{"product_id":"the-most-fun-thing-kyle-beachy-9781538754115","title":"The Most Fun Thing: Dispatches from a Skateboard Life","description":"\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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Kyle Beachy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1538754118\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781538754115\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Grand Central Publishing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/10\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.80lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.10h x 5.40w x 1.20d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/21\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/01\/2021 pg. 12","brand":"Kyle Beachy","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44053204173055,"sku":"9781538754115","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_63a0d6e8-3feb-459b-9256-8fa726b5b628.jpg?v=1685023015","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-most-fun-thing-kyle-beachy-9781538754115","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}