Cirrus@Austlit

'​Fully illustrated profiles of Australia's top 12 most legendary surfers.

'The Immortals of Australian Surfing celebrates our greatest ever board-riders. It takes the Immortals concept used elsewhere in sport and applies it to the surfing, choosing the best of the best from over 50 years of the local scene and the world tour.

'Renowned surfing writer Phil Jarratt selects his top 12 riders then delves into the careers of the true greats. Legendary riders selected and profiled include pioneers Midget Farrelly, Nat Young and Layne Beachley; the world champs of the seventies and eighties such as Mark Richards; Tom Carroll and Pam Burridge; to modern era greats Mick Fanning and Stephanie Gilmore.

'The book tells the remarkable stories behind each Immortal's rise to the top and the adversity faced through their careers.' (Publication summary)

'Covering 40 years of surf culture, Australian writer Phil Jarratt rides a wave of nostalgia seamlessly from the 1960s to recent times, from one side of the Pacific to the other, from the cold Southern Ocean to the warm Java Sea, from Bali to Biarritz and many points in between. 

'Jarratt pulls no punches and spares no reputations as he interprets surfing's journey from slightly spooky sidebar cult to billion dollar industry. Written with great affection, these are the reflections of a lifelong surfer whose pursuit of waves has governed his life, been his succour in times of need and has placed him in the middle of many of the most exciting episodes in surfing's history.

'This is a book that will be devoured by all surfers, and appreciated by those who aspire to the lifestyle.In A Life of Brine, Phil spans the innocence of his early days learning to surf in the 1960s on the beautiful Australian coast through the decades of encounters with surfing's greats including Kelly Slater (US), Shane Dorian (Hi), Gerry Lopez (Hi), Rory Russell (Hi), Miki Dora (US), Rell Sunn (Hi), Reno Abellira (Hi), Corky Carroll (US), Jeff Hakman (Hi), and Shaun Tomson (SA) at the world's hottest surfing spots.

'Through wild times in the 70s, 80s and 90s, Phil relates the heady days of drugs and copious alcohol, including a night spent with Hunter S Thompson in San Francisco that did nothing to halt his obsession with excess. Celebrities such as Bill Murray, Jack Johnson, Dan Hicks, Pamela Anderson and Grace Slick all feature in this colourful, excessive life that's always had surfing at its core.' (Publication summary)

'The narrative begins in Hawaii, tracing the renaissance of surfing after decades of missionary prohibition, and the rise of the Waikiki beach boys, as tourism begins to transform the pineapple port of Honolulu. That Summer at Boomerang recreates pre-World War I Australia and tells a tale of its loss of innocence via the story of the charismatic Duke Kahanamoku - Hawaii's best surfer and swimmer, who comes to Australia's shores one summer and picks an average Aussie girl out of the audience to ride his long board with him. When he lifts Isabel onto his shoulders to ride the wave into shore before a packed beach, it's a symbol of the seismic change that is already rippling through the nation as the rules and regulations of the 19th century give way to the anything-goes beach culture of today. The story centres on Sydney, Australia, but moves between Honolulu, Hawaii, Stockholm and the Olympics in 1912, and even California (where the Duke eventually goes in search of a Hollywood film career, followed by Isabel). But many more characters from history people these pages - such as novelist Jack London, and more sporting greats - as one season, one summer, epitomises the end of an era and the birth of a new one.' (Publisher's blurb)