Caught Inside: A Surfer’s Year on the California Coast

Tossing aside a mundane and meaningless job, Daniel Duane went to Santa Cruz, California, to surf for year. The book he wrote about it, Caught Inside is something of a Walden of our times. It’s wonderfully written, weaving wave wisdom with literary and historical references. And it’s not for surfers only: even readers who have never seen the surf will find themselves taken up in the book’s rhythms. Duane sought the peace that surfing offers, and his impressions of surfing characters, sea life (otters, seals, and the great white shark everyone fears is right under you as you paddle your board), and the seasons by the sea are evocative and soothing to read.