All for a Few Perfect Waves

There will never be another surfer like Miki Da Cat Dora. All for a Few Perfect Waves is the story of Miki Da Cat Dora, the dashing and enigmatic rebel who, for twenty years, was the king of Malibu surfers. He dominated the waves, ruled his peers' imaginations, and--to this day--inspires the fantasies of decades of Dora wannabes who began to swarm his pristine paradise after the movie Gidget helped surfing explode into the mainstream and changed it forever--many say for the worse. Disenchanted, Dora railed against the ruination; angry that the waves were no longer his own, he fought back--or found better things to do. Dora was also an avid sportsman, raconteur, philosopher, traveler--and scam artist of wide repute. When, in 1973, he finally ran afoul of the law, he soon abandoned America and led the FBI and Interpol on a seven-year chase around the globe. At the same time, he never gave up searching for (and occasionally finding) the empty waves and spirit of the Malibu he'd lost. From homes in New Zealand to South Africa to France, he continued to personify the rebel heart of surfing and has been widely acknowledged as the most relentlessly committed surfer of all time. The New York Times named him the most renegade spirit the sport has yet to produce. Vanity Fair called him a dark prince of the beach. The Times (London) wrote, A hero to a generation of beach bums. He was tanned . . . good-looking . . . trouble. To capture Dora's never-before-told story, David Rensin spent four years interviewing more than three hundred of Dora's friends, enemies, family members, lovers, and peers--none of whom would previously talk in depth about him--to uncover the truth about surfing's most outrageous practitioner, charismatic prince, chief antihero, committed loner, and enduring mystery. The result is a riveting and living portrait of an uncommon character whose unique influence on surfing has never waned, and who became what most can never be: a legend in his own time.

Review :
.".. a candid portrait... This book isn't just about surfing; it's about risking it all for complete personal freedom."--Playboy " In times like these it turns out not only is there an oral history of Miki Dora, there must be. Great reportage."--Stephen Gaghan, surfer, screenwriter/director (Traffic, Syriana) "[Rensin's] bio of Miki Dora, the original maverick surfer, gets his story right."--Outside magazine "Above and beyond the call of unearthing the mystery that was Dora...a stunningly comprehensive tome...[an] incomparable body of work which will mess with both your mind and heart, the likes of which may forever set the literary sandbar, and rightfully so."--Eastern Surf Magazine "David Rensin doesn't shy from documenting Dora's multitude of sins--the stealing and swindling, the juvenile pranks, the prison terms--even as he celebrates the man's desire to live of a life of utter, and often utterly irresponsible, freedom."--Los Angeles Magazine "David Rensin has found the perfect subject. You may like Dora. You may hate him. But you will never ever tire of him through the very impressive shine of Rensin's reporting and writing."--Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights "Engrossing... Rensin proves an inexhaustible interviewer, teasing out colorful tales never before set in print."--Men's Vogue "For fifty years, surfing in Southern California has been shrouded in a myth wrapped in an enigma by the name of Miki Dora. Now, we have the facts. A magnificent book."--Kevin Starr, California Librarian Emeritus and professor at University of Southern California "From the depths of hell to flying as high and as free as an eagle - and everything in between - All For a Few Perfect Waves left me laughing and crying at the same time."--Greg Noll, world-renowned big wave rider "In this vivid biography, Rensin takes on a daunting task: to clarify the clouded myth of legendary surfer Miki Dora ... Rensin lets Dora's friends, lovers and rivals tell the story. The result brings a remarkable focus to a man whose greatest accomplishments were written on water."--Publishers Weekly "Miki took to his grave many stories that no one will ever know, but this book will also tell many and give new insight into his life. In the end only a select group knew the real person. I'm not sure I did-but almost."--Kelly Slater, best-known surfer in the world "The most complete portrait of Dora ever painted, but also a solid recounting of surfing's original boom years and a thin, peculiar slice of Americana in the late 1950s and early 60s... All for a Few Perfect Waves is much more than just another day at the beach."--Los Angeles Times Book Review "Until now enigmatic surfer legend Miki Dora's history was written only in water, but David Rensin's primo All for a Few Perfect Waves catches the life of this charismatic renegade."--Vanity Fair "Waves attempts to decode Dora through a near-cacophony of storytellers, ranging from the personal and intimate (ex-lovers and family) to the scurrilous and picaresque (whore-hopping pals, partners in crime)... should close the door on the need for further explorations of Da Cat."--The Surfer's Journal