Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Historians (and surfers) Westwick and Neushul provide a sweeping, measured overview of surfing, from its origin in the Hawaiian Islands to its current status as a multibillion-dollar industry that somehow maintains an outlaw allure. Along the way, the authors examine just about every element that affects the sport-water pollution, board evolution, turf wars, surfwear marketing, racism, and sexism, and of course the enduring mystique. Westwick and Neushul's focus on the cultural and socio-economic illuminates hidden forces that are rarely discussed by even the most knowledgeable surfers. In a field driven by personalities, their approach is unique. The book grew out of a course at the U.C. Santa Barbara and in places reads like a textbook (there are only so many times you need to hear how technology has been both a blessing and a curse for surfing before stifling a yawn). However, the writers have plenty of big-wave bravado, and they're not afraid to challenge received wisdom; for instance, they suggest that a (mostly) white guy named George Freeth was as essential to the early-20th-century surfing revival as the legendary Duke Kahanamoku. For every enthusiast killing time before the next big swell, the authors provide a satisfying immersion into the story of how a near-extinct Polynesian pastime came back to conquer the beach. Agent: Andrew Stuart, the Stuart Agency. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An encyclopedic history of riding the waves. Drawing as much from their professional specialties in science, technological, and environmental history as on their mutual love for surfing, Westwick (History/Univ. of Southern California) and Neushul (History/Univ. of Southern California, Santa Barbara) present a tidal wave of surfing history and analysis. Looking at more than a century's worth of data from a mainly sociohistorical perspective, the authors present the compelling case that surfing offers a tantalizing stew of contradictions, at once an activity pairing "subversive social rebellion" with the "middle-class mainstream" and juxtaposing lifestyle with sport, "modern society" with the "natural world." Today's multibillion-dollar surfing industry traces its roots to the popular pastime of Hawaiian natives, who rode 100-pound redwood planks through the roiling Waikiki surf. While early-19th-century missionaries helped spawn surfing's "cool" image by deeming it slightly immoral, the authors argue their greater effect on surfing stemmed not from their conservative views so much as the disease these Westerners brought with them, causing the Hawaiian population to drop from an estimated 800,000 to 40,000 in the 1890s. Despite that gross literal decline in those able to surf, the sport caught on in California, thanks in part to writers like Richard Henry Dana and Jack London, whose late-19th- and early-20th-century accounts of surfing helped bring it to the mainstream. Those for whom surfing represents the apotheosis of countercultural living may be shocked to learn that some of the most radical innovations in surfing technology came from the American aeronautical industry, which helped introduce polyurethane foam for boards, and the Navy, whose combination of neoprene with nylon in the early 1950s resulted in the modern wetsuit. The authors leave no aspect of surfing unexplored--as rewarding for those addicted to pursuing the "stoke" as for others merely smitten by surfing's idyllic island allure.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
