Caught Inside by Daniel Duane
Reviewed by Sponge on 6/97

General Feel: I liked the book, but for some reason expected a bit more. It’s a good read nonetheless.

The book chronicles Dan’s first year of learning to surf in the Santa Cruz area. Because it’s from beginner’s point of view, the story comes across somewhat fresh and optimistic, vice having a jaded attitude as to how the sport has evolved.

The book focused more on the surfing lifestyle rather than the actual act of riding waves. Dan quickly picked up such subtle topics as weather, lifestyle, localism and even board design.

It’s fairly cerebral for a surfing book. Words like "minutiae", "detritus" and (my fave) "anthropomorphization" were used right alongside "stoke", "kook" and "bitchin’". Bust out your dictionary along with your imagination.

Dan quickly picked up the little details in observing nature around him, especially the avian kind (da birds). A lot of references were made to his mountain climbing experience, although he agrees that surfing stands unique in the sporting world in that participants actually interact with nature’s forces.

Dan also is a bit of a coffee connoisseur. Maybe this is just a Bay area thing? If I ever wrote a book, you can be sure there’d be a lot of plate lunch references.

Does it sound like I’m a bit envious? Damned right! He uses bigger words than I do! Nah. I admire good writing, and Dan is an exceptional storyteller--almost too good for the genre. We all know surfers don’t read. :-)

Amazon Books
Outside Magazine
Salon's Bruce Barcott