{"product_id":"the-most-fun-thing-dispatches-from-a-skateboard-life-hardcover","title":"The Most Fun Thing: Dispatches from a Skateboard Life - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eKyle Beachy\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNamed a Best Book of the Year by NPR \u003ci\u003e-\u003c\/i\u003e Southwest Review \u003ci\u003e-\u003c\/i\u003e Electric Literature\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePerfect for fans of \u003ci\u003eBarbarian Days\u003c\/i\u003e, this memoir in essays follows one man's decade-long quest to uncover the hidden meaning of skateboarding, and explores how this search led unexpectedly to insights on marriage, love, loss, American invention, and growing old.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn January 2012, creative writing professor and novelist Kyle Beachy published one of his first essays on skate culture, an exploration of how Nike's corporate strategy successfully gutted the once-mighty independent skate shoe market. Beachy has since established himself as skate culture's freshest, most illuminating, at times most controversial voice, writing candidly about the increasingly popular and fast-changing pastime he first picked up as a young boy and has continued to practice well into adulthood. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhat is skateboarding? What does it mean to continue skateboarding after the age of forty, four decades after the kickflip was invented? How does one live authentically as an adult while staying true to a passion cemented in childhood? How does skateboarding shape one's understanding of contemporary American life? Of growing old and getting married? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eContemplating these questions and more, Beachy offers a deep exploration of a pastime--often overlooked, regularly maligned--whose seeming simplicity conceals universal truths. THE MOST FUN THING is both a rich account of a hobby and a collection of the lessons skateboarding has taught Beachy--and what it continues to teach him as he struggles\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eto find space for it as an adult, a professor, and a husband.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eKyle Beachy\u003c\/b\u003e's first novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Slide\u003c\/i\u003e (Dial Press, 2009), won The Chicago Reader's Best Book by a Chicago Author reader's choice award for the year. His short fiction has appeared in journals including \u003ci\u003eFanzine, Pank, Hobart, Juked, The Collagist, 5 Chapters\u003c\/i\u003e, and others.\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eHis writing on skateboarding has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe Point\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe American Reader\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Chicagoan\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFree Skateboard Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e (UK \u0026amp; Europe), \u003ci\u003eThe Skateboard Mag\u003c\/i\u003e (US), \u003ci\u003eJenkem\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eDeadspin, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Classical\u003c\/i\u003e. He teaches at Roosevelt University in Chicago and is a co-host on the skateboarding podcast Vent City with pro skater Ryan Lay and others\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 320\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.2 x 8.1 x 5.4 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 10, 2021\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51768032624928,"sku":"9781538754115","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/bddbce64f75c67a8134636857dffda4c.webp?v=1780323118","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/the-most-fun-thing-dispatches-from-a-skateboard-life-hardcover","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}