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Summary: What a beautiful piece of writing!
Review: I am not a surfer, I probably never will be a surfer. But this book captured me, not because it's about surfing, but because it's about one person's attempt to feel, experience, and then communicate his total communion with a rare piece of our Earth --- the Pacific Coast of California where the waves wash up on the Point. It's nature writing at its most profound....an attempt to take one little piece of the globe and get across what it's all about. I read this, wierdly enough, while camping at Tahoe, and it transformed my whole camping experience,as I tried to appreciate and then replicate the detailed beauty of view Duane brought to the Santa Cruz coast up in the mountains I was wandering, and then tried to feel hiking/tramping/backpacking the way he obviously feels surfing. Read it to appreciate surfing, to learn the ocean,to feel a piece of real peace. Sweet stuff!
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Summary: Great Read !!!1
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. In fact, I could not put it down once I started. Duane is an excellent writer & really gives you the feeling that you are spending each day surfing with him at his spots along the CA. coast. He captures the solitude that all surfers crave...but can't explain to others.
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Summary: A review by a surfer for other surfers
Review: I have just finished Caught Inside and I must say, this is pretty thin. I have been surfing the California coast for twenty two years in and around Santa Cruz and I haven't seen a fraction of the things that Mr. Duane has claimed to have seen. I think what we have here is someone who invested a year of his life surfing and still didn't have enough interesting material to put together much more than the same stories we all have about good days and bad in the water. In order to stretch his content he did some research and came up with some really good material about the history of the California coast, weather and wave dynamics and local flora and fauna. The rest seems pretty fictional with implausible conversations which occur while surfing breaking waves, stereotypical depictions of locals and main characters, forced wannabe guru-ism and a hyper alertness that notices and relates every detail of earth, sea, wind, plant and animal.
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Summary: Lyrical prose about a place and an obsession
Review: Have you ever wondered what surfing and spirituality have in common? Have you ever wondered about the devotion or passion someone you know has devoted to this apparently pointless sport? If so, you absolutely must read this book. Its lyrical prose brilliantly evokes the sheer contentment of bobbing up and down in the lineup waiting for the next wave. Not since "Endless Summer" has anyone managed to get across the peace, beauty, and mindless fun of surfing. In addition to being a paean to surfing, it's about a place. A specific spot on the pacific coast south of San Francisco off CA 1.Some waves, a bit of coral, artichoke farms. A place that Duane invests with beauty, character, and meaning. Will it be of any interest to people who don't give two toots about surfing? I suspect so, but can't say for sure. Most of the other reviewers seem to think so (but they might be surfers too). Read it and find out..it's a short book anyway. For what it's worth, I didn't surf when I first read it, but I loved it so much that I soon took up the sport.
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Summary: A glimpse into one mans soul and the depth of his experience
Review: This book offers the side of surfing that no one ever talks about; The "spiritual commune with nature". There is a powerful comradiere one experiences when you are surfing. The power of nature in all its forms can challenge you, but also reminds you of how alive you really are. The No-Cal surfing experience is simply awesome. Daniel Duane has put into words an experience that we all feel in a moment; when the sun is setting, the winds are off-shore, the wildlife is all around you and a beautiful wave, which has travelled for thousands of miles, has come for you. This book reminds us verbally of what we all feel in our heart. Read this book and then go back to where it all began for you...
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Summary: Lyrical, literate, and funny
Review: George Plimpton used to tout his "small ball" theory of sports journalism: the smaller the ball, the better the writing. In his book "Caught Inside," Daniel Duane skilfully demonstrates what happens when the ball shrinks down to nothing and is replaced by a 7-foot piece of fiberglass.But writing about surfing literately and with aplomb doesn't mean boring. There is no fustiness here, no stuffiness or sentimentality. Matter of fact, Duane is profane and funny. Examples: Duane tells wicked stories about Tom Wolfe and his over-hyped "Pumphouse Gang," gives a media-savvy view of the Kato Kaelins of this world, and demonstrates wry humor in describing all surfers' over-attunement to things that go swish in the deeps. Buy it, read it, enjoy it. Duane is a Levi-Strauss of surfers and "Caught Inside" is a loving look inside that taciturn culture -- one that is simultaneously thriving and threatened.
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Summary: great book on surfing
Review: Caught Inside is a great read about surfing and surf "culture", but it only scratches the surface of the beauty and magic of riding waves. Duane does an admirable job of detaling the "lifestyle" of serious surfers, and gives some insight to what surfing is about - no easy task. His writing is lucid and beautiful, romanticizing surfing while addressing the challenges of it. The only critcism I have is Duane's attempt at "de-mystifying" surfing, an effort at which he ultimately fails; words literally defy the magic of water and air and the sensation you get while surfing. Nonetheless its a great read.
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Summary: Not just for surfers, in fact, probably not for surfers
Review: I can't swim, not really anyway. I can doggy paddle, I can float for a little while, I can even go from one side of a pool to the other if I have to (width not length). But after a couple minutes in the water I start to feel this weight on my chest, like the pressure of the entire ocean is pushing on me. Out of breath, I panic and realize the enormity of what surrounds me, the depth beneath me and the power that moves me. Reading Daniel Duane's "Caught Inside: A Surfer's Year on the California Coast" made me feel that way too, minus the panic. Mixing equal parts memoir, trail guide and history lesson Duane concocts a recipe that might not be for everyone and yet for those who have a taste for such things, what he has written will leave you changed. It's about surfing but it's really about being alive and noticing the world around you. It's about understanding the world as both science and art. It's about leaving home and finding something more. If you're looking for cover to cover eloquence in prose it isn't here. If you're looking for a pure surf story it isn't here either. I think that what we have in this book is an honest reflection of a year from a guy that's read some books and seen some movies, a guy who can think about masturbating and physics and pop culture and relationships. The book is full of quietly poignant moments about things like tide pools or teenagers staring at a bottle of beer and if that makes Duane a "wanker" like one fellow Amazon reviewer suggested, I think we should all strive to be wankers too. Anyway, it's been 5 years since I read this book last and yet I find myself thinking about it even now. As one person said to the author about the setting of the sun, it's just not the kind of thing you can look at once and say, "huh, I get it."
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Summary: nice quick read
Review: I had just finished weisbckers In Search of Captain Zero, and he spoke of this book in it, so I figured Id give it a read. It was a wise decision, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Duane plays the whole escapist card in a different fashion then Weisbecker, resulting in an interesting tale of his travels. I didnt really see a general overlying story to the book, but rather duane's anecdotes of his days spend surfing and living did reflect on the whole natural world theme. If anyone in your family doestn surf, I feel like if they read this work, they may better undersatnd the surfer perspective and why we do the thigns we do. Overall well versed book that is worth the price and time to read it.
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Summary: the best book about the surfing lifestyle I've read, but...
Review: Duane gets just about everything right, and that's the problem. He's written the book probably most surfers with any literary ambition (how many is that?!) would like to have written. He's introduced the lifestyle in such a way that, I suspect, most outsiders and certainly the multitude of posers can relate to what he says. And he's reasonably humble, even while being elegant, insightful and graceful. I should admit here that I am jealous. (He also wrote the book I wanted to write about climbing--better, even, than Caught Inside: "Lighting Out: A Vision of California and the Mountains")
I have two basic problems with the book: First, _really_ being a surfer means that one's relationship to the lifestyle/commitment/experience is so personal that anyone else's perspective is inevitably going to grate in a few places. Intensely. (My apologies for the eletism, but I'm also not convinced that one can start so late as Duane and _really_ be a surfer.) Thus, this is likely a much better book for the non-surfer. This leads to me second difficulty--Duane provides a really romantic view of surfing, and, frankly, makes it all sound way too attractive. I don't want more people in the water, and neither, if he's honest, does Duane. One of the reviewers here on amazon closes his review with "For what it's worth, I didn't surf when I first read it, but I loved it so much that I soon took up the sport." For the surfers reading this, 'nuf said.
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