The Most Fun
K.B “I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT I TAKE SKATEBOARDING TOO SERIOUSLY,” KYLE BEACHY WRITES IN THE INTRODUCTION TO HIS
FROM A SKATEBOARD LIFE. THEN, IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH, AS IF TO PROVE THIS POINT, HE CONTINUES, “VIA A LONG SEQUENCE OF QUESTIONS OF SELFHOOD AND PERFORMANCE, ABOUT WATCHING AND COMPREHENDING, I HAVE COME TO THINK THAT THE STYLE SKATEBOARDERS SPEAK OF MIGHT, IN FACT, BE A TOOL FOR UNDERSTANDING WHAT MANKIND USED TO CALL THE SOUL.” AS YOU MAY HAVE GUESSED BY HIS TONE AND VOCABULARY, KYLE BEACHY IS AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT A UNIVERSITY. NOW 41, BEACHY LIVES AND WORKS IN CHICAGO WITH HIS WIFE AND HAS BEEN SKATEBOARDING SINCE HE WAS A KID. HIS ANALYSIS OF SKATEBOARDING— AS A SUBCULTURE TURNED WORLDWIDE CULTURAL COMMODITY—IS BOTH POETIC AND DEEPLY ANALYTICAL. HIS BOOK TAKES THE FORM OF A SERIES OF ESSAYS, SOME OF WHICH HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE, AND WHICH ARE BEST READ IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. BEACHY ANALYSES NYJAH HUSTON’S SKATEBOARDING ALONGSIDE DAVID FOSTER WALLACE’S WRITING ALONGSIDE HIS OWN EXPERIENCES AS A SKATEBOARDER, ULTIMATELY PRESENTING A NEW AND UNIQUELY ACADEMIC VOICE IN SKATEBOARDING. BEACHY IS UNASHAMEDLY DEDICATED TO UNCOVERING SKATEBOARDING’S COMPLEXITIES, WRITING ABOUT OUR SUBCULTURE IN WAYS WE’VE RARELY SEEN BEFORE, WHICH IS REFRESHING. THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXCERPT FROM THE FIRST CHAPTER OF KYLE BEACHY’S BOOK, WHICH IS AVAILABLE THROUGH GRAND CENTRAL PUBLISHING. —NAT KASSEL
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Thing.
NEW BOOK, THE MOST FUN THING: DISPATCHES
