Pipe Dreams: A Surfer's Journey

...and ours is Kelly Slater.
In this Biography, the reader is given a glimpse of the life of one of the worlds most unique and impressive individuals in and out of the water. From his formative years growing up in the pre-condo housing boom of Cocoa Beach to the home of friend and renaissance man Jack Johnson on the North Shore. We are delved into the competive psyche of what drives this six time world Champion.
What made this book stand out, was that Kelly unabashadley opens himself up to the reader. Discussing his family issues with his mother and father. As well as personal relationship issues with friends and girlfriends. Add this to his vivid insight on his feelings and descriptions of various tournaments and surf spots around the world and you have a book that truly encompasses the world of Kelly Slater.

It seems as if writing your bio at 31 years old either means that you fear a loss of public stature or you are pitching your ideas.
The Kelly Slater notariety is ultimately used here to pitch a change in surfing's marketing. Additionally, he clarifies how he was able to win those tournaments. Consistency! The other pros would surf good in a couple of contests and then lousy in others.
As one would expect, Kelly goes chronologically from youth to the present in quite a candid series of anecdotes and narrative. Portraying an everyman anti-hero (he talks about how he reacts to things which happen), Kelly shows a human side which any one can relate to. He never begs the reader's applause, yet he brings them into the reality of life, death, and indifference. He openly discusses and admits his shortcomings.
I assume that the the actual text was written by Jason Borte. Style wise, the book is coherent. Frequent black and white picture complement what is said. Frequently, the anecdotes elicit a chuckle. A few occasions of redundancy do exist. On p. 114 a pair of trunks had the words "I don't even care." stenciled on the 'seat of the pants'. A previous pair of pants were refered to as 'ankle length surf trunks'. Not a major problem, but it does speak to choice of words. The end of the book has a listing of Kelly's contest achievements and a couple of "Top Ten/ Favorite" lists much like a teen magazine. He litanizes his thank-yous. This covers the bases of readership. Fellow sportsman and fan alike should enjoy what is said
In the end, this book gives an honest glimpse into the life of a person in transistion much in the way he hopes that professional surfing will continue to be in transition. The reader is left with the impression that Kelly has learned a number of lessons and is more balanced in terms of career and family.

Not only does Pipe Dreams account for the challenging personal life that Kelly Slater had, but it also details the stress and the way that the surf industry works and how the ASP functions as a whole. If you surf for fun, surf to compete, or are just learning, this book lets you see the inside of surfing and what it is really about, not a hollywood rendition. Highly recomend it.

As a novice surfer, and an obsessive one, I am in awe of people like Kelly Slater, and only wish I had grown up close to waves so maybe I could be a quarter of what he has become.

This book was really easy and interesting to read, and the only problem I have with it is that he didn't really touch on how surfing FELT.

I wanted to know...how did it feel, the first time he caught a wave? What is it really like to ride places like Pipe for the first time, or any time, other than scary? What is it like to be inside a barrel...etc etc.

I learned a lot about his competitive nature and his triumphs and shortcomings. The great parts of this book is when he is sharing feelings, not ratings.

Finally picked up this book. If you're a fan of the sport and want insight into who Kelly is and how he's achieved so much (up to 2003), then you'll enjoy this book. Contrary to another reviewer who didn't like the chronological approach to this book, I found it fascinating to go back in time and reflect on reoccurring contests and how the results affected his ever-changing strategies - along with the insights gained through (seemingly uncorrelated) experiences that broke up his annual patterns. I'm his age and have been following the sport about as long as he took hold. So to hear his perspective and accounts of familiar personalities, events and stories was basically a page-turner for me. There are a few laugh out loud moments, and a stalker story that was pretty intense. I was a little demystified by his trajectory after reading his book; yet it also gave me a better appreciation for how he has risen, and the fact that it's actually attainable - especially after he writes his book about how to improve your surfing and competitiveness. I'll bet some of his current competition who've read this book have an edge now because of how much he shared. Finally, It's also a good (cautionary) tale for younger readers about the ups and downs of someone reaching great heights.

Hurricane Bertha is kicking up swell in the middle of the Atlantic. It's already dark and I've just come back from watching about 40 surfers catch waves down at Sebastian inlet. I watched them all finish up their set and catch a final wave while they could still see the bodies of other surfers bobbing in front of them. As I walked back to the parking area along the top of the jetty I looked back into the surf and could barely make out one last guy in the water waiting for his last wave. Since there was only one guy left I fancied that it was Kelly Slater, trying to catch one more before going in. I would like to meet Kelly Slater, the man, the champion, the surfing legend. I just finished reading Pipe Dreams--a Surfer's Journey, a little late since it was published in 2003. Co-written by Slater and Jason Borte a surfer/writer/teacher from Virginia Beach, VA, it's a nice book, with quaint stories about Kelly's journey from grommet to manhood to world champion -- 6 times (the book stopped before his world title career continued). Unfortunately it does not read like the life of a world champion -- it is not a world class biography. It reads more like like it was written for his fan club -- with short anecdotal accounts of his formative years followed by even shorter accounts of the many repetitive competitions required to capture six world tour victories. Since Slater is in the upper stratosphere when it comes to his craft -- where only world class talent belongs -- his book should also have world class appeal -- sadly it does not. I lay the blame at the feet of his co-author and perhaps his editor. I don't know much about surfing, and I probably know even less about surfing after reading Pipe Dreams. This is a shame. Slater hints of a second book where he details some secrets to surfing. This would probably be a better story. That's not to say Slater's story shouldn't have world class appeal -- it has too -- the story just isn't told in this book. Kelly Slater is now an eight-time world champion -- that puts him in extremely rare company, dare I say Lance Armstrong. What you can barely glean from the narrative is that Kelly Slater is a deep introspective person -- hugely complex and sophisticated in his thoughts -- this is readily apparent in his life story yet you do not get this directly from the pages, you must read between the lines and theorize that there is way more to what we are being told -- I hope there is, otherwise Slater has lived a very shallow life. Perhaps a surfer's journey is shallow -- but I doubt it. This book is a must read for all surfers, young and old and at heart, so they can say they've read Slater's book, but it is no better than the the worst written TV shows or movies about surfers it criticizes. When a world class athlete decides to write a book, they have to go with world class help -- please Kelly -- for the sake of your fan's and for the sake of your profession, get some help with the next one. I'll be waiting for that wave. This one gets three stars because I finished it without too much trouble and the awesome cover jacket (which ironically is world class).

I have been a fan of Kelly's since my college roommate from San Diego put a poster of him on her wall in 1991. Since then I have tried to follow his career in whatever way I could. Reading this book I realized that I had such a small and superficial view of him as that cute surfer who, by the way, is also a wold champion. However, now I see not only how he has struggled in and out of the water but how much he has impacted the sport of surfing and helped shape it for the future. I also love the way he talks about his friendships. It is written in such a conversational manner that you almost forget that you are reading a book. Reganbooks has scored another winner in "Pipe Dreams". I am a librarian in NYC now and I want to go out and hand this to kids and tell them to read it.

I didn't know a whole lot about Kelly Slater before this book and now I can't get enough! He is so humble that Pipe Dreams was an enjoyable read. It makes you realize that athletes are not all about big egos and high paying careers. In the general scheme of things, Slater is small potatoes. Surfing is everywhere these days but nowhere. He proves that nice guys do finish first. Kudos to Slater. An excellent read with great photos and a homespun feel!

As a fan of Slater I found the story engaging. The writing is nothing special. It doesn't go into a lot of depth about other aspects of his life beyond competition, but I expect that to have the kind of competitive success that he did, that had to be the sole focus of his life. As he says, he used surfing as a focus to get his mind off of other aspects of his life that were hard, especially when he was growing up. This a document of how a champion achieved his goals. Somehow after reading his story I felt less envious of his life than I did before.

Yeah~ i luv this book-- i like all da pictures :P