Rating: 
Summary: Quit Your Job!
Review: The book is excellent - I read it while commuting to work every day on the train. If you've ever surfed or even been out to the Santa Cruz area, you'll certainly relate to Duane's love of the scene out there - the mountains, the ocean, the waves, the beaches and the people. Santa Cruz is a special place, and Duane does an excellent job of capturing the vibe, as well as the "surfer mentality" - no - not the Jeff Spicoli mindset, but the mentality of constant searching - for self... and the perfect wave.
Read it, and much aloha.
Rating: 
Summary: Caught Inside for too Long
Review: Daniel Duane's Caught Inside: A Surfer's Year on the California Coast wonderfully unifies the genres of memoir, travelogue, and nature writing through an infectious tone of optimism. Unfortunately, the reader's optimism may wane due to repetitious descriptions and the lack of a central action, which could have pushed the book forward.
That said, everyone should read the first one hundred pages of Caught Inside. Duane's wonder at the beauty of California's Coast is contagious. He magically describes mountains and mustard fields in a way that is deeply engaging, as if you are surrounded by them yourself. Not since John Steinbeck has an author captured the sense of awe one feels looking at the Pacific Ocean crashing against the base of the Santa Lucia Mountains. However, this goes on and on. Maybe there are only so many ways to describe the ocean and how surfers drop in on waves. Yet the monotony is intermittent. When Duane explains the history of surfing or introduces one of the characters he surfs with, the book picks up steam.
With Caught Inside, it's just a matter of how long you can wait until you get to the next engaging paragraph. Kind of like surfing. There's only so many waves you can catch in between sets.
Rating:
Summary: Not a surfer's book!
Review: I'm a surfer. At least I call myself a surfer.
But I started late - taking it up not long after turning 30.
Before this, I did (and still do) many other things.
I have to admit, that passing this book onto surfer friends has brought me to the conclusion that this book is not really for your typical surfer.
Don't get me wrong - I love this book. Duane's writing is brilliant - literary, wistful, romantic, imaginative - excellent.
But, and not to put too fine a point on it - many surfers are not your literate types. This is not to denigrate or look down on them. It just isn't their style.
It is mine. Maybe that's why I'm destined to be a bit of a hack on the waves.
Rating: 
Summary: A review by a surfer for other surfers
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.
Rating:
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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