IGX

A book about the modern state of surfing, set on Hawaii's North Shore of Oahu - the penultimate location for proving yourself in the surf world. It looks at the weirdness of Hawaii in general, and the strange, violent hierarchy that has come about, mostly it seems to the benefit of surfing, oddly enough.

It's written in a Charles Bukowski/John Fante/Kerouac-lite style: a flowery, seemingly honest look that is oftentimes centered as much on the author's choice of clothes, drinks, and music as it is about surfing.

I got to see the guy speak about 2 weeks ago, and liked him in person. He insults people left and right, often just to do it, he's a good writer in spite of some random misspellings and grammar issues, he's self-deprecating and arrogant and he doesn't seem to give two shits if he has to catch a beating.

Prior to writing about surfing, he would ride motorcycles around Yemen and the Middle East, surfing and doing war reporting because of the danger element.

I can't gauge the interest for non-surfers, but it was illuminating for me, as well as a lot more fun than the normal heavily-muted shit you'd read in a surfing magazine.