All for a Few Perfect Waves: The Audacious Life and Legend of Rebel Surfer Miki Dora

I'm not a surfer. I've never been on a board and until recently had little interest in surfing at all. I've only known of Dora for a few months but I pre-ordered this book as I knew he was someone worthy of understanding better. The problem with writing a bio on Dora is that he was very private and very complex. Putting together anything that accurately conveys who he was is a monumental task. Was he a legend or a bum? Paranoid self-saboteur or rugged individualist? A guy who never quite got over his glory days at Malibu or mythic icon? Rensin doesn't discriminate or judge. By including all sides of Dora the picture is very complex yet complete - or as complete as it can be. He can't be written off as a self-absorbed con-artist and petty thief. Nor can he be written off as a hero. He was both of these things and much more and the author has done an excellent job of showing this. Nearly all the negative reviews I've read here and elsewhere have been negative about the subject not the writing or the research. Disliking Dora is fine but don't blame writer. Does every bio of Hitler have a 1 star rating? No. Nor should you be knocking this book because Dora was a jerk. And my question for Mr. Rensin: where's the movie? If I'm not mistaken the rights have been sold and I think an A-list actor owns those rights. Any chance of seeing Dora's story on the big screen anytime soon?

I have read many biographies of famous surfers, but this book is my favorite. Miki Dora lived an enigmatic and mysterious life and probably no book could do justice to such a larger-than-life character, but Rensin's book will be hard to top. Filled with classic stories and epic tales, I didn't want the book to end. Whether you hate Dora for being such a jerk, or love him for being the ultimate soul surfer, this book will not disappoint.

A worthwhile read, especially for anyone who grew up with the mythic figure of Miki Dora looming large ('Dora lives' is, at last look, still graffitied on the seawall at Malibu). It is nearly shocking to see that Dora was, in fact, contemporary with the great Phil Edwards, largely because Dora remained relevant for so long -for his image as much as his surfing. Dora was the original poster boy for the rebel surfer, the anti-Gidget, who gathered together all the anti-social impulses of the solitary soul surfer. Keep surfing evil.

David Rensin has written an excellent life story of our old Malibu friend Mickey (as he was then known to us in the late 50's and early 60's). My friend Toni Donovan and I still, to this day, use our favorite Mickey quote: "What are friends for but to use" and David's book certainly makes it clear that Mickey took this adage to heart. I always wondered what happened to him after the mid 60's and now I know his unique life story. Great book from start to finish. Couldn't put it down!

Rensin took on a nearly impossible task- the bio of Miki Dora- and hit it out of the park! As a life long surfer fascinated with Dora, I, like most, have been craving the real story of this surfing icon. Very often, a warts-and-all bio can deflate its subject, but this book makes Miki even more interesting by showing his human frailties. It's an oral history told by the people who knew him, and it's apparent from the start the exhaustive work Rensin must have done to make this book happen. Humorous and tragic at the same time, Dora comes to life through his peers, many of them characters in their own right. I could not put this book down, do yourself a favor and grab a copy.