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 |
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA OCTOBER 11/12 Time TBD SACRED CRAFT CONSUMER SURFBOARD EXPO Del Mar Fairgrounds Wyland Expo Hall in conversation with Sam George SOUTH CAROLINA NOVEMBER 15, 2008 TIME TBD AT THE BRIDGE GALLERY 83 Center Street Folly Beach, SC 843-588-2008 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 |
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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. |
| Russ Spencer of Bison Films interviews me about Miki and the book. Click here. |
| 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. |
| KGO-AM 810 San Francisco with Christine Craft |
| CORRECTIVE FOOTWEAR As always there are typographical errors and factual misunderstandings in any book. Here's a list we caught; they will be corrected in a subsequent printing or the paperback edition. Click here to read. Other "catches" welcome ... email to: themailroom@tellmeeverything.com |
| MIKI IN MOROCCO New unpublished story that had to be cut from the book. Click HERE. |
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The Master at work
| Original working sketch for the most famous surfboard ads of all time. |
| Unused image for Pygmio Fainus, by Ivan Hosoi. In the end they went with the evolution pics right out of Time/Life |