Maverick’s: The Story of Big-wave Surfing
Description
A detailed and richly illustrated history of big-wave surfing is told in the even-number chapters, while a spectacular and deadly five-day swell from late 1994 is recalled in the odd-numbered chapters. Hair-raising tales of adventures are mixed with discussions on big-wave psychology, board design, meteorology, competition and commercialism.
Reviews
"Half slow-ticking thriller, half encyclopedia of extra-large waves, Maverick's documents the fantasies and facts with awesome precision. I hate this book, because I wish I had written it myself."
— Andy Martin, London Independent
"Maverick's achieves a remarkable beachhead: it's the first book I've come across the presupposed little or no surf knowledge on the part of the reader, yet still dwells in a zone of absolute accuracy and voice. That's a remarkably thin wire to walk, and Warshaw does it with aplomb. The work of a serious writer in full stride."
— Scott Hulet, Surfer's Journal
"Taking a cue from Sebastian Junger's nonfiction novel The Perfect Storm, Warshaw focuses on a single event -- in this case, a big-surf-related drowning -- and expands on it do illuminate an entire culture and its world beyond waves. A fascinating account."
— Steve Barilotti, Surfer
"A thing of beauty...a literate, insightful, informative book. Deft writing and pacing keep readers breathlessly turning pages."
— Greg Ambrose, Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Author's Note
Maverick's took about 10 months to make, and everything about this project just got better and easier as it went, until by the end it seemed like none of the people involved could put a foot wrong. Super-cool Bay Area photographer David Perry did the surfer portraits, along with the moody and/or gnarly black-and-white Maverick's seascapes; art director Martin Vanezky, timid by nature but absolutely vicious in Quark, arranged the pieces with great flair, and gave the book an appropriately dark and dramatic tinge. This is easily the best-looking of my books. In late December 2000, Maverick's went to #9 on the Bay Area Best-Seller list, and was Amazon-ranked was #1 in my hometown of Manhattan Beach, and I guess that's part of the reason I jumped so confidently into the Encyclopedia of Surfing production cycle thinking I could wrap things up in just 18 months. What a dope. Big-wave surfing meanwhile advanced way ahead of where I'd left off in late 1999, particularly with the latest tow-in developments; the revised edition of Maverick's has a lot to do with the fact that local surfers in 2003 were riding waves at least 15 feet bigger than they had been in 1999.
Book Excerpt
Excerpt from the Introduction:
Almost 150 years ago, near the end of big‑wave surfing’s long, sun‑warmed prehistory, a tsunami wave roared into the northeast coast of Hawaii, peaked at some impossible height against the beachfront bills and cliffs, then abruptly reversed direction and pulled much of the landscape out to sea, including a man named Na Holaua and his small wood‑frame house. Tsunami waves travel in sets, like regular ocean waves, and as the second enormous swell lifted up, Holaua allegedly ripped a plank from the side of his house, positioned himself beneath the curl, shot down the face, and rode to shore. Read More »
Published
2000, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 224 pages; revised and expanded in 2003
Foreword
Dan Duane
Photography
Art Brewer, Leroy Grannis, Jeff Divine, John Severson, Bob Barbour, Bud Browne, Erik Aeder, Bruce Brown, Tom Servais, Bernie Baker, Patrick Trefz, Frank Quirarte, Lawrence Beck, others
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Copyright © 2005, Matt Warshaw.
