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All for a Few Perfect Waves: The Audacious Life and Legend of Rebel Surfer Miki Dora
by
David Rensin (Goodreads Author)
For twenty years, Miki "Da Cat" Dora was the king of Malibu surfers--a dashing, enigmatic rebel who dominated the waves, ruled his peers' imaginations, and who still inspires the fantasies of wannabes to this day. And yet, Dora railed against surfing's sudden post-"Gidget" popularity and the overcrowding of his once empty waves, even after this avid sp
...morePaperback, 528 pages
Published
March 24th 2009
by It Books
(first published March 31st 2007)
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I am not a surfer (I have poor balance). I am not a beach bum (although I do have an affinity for the ocean). I am not especially hip, young, or even posessing of an interest in youth/rebel culture. No, I'm perhaps the least likely person to read this book & love it. Except when you consider that I am a sucker for an inscrutable, unknowable man. Once you realize that, you can see why the story of the ever-elusive (both physically & personally) Miki Dora.
Rensin collects thousands...more
Rensin collects thousands...more
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David Rensin does a pretty good job of presenting the story of one of surfing's most notorious characters without bias. The book reads a little choppy as a result of Rensin's decision to let the people who knew Miki best tell his stories in their own words. But after a few chapters I fell into a rhythm and got lost in the enigmatic life of Miki Dora.
I imagine Miki Dora was one of those guys that no matter what crowd he stood in, everyone noticed him, and most everyone wanted to know ...more
I imagine Miki Dora was one of those guys that no matter what crowd he stood in, everyone noticed him, and most everyone wanted to know ...more
This is a really neat book about this guy name Miki Dora who was a dickhead of absolutely epic proportions. I mean this guy stole, cheated, scammed, bitched and finagled his way through his entire life and he didn't change a bit until he was like 60. Then he started to mellow out a bit. If he wasn't a really, really good surfer he would have been an absolute shithead that no one gave a crap about. But he was. So he got away with it. I was lukewarm on Miki until the point when he died and i...more
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Recommends it for:
nonconformists
Recommended to furious by:
the universe
this book is wonderful. it's an oral history, so it is a little like reading a transcript of an amazing documentary. and that is really my only issue so far; i wish it WERE that documentary. while hearing the tales & exploits & whatnot, i feel like i need to be watching Dora surf. i feel like i should be looking at those old amateur home movies from Malibu in 1960, or seeing Miki tackle the big pipe at Waimea. there are some great plates - photos & documents unearthed from amongst Miki's widely ...more
This book is fantastic. One of the interesting benefits is that not only will you gain an understanding and appreciation for who Miki Dora was (and maybe why he was that way) but you'll also get a great look into the transition that accompanied surfing as a result of the Gidget boom. For better or for worse this is important history for those interested in surfing. It also offers a historical perspective that is unique compared to others of the generation.
I've never surfed in my like and have only recently started having an interest in surfing as a subject. I knew very little about Miki Dora prior to reading this book. I found Dora to be a very interesting and complex subject. The author handled this complexity well by simply including all the seemingly contradictory aspects of Dora's life without taking sides. For virtually every label that can be placed on Dora the opposite can also be said. For much of the book I found Dora to be a pathe...more
Wow... All these years, all this time reading Surfer and hearing the tales... A great book. Just amazing to see a character like this actually existed. Not just a great and essential read for surfers, but a story that most folks will find entertaining and enlightening, whether they surf or not.
"By adopting my particular type of self-imposed exile I can outdistance these scougers of mankind: those who believe in consciousness without existence and those who believe in existence without consciousness -- these caricatures who go to ludicrous lenghts to assert their own importance, their own grotesque, overblown ambition.
The preconceived, hypocritical values of these scourges are their calling cards to temples of mediocrity and cultural improverishment. These schizos a...more
The preconceived, hypocritical values of these scourges are their calling cards to temples of mediocrity and cultural improverishment. These schizos a...more
this was well written...it just made me realize how self centered and mean Miki Dora was. Not a nice guy. I don't understand the adulation.
interesting profile on a classic surfer.
The writing in this book was fine, but I was completely bored by the subject. His life wasn't all that "audacious," and by the end I had concluded he was a whiner, a bum, and probably a racist and anti-semite. Why did I keep reading a biography of someone who thought swastikas were an okay decorative element? I don't know.
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I loved this bio - read it in about 3 days. Is especially good if you're into Southern California surf culture, but is still worthwhile even if you're not because this guy really had a strange life.
I always thought that a biography was to be written about the subject, not the author writing about himself with brief interludes to the subject person... I am not impressed!
Having a really tough time getting through this. Starting to feel speculative folklore about a guy I'm pretty sure I'd hate.
If you have grew up near the beach in California then no explanation needs to be given on why I am reading this...
Coming in hardcover on April 8 2008.
For more info go to: www.tellmeeverything.com
For more info go to: www.tellmeeverything.com
It should be fiction, only it's not.
Well written story of a true character.
A well written book about a guy who has few redeeming qualities. Don't expect to come away from this with anything more than a history lesson on early surf culture
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David Rensin has written and cowritten thirteen books, five of them New York Times bestsellers. His new book, All For a Few Perfect Waves: The Audacious Life and Legend of Rebel Surfer Miki Dora, was published by HarperEntertainment on April 8, 2008. The softcover was published on March 24, 2009.
According to Rensin, "There will never be another surfer like Miki 'Da Cat' Dora. For...more
More about David Rensin...
According to Rensin, "There will never be another surfer like Miki 'Da Cat' Dora. For...more
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