The Disposable Skateboard Bible [Hardcover]

Sean Cliver (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 24, 2009

With the release of Disposable - A History of Skateboard Art in 2004, author Sean Cliver made a brilliant attempt at artfully cataloging every important skateboard deck ever released. In the process, he created a classic, but was left feeling less than satisfied. Ever the completist, the gaping omissions in the first book gnawed at him and drove him to envision compiling the ultimate encyclopedia of Skateboard decks. While Disposable was beautiful, capturing the essence of the aesthetic, The Disposable Skateboard Bible sets out to be the ultimate guide. The author's industry insider status (mesmerized by his first visit to a skate shop in 1986 he went all out and in 1989, landed his first job as a designer at Powell-Peralta) allows him to guide readers through the culture and experience, the art and the mania of the skate world with authority and expertise. While the boards take center stage, fascinating vignettes and recollections by an A-list of skateboarding personalities from Tony Hawk to Mike Vallely, Mark Gonzales to Mark "Gator" Rogowski, Steve Caballero to Stacy Peralta and more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This may put me on both sides of the wrong age too old to today's generation and too young to the skaters of the 80s but as a seven-year-old runt in 1987, I would travel down to Milwaukee's Turf Skatepark with my mom and my older brother, Than, and split time watching him do scratcher grinds in the ice-slick deep bowl or slamming around a joystick while attempting to out-run bees in the video game 720º;. All I did was kneeboard then, but I liked the smell of the Turf lobby and would spend a good deal of time admiring the fluorescent wheels, board graphics - namely, the Tony Hawk Powell-Peralta Bird Skull graphic - or the griptape art (Even the pre-cut Nash circular saw grip design seemed awesome to me at the time).

When I finally started skateboarding in 1995, the first mid nineties memory that comes to mind is the girl who modeled for Teabag clothing. She was gorgeous in a way reserved only for a boy on the verge of pubescence and she graced the pages of Big Brother magazine, where Sean Cliver worked.

I didn't take much notice at the time, but when Sean Cliver wrote Disposable: A History of Skateboard Art in 2005, it brought a lot of my memories back, not just from the perfect storm that was Big Brother, but of those years at the Turf all those memories that each wheel, board graphic or piece of torn griptape held. Now, I am not and probably never will be a skateboard collector, but his most recent follow-up book, The Disposable Skateboard Bible broadens the years of nostalgia and is an amazing read for anyone who holds their greatest memories in the very thing they have spent their life destroying. It's out now and is available through Gingko Press or Amazon.com . --ESPN.com

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Gingko Press; First edition (July 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584233273
• ISBN-13: 978-1584233275
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 9.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #245,837 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Individual Sports > Skateboarding

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delivers the Goods, August 18, 2006

By 

Joe Copro "Joe Copro" (Southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Disposable: A History of Skateboard Art (Paperback)

This book is excellent in that it has both awesome shots of over 1,000 skateboard decks and then the first hand stories of both the artists and skaters who created and rode them. It takes hours to absorb all the outrageous graphics and even longer to read all the accounts. The thing I really appreciated about this book is with all the different authors contributing and no story was repeated. So many times in similar books the same story is just retold in slightly different words and in this book that never happens. When finished I am left with huge admiration for Sean Cliver's labor of love effort and still can't believe how good the book is.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Missing memories, November 23, 2009

By 

R. Freiberger "robscomputer" (Fremont, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Disposable Skateboard Bible (Hardcover)

I bought this book after picking up a copy of Concrete Wave magazine. There was an interview for the author and a few photos from the book which I found very interesting.

When I started skateboarding it was in 1986, and at the height of popularity in my area. Every shop was covered with neon deck designs and day glo plastic parts for sale. I don't remember many (if any) wheels that were natural colored white, everything was bright and loud. Every company stood out, there was no mistake for a Vision board or a G&S, you could even tell the difference from the shapes alone.

I never actually had a board from these years, my parents bought me a generic board while my friends all had the skate shop specials. So all I could do is read the Transworld and Thrasher magazines at the super market.

Years later, I wanted to buy a reissue board and while searching around I knew there was a few favorites that were missing. The reissue market is mostly Santa Cruz and Powell, with some other brands like a few Vision. After finding this book from reading Concrete Wave, I was amazed at the amount of skateboards I remember and the ones that I didn't.

The book is produced on a nice thick cover and each page is very thick, also there is a bit of distressed look to the pages. Each deck is photographed very clearly, and the range of graphics is amazing, I had no ideas there were so many colors to some of the decks or alternate graphics.

I think the part that really surprised me was how I could remember so many of the boards and who had them. It also kinda of made me realize that how technical skating has gotten really left behind the unique shapes that defined some of the boards. I just recently bought my first longboard and find it's more fun as their shapes and design are fun since it's different from each other.

In closing, if you have any interest in skating history or just interested in the graphics, or even wanting to create your own custom skateboard, this is a great resource. The book covers from the beginning of skateboarding, to about 2007.

BTW my favorite skateboard?

The Schmitt Stick John Lucreo from 1987.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Holy Rollin', February 1, 2010

By 

soldiermedic73 (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Disposable Skateboard Bible (Hardcover)

Very cool fun book. I skated a lot in the late '80s and of and on in the '90s. More recently I bomb hills on a longboard, and my nephew is getting into it. This book is a complete and enjoyable look at practically every deck design one could possibly recall, from the 1950s to now. Well done and could work as a good coffee table book, but understand - there are few actual skater/skate shots, or anything about trucks or wheels. This is an encyclopedia for collectors and lovers of decks and deck art. There are many short essays by skaters and designers with stories that add a lot.