Board stupid ... Grant Baker surfs a wave at an offshore reef known as Sunset off Cape Town. Photograph: Nic Bothma/EPA
Surfing cutlure is far more varied than popular images of water-logged beach bums suggest, to the point where it has a decidedly intellectual side, complete with a small but vibrant literary wing.
Yes, not only is there a surfing literature, but it has a greater antiquity than many might suspect, dating back at least to Mark Twain's trip to Hawaii in 1866. In his now famous dispatches from the islands, Twain included not only descriptions of Hawaiian surfers, but also an account of his own attempt to ride the waves of Waikiki, which quickly ended in a big wipe out and the ingestion of a copious amount of salt water. Twain wasn't the only famous 19th century-born author to experience surfing. In 1911 Jack London also found himself in Waikiki trying this ancient Hawaiian sport. London, however, fared far better, and his descriptions of his experiment in wave riding, found in his classic South Seas book The Cruise of the Snark, carry a sense wonder and excitement that any surfer today would easily recognize.
Twain's and London's forays into surfing, however, were simply minor asides in their distinguished careers and didn't inspire much in the way of surf literature. The true chronicling of the surf culture would begin much later, in California, where by the advent of the second world war a small, dedicated group of surfers were roaming up and down its southern coast laying the groundwork for the modern sport. By the 1950s the next generation of West Coast wave riders was developing a nascent surf literature, mostly in magazines, such as Surf Guide and Surfer. It's only been in the last twenty or so years, though, that these early journalistic efforts have blossomed into a large number of surfing books, which mostly fall into two categories: autobiographies and biographies about and often by "classic" surfers and wider-ranging works by professional writers who also happen to love the sport and its culture.
Of the former, notable works include autobiographies by surfing greats such as Greg Noll, Gerry Lopez, and Nat Young. Perhaps the best of these is Morning Glass, by Mike Doyle, who was one of the most influential surfers of the fifties and sixties. Written without the usual professional co-author, Doyle's refreshingly rough-and-ready prose charmingly tells the tale of his freewheeling life of surfing the world's best breaks. Also important is the recently published All for a Few Perfect Waves, David Rensin's biography of the late Miki Dora, surfing's ultimate iconoclast. Often called the sport's "Black Knight", Dora's life was one long tour of the world's most challenging and far-flung breaks, offset by paranoia, petty crime, and a stint in prison. Dora, however, was also one of the most dedicated surfers who ever lived, and Rensin perfectly captures these seemingly contradictory aspects of his fascinating life.
Setting the standard in the latter category would probably be Daniel Duane's Caught Inside. In this work Duane uses his own experiences of surfing the northern California coast as a template for exploring both the sport's colorful history and its social and spiritual aspects. Other important works include Searching for Captain Zero and Can't You Get Along With Anyone?, by Allan Weisbecker, non-fiction works that explore darker sides of the surf lifestyle, and the novels of Kem Nunn, which combine crime drama and surfing culture to create highly effective surf-noir.
Given the geography of surfing's development, it's not too surprising that its literature has come largely from California, Hawaii, and Australia. Since the late sixties, though, the sport has become a fixture in France, Spain, and Portugal. And now that it's moving north in a big way it's probably only a matter of time before an indigenous surf literature begins to consistently flow from Europe. I for one can't wait to read tales of the beautiful, challenging waves of the English and Irish coasts and the surf cultures they engender - for surfing is now a truly international sport and a European perspective can only enrich this burgeoning body of writing.
