Surfing USA!: An Illustrated History of the Coolest Sport of All Time - Hardcover

The impact of surfing on American culture is wonderfully - and lovingly - detailed in Ben Marcus' Surfing USA!, likley the first book to treat the sport as a serious cultural phenomenon. marcus has mined the intagables that make the sport cool - the freeness of spirtit, youth, and rebellion, the respect for nature, the zen-like concentration that dosen't translate well onto dry land, the spillover into pop culture such as music, the movies, fashion, comic books, the language. It's quite a ride. The book is well-illustrated and written with a wry sense of humour, a half-smirk at the absurdity of the universe, a feeling for place, time and interconnection. --Honolulu Star-Bulletin

The book is a look back throguh time at surfing in America based on Marcus's extensive catalog of surf storeis and inteviews, analyzing the surf culture from rock n roll to movies to rod rods, how surfing developed, surfer personalaties, the evolution of boards and the science of big waves. --Santa Cruz Sentinal

Comprehesive and beautifully illustrated histroy shows how the sport developed, the scinece of big waves, surfer personalities, the science of big waves, evolution of surf boards, and the craetion of a surf culture form movies to rock n roll to hot rodding. of special note are the impressive photographs of surfing memorabilia, movie posters, album covers and pop art thematically showcasing the sport of surfing...a must for all surfing enthusiasts! --Bookwatch

Surfing is not just a sport; it is a pop-culture phenomenon. Surfing has created legends, while seizing the spotlight in every aspect of beach culture, in movies, in fashion, and in music. Surfing has evolved from its mystical beginnings in Polynesia, where it was valued as noble, positive, and deeply imbued with spiritual meaning but condemned by critics (mostly religious conservatives) who considered it “pagan, immoral, and corrupting.” And we’ve come a long way from pre–World War II days, when Hawaii' was as remote as Timbuktu; when itchy wool swimsuits and heavy hardwood surfboards were the norm.

We’ve matured since the 1950s and 1960s, with their trendy popularity—the culture and fashion, the movies and music, from “Gidget” to the Beach Boys and those bushy, bushy blond hairdos—to today, when the glitz of sophisticated marketing campaigns and media-savvy surfers are “de rigueur.” Yet, through the years, surfing has maintained its reputation as a refuge for non-conformists; the often-below-the-radar individualistic lifestyle defies a dry chronicle neatly tied up with a bow.

A comprehensive history of the sport by Ben Marcus, a man who lived it and who knows and loves it like nothing else, Surfing USA! is anything but dry; it truly captures the glamour and excitement of this extreme sport. If you are still in awe of that first surfboard, still stoked by hanging ten, or still dreaming of that elusive wave, then this book is for you. Ben Marcus, the former editor of “Surfer” magazine and current freelancer for such publications as “Surfer’s Journal,” brings you up close and personal to the exciting world of surfing.