Product Description

With the release of Disposable - A History of Skateboard Art in 2004, author Sean Cliver made a brilliant attempt at artfully cataloging every important skateboard deck ever released. In the process, he created a classic, but was left feeling less than satisfied. Ever the completist, the gaping omissions in the first book gnawed at him and drove him to envision compiling the ultimate encyclopedia of Skateboard decks. While Disposable was beautiful, capturing the essence of the aesthetic, The Disposable Skateboard Bible sets out to be the ultimate guide. The author's industry insider status (mesmerized by his first visit to a skate shop in 1986 he went all out and in 1989, landed his first job as a designer at Powell-Peralta) allows him to guide readers through the culture and experience, the art and the mania of the skate world with authority and expertise. While the boards take center stage, fascinating vignettes and recollections by an A-list of skateboarding personalities from Tony Hawk to Mike Vallely, Mark Gonzales to Mark "Gator" Rogowski, Steve Caballero to Stacy Peralta and more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9954 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 368 pages

Review
This may put me on both sides of the wrong age too old to today's generation and too young to the skaters of the 80s but as a seven-year-old runt in 1987, I would travel down to Milwaukee's Turf Skatepark with my mom and my older brother, Than, and split time watching him do scratcher grinds in the ice-slick deep bowl or slamming around a joystick while attempting to out-run bees in the video game 720º;. All I did was kneeboard then, but I liked the smell of the Turf lobby and would spend a good deal of time admiring the fluorescent wheels, board graphics - namely, the Tony Hawk Powell-Peralta Bird Skull graphic - or the griptape art (Even the pre-cut Nash circular saw grip design seemed awesome to me at the time).

When I finally started skateboarding in 1995, the first mid nineties memory that comes to mind is the girl who modeled for Teabag clothing. She was gorgeous in a way reserved only for a boy on the verge of pubescence and she graced the pages of Big Brother magazine, where Sean Cliver worked.

I didn't take much notice at the time, but when Sean Cliver wrote Disposable: A History of Skateboard Art in 2005, it brought a lot of my memories back, not just from the perfect storm that was Big Brother, but of those years at the Turf all those memories that each wheel, board graphic or piece of torn griptape held. Now, I am not and probably never will be a skateboard collector, but his most recent follow-up book, The Disposable Skateboard Bible broadens the years of nostalgia and is an amazing read for anyone who holds their greatest memories in the very thing they have spent their life destroying. It's out now and is available through Gingko Press or Amazon.com . --ESPN.com

Customer Reviews

It's more than a bible!
Having had the opportunity to work with Sean Cliver during his time at Powell Peralta Skateboards, and thus through our shared experiences discover his passion for what he does; that passion and his abilities are reflected by the depth and breadth of this book. This book will have a life of its own, now, and people's lives and their skate deck collections, and the skateboards they didn't save, will all be affected. Skateboarding may not be for everyone, but this book could be. Put it on your gift list for everyone you know, they'll thank you because they'll be amazed.

WOW.
To think I almost passed on this book.

I have Disposable, which I also think is first-rate. I was hesitant to buy this one, because I wasn't sure how much of that book's contents would be duplicated here.

As someone who started out on steel wheels, rode many miles on clay wheels, and was still young enough to enjoy the urethane revolution of the 70's, I was pleasantly surprised to see photo after photo of those early boards in Sean's new book. While the first book concentrated on skateboard art, which took off in the eighties, this book takes you back to skateboarding's infancy and brings you all the way through to the new mellenium. After that...well, to quote Sean: "I'd planned on a section devoted to boards Post-2000, but I simply ran out of room. Oh well!"

This book really is "The Skateboard Bible."

Missing memories
I bought this book after picking up a copy of Concrete Wave magazine. There was an interview for the author and a few photos from the book which I found very interesting.

When I started skateboarding it was in 1986, and at the height of popularity in my area. Every shop was covered with neon deck designs and day glo plastic parts for sale. I don't remember many (if any) wheels that were natural colored white, everything was bright and loud. Every company stood out, there was no mistake for a Vision board or a G&S, you could even tell the difference from the shapes alone.

I never actually had a board from these years, my parents bought me a generic board while my friends all had the skate shop specials. So all I could do is read the Transworld and Thrasher magazines at the super market.

Years later, I wanted to buy a reissue board and while searching around I knew there was a few favorites that were missing. The reissue market is mostly Santa Cruz and Powell, with some other brands like a few Vision. After finding this book from reading Concrete Wave, I was amazed at the amount of skateboards I remember and the ones that I didn't.

The book is produced on a nice thick cover and each page is very thick, also there is a bit of distressed look to the pages. Each deck is photographed very clearly, and the range of graphics is amazing, I had no ideas there were so many colors to some of the decks or alternate graphics.

I think the part that really surprised me was how I could remember so many of the boards and who had them. It also kinda of made me realize that how technical skating has gotten really left behind the unique shapes that defined some of the boards. I just recently bought my first longboard and find it's more fun as their shapes and design are fun since it's different from each other.

In closing, if you have any interest in skating history or just interested in the graphics, or even wanting to create your own custom skateboard, this is a great resource. The book covers from the beginning of skateboarding, to about 2007.

BTW my favorite skateboard?

The Schmitt Stick John Lucreo from 1987.