The Glide: Longboarding and The Renaissance of Modern Surfing

By Chris Bystrom

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0958605718
• ISBN13: 9780958605717
• Release Date: July 1998
• Publishers: Chris Bystrom & Racheed J. Safady, Duranbah Press
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Bystrom's love letter to longboarding

A coffee-table type book, in some ways dated, but in other ways a landmark book, celebrating modern longboarding at a point when the stoke for longboarding was at an all time high, this book being published in 1998. It also serves as a memorial of sorts for its editor, the late Chris Bystrom who had been stoking folks for a couple decades with his surfing movies (including the classic "Blazing boards..." series) before becoming editor and publisher of Pacific Longboarder. So there is no doubt that the editor is well-qualified and stoked about the subject matter as anyone could possibly be. Joining forces with some other experienced surfing scribes, including Chris Ahrens and Greg Ambrose, Bystrom gives us a glimpse of state-of-the-art longboarding circa 1998, with brief profiles of 20 top longboarders, in-depth profiles of surfing pioneers Bob Cooper and Pat Current and Peter Troy, alongside reverent profiles of two of the top modern longboarders of the day, Joel Tudor and Bonga Perkins. Added to this is a piece on women surfers, and a chapter each on surfing art, poetry, music and photography. The forward by Glenn Henning is a lengthy philosophical essay that tries to explain longboarding's appeal and how it fits (and doesn't always fit) in the modern surfing world. Naturally, this book is brimming over with color photographs.

You'll want to learn to surf

I'm a relatively new surfer in relation to the legends in this book. However, learning about them and the longboard surf culture has inspired me to hone my own surfing skills. The photography and stories are something to be in awe of for surfers young and old. With only one Longboarding magazine in circulation, this is a great resource for those who want to put faces to the names of longboarding pioneers and it's up and coming stars. This is something that shortboarders, body boarders, and beach-goers alike can appreciate.