The best surfers in the world are drawn to Hawai'i to test their strength, courage, and skills on the big waves of O'ahu's Waimea Bay. In Dangerous Fun, Ugo Corte examines how mentors, novices, and peers push one another to their limits and create a community with a unique subculture that nourishes their development. As both a participant and observer, Corte traces how surfers earn a reputation within the field, how their skills progress as innovations in equipment and technique emerge, and how they adjust to aging, modifying their strategies to maximize performance and minimize the chances of failure. Corte argues that fun is a social phenomenon, a pathway to solidarity rooted in the delight in actualizing the self within a supportive group. It is a form of group cohesion achieved through shared participation in risky activities with uncertain outcomes. Dangerous Fun provides an understanding of collective effervescence, emotional energy, and the interaction rituals that lead to fateful moments-moments of decision that, once made, irrevocably transform one's self-conception. Book jacket.