Structure

Finnegan's book is structured into chapters devoting to surfing trips and experiences that he had at different times of his life. It starts in Honolulu in 1966, where Finnegan's family had moved when he was in eighth grade. There, his love of surfing, which was born in California, developed into an obsession, and he came to know the sport and the city in ways that opened his mind. He then jumps back in time to southern California in 1956, when he was four, to 1966, and he describes his family, his parents' origins, and his early years learning to love the waves. He then devotes a chapter to 1968, when he returned to California and became increasingly distanced from the system and willing to play the role of an outcast surfer.

In the next chapter, Finnegan jumps to Hawaii in 1971, when he had quit college at University of California at Santa...