VIEWS AND REVIEWS "A far-reaching oral history." -- New York Times “Until now enigmatic surfer legend Miki Dora’s history was written only in water, but David Rensin’s primo All for a Few Perfect Waves catches the life of this charismatic renegade.” -- Vanity Fair "This great book is (Dora's) iconoclastic epitaph." -- Times (London) LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK REVIEW Sunday June 22, 2008 Rensin's book is mostly excellent -- and I say "mostly" because Dora's life serves as both aspirational legend and cautionary tale. For many fans, the facts are unimportant, almost unhelpful. But the fiction? Well, Da Cat stories have a near-mystical currency. "All for a Few Perfect Waves" sacrifices that appeal, swapping fiction with fact, mythology with man. In short, it supplants a fairy tale for surfers with a kick-butt biography for everyone else. ...... Because Dora, who died from pancreatic cancer in 2002, is a near- impossible figure to capture, Rensin's true insight was not to try. "All for a Few Perfect Waves" is an oral biography, told almost entirely in quotes culled from the more than 300 people he interviewed for the book. Between the quotes are Rensin's incredibly long sentences, which might be trying in other contexts, but here, serving as both scene setting and transition, are justified. ...... The results are not just the most complete portrait of Dora ever painted but also a solid recounting of surfing's original boom years and a thin, peculiar slice of Americana in the late 1950s and early '60s -- a staid time that was ripe for so mercenary an iconoclast as Dora. ...... "All for a Few Perfect Waves" is much more than just another day at the beach. * --Steven Kotler, author of "West of Jesus: Surfing, Science, and the Origins of Belief “Engrossing… Rensin proves an inexhaustible interviewer, teasing out colorful tales never before set in print.” - Men's Vogue “In this vivid biography, Rensin takes on a daunting task: to clarify the clouded myth of legendary surfer Miki Dora ... Rensin lets Dora’s friends, lovers and rivals tell the story. The result brings a remarkable focus to a man whose greatest accomplishments were written on water.” - Publishers Weekly “David Rensin doesn’t shy from documenting Dora’s multitude of sins - the stealing and swindling, the juvenile pranks, the prison terms - even as he celebrates the man’s desire to live a life of utter, and often utterly irresponsible, freedom.” - Los Angeles Magazine Book of the week by a mile is David Rensin's excellent biog of Miki 'Da Cat' Dora - All For A Few Perfect Waves. -- The Guardian/Observer, UK "Rensin has crafted a colorful history that celebrates Dora’s lifelong commitment to personal freedom and makes you care about this individual who, it seems, could not have cared less." -- Ethan Stewart, Santa Barbara Independent David Rensin talked to over 300 of Dora's family, friends and enemies, and such is his skill in weaving the strands together that any suspicion the subject matter might be too inconsequential to justify 475 close-packed pages is soon rejected in favour of a desire to know what happened next. And just when you feel you have half-understood this complex character, a final twist reveals how little you do know him. In Rensin's own words, Dora's story is "all about surfing, and not about surfing at all". -- The Independent/UK “Unsparing and comprehensive, All For a Few Perfect Waves: The Audacious Life and Legend of Rebel Surfer Miki Dora pulls no punches in drawing a compelling portrait of Da Cat, warts and all, but leaves the final judgment to the reader..The book is remarkable in that it allows those around (the late) Dora to fill in the gaps of his life and eschews the demigod hero treatment that mars so much representation of Da Cat. What remains is Dora laid bare -- a portrait that’s breathtaking in its scope.” - Surfer magazine “Above and beyond the call of unearthing the mystery that was Dora…a stunningly comprehensive tome…[an] incomparable body of work which will mess with both your mind and heart, the likes of which may forever set the literary sandbar, and rightfully so.” -Eastern Surf Magazine "Scam artist, self-worshipping jerk and the most important figure in surf culture, Miki Dora taught us that surf stars, and crowds, and contests, and surf camps, and surf schools, and everything commercial about surfing is WRONG!!!! Unless, of course, you need to make money so you can surf, in which case it is okay; as long as you pontificate that to all who will listen that it isn't. A fabulous, insightful read!" --Scott Bass, Senior Online Editor, SURFER Magazine David Rensin provides a rare look at the famously guarded Dora through hundreds of interviews with those who knew him best. The result is a portrait of a life wedged between hyperbole and vulnerability. -- Amazon.com |
Thanks to these stores and venues for inviting me to appear, and then disappear... just like a wave BOOK SOUP (on the Sunset Strip) (ALWAYS GREAT) LAGUNA BEACH BOOKS (PACKED!) DIESEL (Malibu) (FULL HOUSE) SANTA MONICA PUBLIC LIBRARY (WILD CROWD) LOS ANGELES TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS READ ABOUT THE PANEL PALM SPRINGS BOOK FESTIVAL COPPERFIELD'S BOOKS (Sebastopol) (GREAT PEOPLE) CAPITOLA BOOK CAFE (Capitola) (FANTASTIC EVENT!) BOOK PASSAGE (SF) VILLAGE BOOKS (P. Palisades) (PACKED!) BARNES & NOBLE Woodland Hills CHAUCER'S BOOKS (S.Barbara) (NICE CROWD & KEMP) WARWICK'S BOOK STORE (La Jolla) (LOTS OF PEOPLE!) HOLLYWOOD BOOK FESTIVAL BESTSELLERS BOOKS Honolulu, HI SACRED CRAFT CONSUMER SURFBOARD EXPO (Scott Bass and Sam George) AT THE BRIDGE GALLERY (Suzanne McNeill) |
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| WOW! AMAZON.COM CHOSE ALL FOR A FEW PERFECT WAVES AS ONE OF ITS SIGNIFICANT SEVEN/BEST BOOKS OF APRIL 2008! CLICK LOGO <<- TO LEARN MORE. |
| BESTSELLER LISTS LOS ANGELES TIMES/4wks SO CALIF INDPT BOOKSELLERS/6wks |
| DID YOU READ THE BOOK? Did you like it? If so, PLEASE RECOMMEND IT. Books today only succeed through word of mouth! Also, please post a REVIEW or comment online at AMAZON.COM or BN.COM -- or wherever. |
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| !! PERFECT WAVES HAS HAD A SECOND PRINTING ... THANK YOU. THE NEW PRINT RUN HAS ERRORS AND OMISSIONS FIXED !! |
| STUDS TERKEL DIES AT 96 From the NY Times 11/1/2008 The elfin, amiable Mr. Terkel was a gifted and seemingly tireless interviewer who elicited provocative insights and colorful, detailed personal histories from a broad mix of people. "The thing I'm able to do, I guess, is break down walls," he once told an interviewer. "If they think you're listening, they'll talk. It's more of a conversation than an interview." Mr. Terkel succeeded as an interviewer in part because he believed most people had something to say worth hearing. "The average American has an indigenous intelligence, a native wit," he said. "It's only a question of piquing that intelligence." “It isn’t an inquisition; it’s an exploration, usually an exploration into the past,” he once said, explaining his approach. “So I think the gentlest question is the best one, and the gentlest is, ‘And what happened then?’ ” -------------------------- "May Studs rest in peace and oral history remain alive." -- Brett Farmiloe, Purse the Passion |
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| ADVANCE PRAISE “My friend Sam Haskell’s journey has taken him from rural Mississippi to the great cities of the world — including The White House and Buckingham Palace. This book will tell you exactly how he did it. He had an inspirational mother who taught him life's lessons!" - Morgan Freeman “My friend Sam Haskell’s Promises I Made My Mother is a portrait of character — something mothers and sons should read together while celebrating one of the greatest bonds that exist in the world today!” - Lily Tomlin “Sam Haskell is an anomaly in Hollywood. He brings to this book his humor, his honor and his unique perspective on how to live life. He is a great friend.” - Leslie Moonves, President and Chief Executive Officer, CBS “I’ve always wondered how Sam Haskell survived in Hollywood, a viper’s nest that would make any asp jealous! Sam always treated everyone with respect and behaved with honor. Now having read Promises I Made My Mother, I understand that Sam found success by being true to himself and keeping his promises to his mother. It’s all in the breeding, and for you, it’s all in the reading!” - Doris Roberts, actress, “Everybody Loves Raymond” “My friend Sam Haskell has revealed aspects of his life that even I didn’t know…Promises I Made My Mother is an eye opening read for anyone who has the capacity to dream.” - Dolly Parton “It has been over 30 years since I signed on as Sam’s first client right out of the mail room at the William Morris Agency. He has kept his promises to his beloved mother and to all the rest of us who owe him s o much. This book is a must read for anyone who hopes to find ‘true’ success in any field…the kind that lasts forever.” - Kathie Lee Gifford THE BOOK The promises Sam Haskell made to his mother guide him from a small-town Mississippi boyhood, through the cutthroat world of Hollywood as Worldwide Head of Television at the William Morris Agency, to a life of philanthropy, in this inspirational, moving, and heartwarming memoir When he was growing up in small-town Mississippi, Sam Haskell saw a TV commercial promising that “The Cheer Man” was visiting homes across America, distributing $10 checks to anyone who could produce a box of Cheer detergent. Sam was convinced “The Cheer Man” would come to his house. Nearly a year later—to everyone’s surprise—“The Cheer Man” arrived and young Sam was ready for him. In this powerful and inspiring book, “The Cheer Man” becomes a parable for Haskell’s extraordinary life and a metaphor for the way he’s lived it: believing in dreams, especially the unattainable ones, and making them come true. Haskell’s core beliefs—humility, integrity, character, honesty, and confidence—were taught to him by his beloved mother, Mary. Each chapter focuses on a promise Sam made to his mother to adopt those values and shows how they led him to a fulfilling and successful life: as a precocious boy, a student at Ole Miss, and a young man in Hollywood with no money or connections, who rose from the William Morris mailroom to become the Agency’s Worldwide Head of Television. In this heartfelt book, Haskell shows us how, even in the cutthroat, shark- infested waters of Hollywood, you c an get ahead by being true to yourself. |
| COMING THIS FALL Emmett Rensin and Alex Aciman's TWITTERATURE:The World's Greatest Books, Now Presented in Twenty Tweets or Less WWW.TWITTERATURE.US A humorous retelling of great works of literature in Twitter format -- written by two 19-year old University of Chicago freshmen. |