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Summary: If I knew 'fabulous' in Spanish . . .
Review: A travelogue with little to no pretention, swimmingly beautiful prose, and an underlying tone of the importance of friendship, freedom, and self-understanding, this book touches all the important parts of the soul. But it's light, and funny, and introspective, and I cant say enough about it. i don't want to say too much about it. Read it, love it, and go be inspired. It's a perspective changer - nothing less.
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Summary: "A journey into the very soul of surfing itself..."
Review: All surfers sometimes have to just hit the road and head seawards whether there's waves waiting or not, but writer and veteran surfer Allan C Weisbecker did it big time. He left Long Island and headed South with his camper van, dog, and surfboards via Baja for Central America, in search of many things but in particular for his surfing buddy Christopher with whom he lost all contact in 1992. His book "In Search of Captain Zero" is not simply a travelogue of rutted coastal tracks and isolated Pacific breaks, but a journey into his past, his soul, and by definition into the very soul of surfing itself. Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" springs to mind - a brooding primal lawlessness pervades his travels on land and sea. It is a wild frontier that Weisbecker knows all too well, as he and Christopher subsidised their 1970's Endless Summer dream by smuggling Columbian marijuana into the USA. Shameful no doubt to some, but this double-edged tale of how they pursued their surfing obsession at almost any cost raises some interesting questions. Given the time, the place, the era, the dream, the substance and the opportunity, the moral boundaries became confused. How many times have surfers used drug cliches to describe the thrill of catching a clean wave? Did Weisbecker simply take that crossover mindset to a logical conclusion all of his own? With neither apology nor sermon he lays his chosen lifestyle bare in his writings so that others may judge, and perhaps learn.This book is rich with unique anecdotes and imagery that could only be related by a dedicated and consummate waterman. His shortboard pioneering days on the North Shore, the life changing '69 swell, Mike Stewart's Pacific-spanning pursuit of a wave, Jock Sutherland's North Shore night ride, his thoughts on longboarding versus shortboarding, and the the lethal paranoid farce of pot running on the high seas in sundry leaking rustbuckets all spring to mind. The core of this story however is Weisbecker's search through 6 countries for Christopher and the past he so clearly misses. It is a tale of true friendship and of his dedication to rekindling a flame that seemed in danger of flickering out. And what exactly does he find at the town at the end of the road? Did Christopher get to live the dream they risked so much for in their youth? To reveal any more would be to spoil the experience of reading this book, but I will say this - he finds a wave. In short, Captain Zero is superbly crafted and highly recommended reading - buy it now and you won't regret it. Allan Weisbecker is a by any definition a gifted writer and this story has the strength and depth to stand tall beyond the rarified confines of a surfer audience. His first novel Cosmic Banditos is already on its way to the big screen - I can only hope that Captain Zero will follow soon. ...
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Summary: Not just for surfers...
Review: Being a huge fan of A.C. Weisbecker's first book, 'COSMIC BANDITOS' I was thrilled to hear that he had written a second book, and it doesn't disappoint. 'IN SEARCH OF CAPTAIN ZERO' manages to be an adventure (the search for his lost friend Christopher), a memoir (Weisbecker reflects back on his life as a marijuana smuggler) and a surfer's travelogue (as he describes the rush of a perfect wave and why he has forsaken a 'normal' life to live with the sea [which just may be the same thing]). The fact that Weisbecker is able to juggle all of these elements in one book speaks to his ability as a writer. He literally crafts his tales. As I read the book I would marvel at his choice of words. Choices that would take regular sentences and make them so much more. More funny, or more sad, or more clever... Just more interesting really. In the end it's about a man's search for meaning in his life, a man who questions the choices he has made and reflects upon why he made them. These are the same questions I ask myself every day. Read 'IN SEARCH OF CAPTAIN ZERO' you may find that you are on a similar journey.
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Summary: More than the sum of its parts
Review: First let me say that I have never surfed, and other than watching Point Break, am ignorant of surfing culture. Likewise, I have never journeyed south of the border, and I certainly never was an international drug smuggler (though I have been known to inhale). That said, Mr. Weisbecker's writing put me right there, and made me feel that I was participating in these adventures. He vividly and viscerally described surfing to the point that I felt the rush, and almost tasted salt water. His recreation of a sense of place when describing Mexico and Central America reminded me of Mark Twain's best travel writing. And his recolections of his outrageous adventures in his youthful bandito smuggling days made me cry from laughing.(Even if these tales are exagerated, as well they may be, only someone who knows what he is talking about could exagerate so effectively.)
Beyond all the surfing, adventuring on the edge, and bandito hilarity, this book has a strong undercurrent of melancholy, a deep sadness that adds depth and realism to this rollicking adventure. Someone has complained that this book is just about a self indulgent mid-life crisis. The author himself has admitted as much in his book. Yet the emotions and circumstances that bring a man to what we have chosen to call "mid-life crisis" are real, and nearly universal. Weibecker's genius is in the brutal honesty in which he communicates his own ambiguous emotional turmoil. Past a certain age, we all must find a way to live with the choices that we have made, and the bridges that we have burned, and that, at its core, is the heart of this book.
In Search of Captain Zero is engrossing, envigerating, hilarious, and sad. It is a swift read, and I was sorry when it was over. All in all, it is more than the sum of its parts, and I highly recommend it.
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Summary: Kerouac goes for a surf
Review: First off, you don't have to be a surfer to enjoy this book. It's a well written account of a man looking for answers to life, a friend, some adventure, and some good secluded surf spots. The story will bring you out to the line up where you will experience first hand how beautiful and moving something as simple as being propelled by a wave on a surfboard is. It is more than just a surf book however, it is a document of a life lived on the road and on the sea, for better and sometimes for worse. A definite must read for anyone that loves travel, adventure and a good sea story or two.
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Summary: Great book of a killer surf trip...READ THIS BOOK
Review: I am speaking as a fellow surfer and I have read a ton of surf novels and stories. This one is very good and is a documentation of a true Surfer's journey to South America. I have 2 buddies that I have surfed with since I was a kid and we still surf together (17 years later) and I understand what Allen is talking about. If you surf you will relate to this book like no other and if you don't, you will get an idea of why surfers do what they do whether its in ice cold sharky water or warm tropical dangerous reef water, and you may just pick up the lifestyle...It is based on an actual surf trip so the story is real and is a great adventure as well. Be respectful in the water or get pounded! C-ya
Cenzo
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Summary: talented writer
Review: It's not a deep metaphysical journey or anything; it's just a great anectodal journey from California to Costa Rica in a Ford truck with a camper shell. Good Central American surfing-trip stuff with descriptions of great days on the water. I've driven down to Cabo a few times with my truck (and boards), so I can relate. The flashbacks to the '70's drug-running days are great! I was surfing in Brazil last year and plowed through this book in three days during beach breaks. I highly recommend it. (from: Mike Zinsley, author of "The Rapture of the Deep...")
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Summary: If You've ever been...
Review: The magic of life South of the U.S. border has constantly called me to return since the first time I stepped across the figmented line between "us and the Third World." Weisbecker's book will instill this same yearning in anyone brash enough to open its pages and tag along with the author and his "best friend" on their amazing journey. As with Hemingway's stunning imagery of Spain in The Endless Summer, Weisbecker paints a Central America and Mexico so authentic you will be beckoned to quench your curiousity with a visit of your own. Read this book and get back to Roots. Pura Vida!
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Summary: If You've ever been...
Review: The magic of life South of the U.S. border has constantly called me to return since the first time I stepped across the figmented line between "us and the Third World." Weisbecker's book will instill this same yearning in anyone brash enough to open its pages and tag along with the author and his "best friend" on their amazing journey. As with Hemingway's stunning imagery of Spain in The Endless Summer, Weisbecker paints a Central America and Mexico so authentic you will be beckoned to quench your curiousity with a visit of your own. Read this book and get back to Roots. Pura Vida!
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Summary: Would you buy a condo from this man?
Review: This book is a lot of fun and a great read. You get to hear about the author's wild adventures traveling, surfing and smuggling. Some of the adventures strain credibility but, even if fiction, they are amusing. What is more amusing, however, is after 328 pages of regaling you with how he smuggled dope, couldn't develop a mature relationship with his girlfriend, abandoned his elderly parents, and was to too lazy to help his cokehead "best friend", the author directs you to his web site where he tries to sell you beach front property in Costa Rica. You can trust him, he points out, because Sean Penn will be playing him in the movie.
This guy is funny alright, but his best jokes are not in the book.
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