “The Encyclopedia of Surfing” and was pleasantly surprised to find information about the company that brought us the Swastika Surfboard. Yes, they made wonderful (and heavy!)surfboards, but did you know they also made and sold 40,000 kit homes before they got into surfboards? (BTW, one Pacific Ready-Cut house had 30,000 pieces of house and a 75-page instruction book – and you thought putting together a VCR stand was tough.)
I also browsed other parts of the book and found it to be an informative and well-researched book.
Rose
author, California’s Kit Homes
Rating: 5 / 5
For the record, let me state that I’ve been surfing for 20 years and got the bug, along with most others my age, watching The Endless Summer and getting captivated by the energy and beauty of the sport. This compilation, while very complete, really IS an encyclopedia…page, after page, after page. There are some useful tidbits of information strewn among the lengthy volume but a large majority of the book seems filled with fairly uninteresting, small, black and white photos, and biographies of just about anyone in the world who ever attempted to stand up on a board. Avoid this snore-fest and put your money into a nice hardcover coffee table book filled with glorious color shots of the world’s tube riders…and leave all of the trivia to the wannabes.
Rating: 2 / 5
Matt went to Berkeley, a top-notch school, and so his research skills are high-level. One of the contributing ghost writers, who didn’t get credit on this work, Nathan, just wrote a great surfing screenplay titled “Bliss” you can read for free on [… But I digress, I’ve surfed since the sixties, read all the magazines and books, and was surprised to read things here I didn’t know. Sometimes I laugh at the magazine writers of today as they get things wrong about the sport’s early days. Matt’s always spot on. Anyone with the surfing bug, the desire to become a Don Redondo — wiseman, wiseguy, or shaman of the sport — needs to read this book.
Rating: 5 / 5
This book is full of all types of info, a lot more than I expected. Good buy at a good price.
Rating: 4 / 5
This was the book I was looking for when it came to all things surfing. Everything from history, boards, type of surf, how to surf, surf lingo, and great pictures: it’s all there.
Rating: 5 / 5