as everyone mentioned Barbarian Days is a must read for any surfer, especially ones who like to travel. Really changed my perspective on things and have since made traveling a priority in my life. Another good one I didnt see mentioned was Welcome to Paradise, Now Go to Hell by Chas Smith, it's about the north shore. His second book ,Cocaine + Surfing: A sordid History of Surfing's Greatest Love Affair, comes out tomorrow. looking forward to listening to this one.

There's surely more out there than a superficial Google search reveals. I've ordered a coupled of these, and that seems timely - the swell situation is dire. 

I didn't think Caught Inside was that bad. But I like Dan Duane's other stuff. I have a collection of women's surf stories called Girl In the curl that's pretty good if a bit hokey - it's got profiles of women surfers and I enjoyed that aspect (I can never read enough about Rell Sun). I refuse to give Allen Weispecker any money so I won't recommend Captain Zero, but it was a pretty good read if a bit psychedelic and self-absorbed (not as bad as his second one, in which he goes totally batpoop crazy and which I read more because someone handed it to me and said "can you BELIEVE this crap?) We need better surf literature. I am reduced to reading William Finnegan's (he wrote Barbarian Days) articles in the New Yorker.

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[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~Pat Robertson

Caught Inside is good. So is Looking for Mo.

 All my books are packed away. Getting ready to move  from the Gulf Coast to Vero Beach area. Captain Zero was OK. Like Tee bird, I think Wisenbecker is way too self absorbed. There was another book he wrote that honestly it is the worse thing I have every read. So bad I don’t recall the Title. A book on the rise of the Surf industry called World In Curl is good give some insight to uthe rise of Surf culture and the the Commercialization of Surfing. Barbarian Days is coming up for a 2nd read. Kook a book written by a Sports writer from Colorado is about his journey into Surfing. 

 

I was quoting J. Moody, but I kind of agree with that sentiment.

Oh, another book I liked was the one by Kimo Hollinger. It's just a series of (true) vignettes, but he has a great sense of humor. Also, he's Hawaiian so you can get that perspective.

https://www.amazon.com/Kimo-Collection-Short-Stories-Hollinger/dp/0970261837

Two autobiographies  by Surf hero’s from my young Gremmie years are Morning Glass by Mike Doyle, and Transcendental Memories of a Surf Rebel by Mike Hynson. 

Looks like the order of the day for surf lit is biography and nonfiction, with some fiction and its subgenres in the mix.

I see a few mixed reactions to Weisbecker. My own impression is pretty indifferent; Zero's theme almost seems like a heuristic for reading the text itself - not the "end of the road" or the whole life, but only moments of the book are of value along the way. 

Blue Mind by Wallace J. Nichols.

Newer stuff or this from way back 1992? Playing Doc's Games I still remember reading that thinking "I am actually reading the best writing on surfing in of all places the New Yorker Mag (not a surf mag)...LOL..

OH YEAH, I had forgotten about this book. I checked it out of the library so it's not on my bookshelves or I would have - it was very good so now I've ordered the new one .

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[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~Pat Robertson