Dreamseller [Hardcover]

Brandon Novak (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2008

My Dream Life

Deep down inside I knew that by virtue of the life I had been leading, jail was inevitable and a debt long overdue. But the most disheartening part of this ordeal occurred as the police led me into Central Booking. I had a clear view of the nearby skate park called the Brooklyn Banks, a famous skate spot that I had been shredding since I was eight years old. I could almost see a young version of myself, laughing with my friends, learning new tricks, skating under the warm evening sun.

"As a skateboarder, I was fixated on testing my boundaries, but this was my way of fooling myself into feeling in control. Soon it grew to consume me."

At only twenty-two, Brandon Novak had accomplished more than most people dream of in a lifetime. By the age of fourteen, he had been discovered by legendary skateboarders Tony Hawk and Bucky Lasek, and signed on to skate professionally. By eighteen, he had traveled the world, signed autographs for thousands of fans, won big-time sponsorships, and had his photo plastered all over the skate magazines.

"I was a dreamseller. I sold those who loved me their dream that I was a recovering addict. I gained their trust, and betrayed them in order to get my precious next fix."

Yet as swiftly as his career peaked, it crashed, brought down by heroine, a force far more powerful than his greatest ambitions. One day he had it all, the next he was living in an abandoned garage, begging for spare change on the street and bathing in gas station restrooms. Brandon now lived for one thing only his next fix.

"Where once I had the world in my hand, I now had nothing but a distorted, twisted version of what I had once been."

Brandon probably would have died a junkie's death if not for his closest friend, MTV and Jackass star, and music video director Bam Margera, who refused to give up on the dreamseller. Bam invited Brandon into his home and gave him cameos in the CKY videos, his independent films Haggard and Minghags, his hit MTV shows Viva La Bam and Bam's Unholy Union, and the hit films Jackass Number Two and Jackass 2.5. Eventually, Bam convinced Brandon to write the powerful and shocking story of how his addiction destroyed his skateboarding career a story soon to be a major motion picture starring Bam Margera as Brandon Novak, the Dreamseller.

Vivid, harrowing and heartfelt, Brandon s story is a riveting and unforgettable journey from a dream life to a nightmare existence, and ultimately to waking up before it's too late.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

As a teen, Novak joined the premiere skateboarding team and toured the world. Unfortunately, he also indulged in "recreational" drug use that led to debilitating heroin addiction and the abandonment of his career. Eventually repudiating the abject life of a junkie, he entered rehab and subsequently recovered with the help of fellow star skateboarder Bam Margera. This would be most powerful for an audience weaned on the X-Games; also a forthcoming film of the same name.—Lynne Maxwell
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Pro skateboarder loses everything to drugs, sees little light at the end of the tunnel afterward.Readers will learn more about Novak's impressive skateboarding career in the '90s by reading Tony Hawk's foreword than by reading the book itself. This is an addiction memoir, and the genre's format is by now practically set in stone: modern-day opener into which rude reality intrudes, then flashback to start of life of addiction, leading up to getting clean and ultimately vindication. While Novak and co-author Frantz don't stint on the stock scenarios, they break the mold by not pretending that a junkie's chaotic life can or should be represented in such a cut-and-dried fashion. Novak begins on August 11, 2003: "I am a twenty-five-year-old junkie, sleeping in an abandoned garage in one of the worst parts of Baltimore City." By the end of that day, he has hustled money from his mother, stolen furniture and turned a trick with a man twice his age to get his fix. The narrative settles into a rhythm after the recidivist Novak is checked into detox by a sponsor of nearly limitless patience. Following that, his account only occasionally darts backward into a happier youth, when he was touring the world as part of the famous Powell Peralta team, skating with the likes of Hawk, Buck Lasek and Steve Caballero. He served as a courier for a dealer while still on the team and crawled into the depths from there. The story of his inveterate addiction is only competently delivered, with Novak and Frantz providing reams of unnatural-sounding dialogue for the totemic figures - understanding counselor, abused mother, tough guardian-angel fellow junkie - who try to halt his slide into self-destruction. The book's saving grace is the conclusion, which rejects the easy self-congratulation of too many addiction memoirs in favor of a closing memento mori.Dutifully constructed and sometimes surprising, but only occasionally insightful. (Kirkus Reviews) --Kirkus Reviews

As a teen, Novak joined the premiere skateboarding team and toured the world. Unfortunately, he also indulged in "recreational" drug use that led to debilitating heroin addiction and the abandonment of his career. Eventually repudiating the abject life of a junkie, he entered rehab and subsequently recovered with the help of fellow star skateboarder Bam Margera. This would be most powerful for an audience weaned on the X-Games; also a forthcoming film of the same name. --Library Journal

Product Details

• Hardcover: 276 pages
• Publisher: Citadel Press (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806530030
• ISBN-13: 978-0806530031
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #582,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #44 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Individual Sports > Skateboarding

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Overall an interesting read, but not the whole story., October 13, 2008

By 

K Smith - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dreamseller (Hardcover)

Overall this was a great read, and thank god this wasn't another 'junkie chic' book pretending to warn of the pitfalls of drugs while bragging about the all the 'awesome' things the author's done despite/while on drugs. Novak's not afraid to get into the ugly, gritty details of being a drug addict and the desperate things he did as an addict - I defy anyone to not have their jaw drop at least once when they read this book.

Considering that after the early promise Novak showed as a skateboarder, he ended up famous essentially for being part of Bam Margera's crew, it's really interesting to read this book and get a better grasp of what Novak is like as a person and not just as an extension of Bam. (Although I have to admit, Novak's brief description of Bam and his friendship in the book is the only thing in about ten years that's made me feel sorry for Bam. It's an eye-opener.)

Having listened to Novak on the radio his voice really comes through in the writing - you can tell in certain places things are phrased exactly as he speaks in real life, so the book doesn't appear to have been overly ghost-written by his co-writer. In writing, he seems to have more intelligence (although that could be Frantz's contribution) than comes across from his radio/tv appearances.

My only complaint about this book is that those with more than a passing familiarity with his life know there is a *lot* missing from this book - it's essentially a collection of stories about his journey from skateboarder to junkie to rehab to ...(I won't spoil the end) - we're not getting the whole story. His father, for one, who he has cited as a huge influence over how his life ended up is completely missing in the text (for legal reasons, I assume). The book feels a little disjointed - partly from the way it was written (swapping back and forward between different times and leaving some fairly key parts of his life out), and partly because Novak kind of writes like an outsider looking in on his life - he seems to lack insight in a lot of passages. (I assume he was writing them from the perspective he had when he was on dope, but it would be interesting for him to have said if he still has the same perspective when he's clean).

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Drugs are not worth doing., January 13, 2009

By 

Los Muertos Mariachi "Mariachi" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dreamseller (Hardcover)

Brandon Novak is a former professional skateboarder that had a bright future filled with promise and success. Growing up Brandon had all the natural talent to become one of the greats but he threw it all away for greed and drugs. I am a former heroin addict and I can tell you I've heard many stories similar to Brandon's. This book is well written and very witty but it does lack a lot of the story it's almost as if Brandon wrote the story but not entirely the truth or the whole story.

Novak gives some gritty details about being a junkie that you would mostly expect from a drug memoir. The self loathing and deprecating acts that one will do to get the next fix. He speaks of the lonely streets and the once loving family that has nothing to do with him. What you mostly learn is that like most addicts Brandon Novak is a selfish person. Brandon's life follows the predictable patterns of most junkies which entails a string of rehabs and string of rap sheets but that's all part of the experience of those that choose this life. The one thing you have to give him credit for is the fact that he doesn't ask anyone to look up to him and he doesn't expect any praise.

If you're looking for a whole lot on Bam's crew and how Novak fits in you won't really find it here. What you will learn is that behind the scenes Bam has a loving family and they all care about Brandon but when the cameras are on Novak is always the punch line. Bam wants to help Brandon to get clean but Brandon is basically kept around for amusement value as the loveable f-up that everyone likes to keep around to make them feel better about themselves. This book for me really fell short on what's most important which is someone bettering themselves from addiction. There really is no moral to the story in this book. It's a bunch of stories strung together punctuated by a couple of praises to the lord and then it ends. If you are looking for absolution or bright spot at the end of this book you won't find it but if you want a book that shows you how bad you shouldn't want to do drugs then read this. Brandon Novak is not someone to be admired but in the end he is someone that you can learn from.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Read it all in one sitting, December 21, 2010

By 

Love Lee (Coloradah) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dreamseller (Paperback)

Novak's story really grabs you. There are no points in the book that, in my mind, stand out as boring or dull. I didn't stop reading from the moment I opened the book until I was finished.

As a frequent listener of Bam's radio show, I know a LOT about Brandon Novak. I found him one of the more interesting characters on the show and this book was one of the few insights into his life. Most of the book is really in his voice. I can almost see where he picked up a thesaurus to find more intelligent sounding words, too. Haha. I got to read many of the random stories I heard on the radio and see where they happened in his life.

One thing that really stands out in my head is a scene where he talked to a counselor in rehab. He basically states his resume of movies and shows that he had very minor roles in. Many of which should have come out AFTER he was released from rehab. This lead to a confusion about the order of events in the book and then a greater confusion of what point in his life I was reading about.

Overall, this is a book that will keep you interested from start to finish. Brandon has really experienced a life that really seems like a story. I'm looking forward to hearing him back on the radio when he gets out of prison in nine months.