Skateboarding is a means of transport, a pastime, a lifestyle, an artful expression, and an ethos. Some even call it a sport. But until now, the scene has lacked an appropriate -- and accessible -- tribute. Scarred for Life is an intimate, you-are-there look into the culture and history of skateboarding, as told through the voices and experiences of those who have dedicated their lives to riding a wooden plank with wheels. Eleven chapters take readers on a wild ride through the evolution (and revolution) of skateboarding -- reaching as far back as the 1950s -- and includes oral histories and terrain reports of the major styles and techniques as they emerged. One hundred dynamic photographs capture skaters doing what they do best in pools and pipes, on hills, ramps, streets, and skateparks. From the early proving grounds of California hills and pools to the chaotic streets of modern New York City, Scarred for Life offers street-level talk and eye-to-eye truth-telling about skateboarders, scars and all.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Despite the subtitle, this homegrown, lowdown book comprises a full-blown history of skateboarding through paradigmatic case studies. Former Santa Barbara Independent reporter Hamm, who has been skateboarding since age six and had a concrete "bowl" in his front yard, begins with a profile of the 55-year-old Bill Coleman and the Northern California scene of the 1960s and '70s and shoots forward from there. Some of the chapters cover favored locales ("Pools," "Pipes," "Ramps," "Streets"), others encapsulate decades, from the '60s to the present. Hamm writes in West Coast border vernacular ("kids became more stoked on learning how to frontside boardslide a hardrail than on smacking an alley-oop body jar on an extension with four feet of vert"), covering everything from the perils of taking a 40 mph turn on wet pavement to the pitfalls of corporate sponsorship. The 100 color and b&w photos, which he has culled from within the skateboarding community, are fetish-magazine hot if you're into it, but may seem somewhat anonymous and repetitive if not. The same could be said for the book as a whole, as beautifully designed and as lovingly pieced together as it is.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Keith David Hamm is a former news reporter for the Santa Barbara Independent and a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times , as well as numerous skateboarding publications. An avid skateboarder for more than twenty years, he l
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Scarred for Life,
By Judi O (Santa Cruz, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Scarred for Life: Eleven Stories About Skateboarders (Paperback)
Finally a skateboard book that did it's research. Amazing photo's and a good read. This is definetly a must have book. It's nice to see skateboarders that have been true to the sport finally get some photo's in print. Skateboarding is a lifestyle to most not just a thing to do because everyones doing it. Keith really did his homework. Good job!
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent look at the culture,
By Hammer Head (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Scarred for Life: Eleven Stories About Skateboarders (Paperback)
This book is obviously written by someone who not only knows how to tell a good story, do a good interview, and find interesting people, it's really written by someone who KNOWS what he's talking about and knows how to translate it to others, this is a great book on skateboarding culture. The Jay Adams story alone is worth the price.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Scarred....,
This review is from: Scarred for Life: Eleven Stories About Skateboarders (Paperback)
When I read this book for the first time I thought it was a history of skateboarding type book, but I was wrong. It is a book of stories about the people who made skateboarding history!! Keith Hamm did a great job writing this book. He uncovered info that I had never knew or even thought of. I am waiting for more from Keith Hamm especially about Jay Adams and more pool skateing. Yeah!!! Get a copy and read it for yourself. It is a good edition to a skate library. Team AM approved!!
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Inside This Book
(learn more)
First Sentence:
MILES PER HOUR. Watching the race from turn two, a steep and sweeping ninety-degree left-hander, the fastest section of the course, Coleman had seen the crash coming. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
pool skater, skateboard team, urethane wheels, clay wheels, backyard pools Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
San Jose, New York, Lincoln City, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, San Francisco, Buena Vista, Santa Cruz, Soul Bowl, Dave Duncan, Northern California, Southern California, Berkeley Hills, Gavin O'Brien, Los Olvidados, Mike Swim, Steve Caballero, Charlie Wilkins, Crust Palace, Huntington Beach, New Jersey, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Winchester Skatepark, City Skate New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
MILES PER HOUR. Watching the race from turn two, a steep and sweeping ninety-degree left-hander, the fastest section of the course, Coleman had seen the crash coming. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
pool skater, skateboard team, urethane wheels, clay wheels, backyard pools Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
San Jose, New York, Lincoln City, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, San Francisco, Buena Vista, Santa Cruz, Soul Bowl, Dave Duncan, Northern California, Southern California, Berkeley Hills, Gavin O'Brien, Los Olvidados, Mike Swim, Steve Caballero, Charlie Wilkins, Crust Palace, Huntington Beach, New Jersey, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Winchester Skatepark, City Skate New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 3
books:
1
book
cites this book:
- Out There: The Intimate Story of the longest , loneliest Sailboat Race by George Day on page 35
- The Hard Life on page 70
- All the Way by Paul Little on page 30
- Weirdo Deluxe: The Wild World of Pop Surrealism & Lowbrow Art by Matt Dukes Jordan in Front Matter
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