The Lost Coast: Stories from the Surf

by Drew Kampion

Book Overview

Surfers read the patterns of the sea like others read a book. For them, the organization of swells and currents and the curling folds of the waves are elements of a natural language, as coherent in structure and meaning as any taught in school.
Each of the eighteen stories in this collection is a raw glimpse of surf life-from sliding into cold, stiff neoprene to experiencing the ecstasy of the Pure Art of Surfing. Most previously published in...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1423603850
• ISBN13: 9781423603856
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith
• Length: 199 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.3" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

the lost coast

loooooooove this book. it's a collection of short stories by different authors, many were originally published in surf mags in the 70's and more recent as well. i enjoyed the variety in writing styles and all the different perspectives on life and oceanic experiences. my favorites were "A wave in search of the perfect surfer," which is told from the perspective of the wave and speaks to the intimacy of connection between wave and surfer and "the lost coast," a surf journalist's sketchy adventure to the perfect but treacherous waves of the lost coast. great read, it definitely made me want to get in the water.

A full wave spectrum

The Lost Coast offers up a great selection of short stories. There is straight-ahead fiction here: Kampion's evocations of pre-shortboard-era California sessions are particulary vivid and imbued with the spirit of coming-of-age stoke. But there is much more. The styles and forms range to allegory, dystopian future ("Eyesight"), and creation myth. Kampion takes risks, and pulls them off. "Heart of Stone" centers on the creation and use of a traditional Hawaiian koa olo, spanning three generations at the turn of the 18th to the 19th centuries. "A Wave in Search of the Perfect Surfer" depicts the life of a North Pacific swell from the wave's point of view. Good stuff.

The State of the Tribe

Nat Young said it best: "Drew Kampion is the only American surf writer who kept my interest during the period when I was World Champion-what everyone else was saying made me just want to look at the pictures. Drew's writing has always been an excellent barometer on the state of our tribe." - Nat Young, 1966 World Champion Although his new one, "Greg Noll", is a doozey and a must-read, and "Stoked!" is the definitive historical record, "The Lost Coast" remains my favorite Kampion surf-book. Pick it up, go to virtually any of the stories, and you'll get a literate, occasionally profound take on The Life.

Find the LOST COAST!

Drew Kampion is the pre-eminent surfing writer. As editor of Surfer Magazine in the tumultuous late '60s and contributing editor to Surfing Magazine in the '70s and '80s, Kampion was responsible for lyrical, truthful and decidedly insightful nonfiction and fiction writing in both magazines. No one can evoke the feeling of sliding down a green wall of water, or illustrate the lifestyle as Kampion can. He is the author of several books, including Stoked!, Waves and The Way of the Surfer. In Lost Coast Drew collects fiction pieces from previously published magazines and presents them with woodcut-like illustrations that enhance the volume. There is no one writing about surfing today who can draw on the past, look ahead to the future and offer the reader the exquisite joy of walking on water as Drew Kampion can. He is an enormous talent, not simply a "surfing writer."

It takes you there!

I picked up Lost Coast because the cover looked interesting - and basically couldn't put it down. This is an amazing collection of surf stories. You really feel as though you're out in the impact zone, trying to paddle into a huge, advancing wave - or paddle away from a killer whale that has decided to eat you for breakfast! If you like the ocean, like cool adventure stories, like to explore new and exotic places through the written word, you'll defintely enjoy this book.