Skip to content

ReactDOM

Search
Close this search box.

Best Skateboarding Books 2024

Best Books on Skateboarding 2021

’93 til: A Photographic Journey Through Skateboarding in the 1990s

Sale
'93 til: A Photographic Journey Through Skateboarding in the 1990s
  • Hardcover Book
  • Thompson, Pete (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)

With this year’s 2021 Summer Olympics hosted in Tokyo, Japan, skateboarding will make its Olympic debut; augmenting both park and street competitions for men and women. As this book is a culmination and photographic collection of the past three decade’s growth of skateboarding throughout the US focusing in on the pivotal decade of the 1990s, the addition of this sport in the summer’s upcoming games is of considerable relevance to the skateboarding pioneers featured in this work.

To be a skateboarder today is a much different experience than it was for much of the 1990s. The photographs, quotes, and anecdotal text in ’93 til captures a time in skateboarding when making a livable income as a professional skater was a rare luxury and public understanding of skateboarding was at an all-time low. It was a time when skateboarding was searching for an identity, a time before Instagram and big corporate influences. Street skating was coming of age, testing its limitations and aligning itself with a new and innovative style of hip-hop culture that was emerging. Looking back, many skaters today feel as though the ’90s were the golden years of skateboarding.

’93 til is a captivating portal into a decade and a culture that is remembered with warmth and nostalgia. Much of the photography that Pete has unearthed for ’93 til was buried in boxes for close to two decades and has never been seen or published before. The 230-page book also contains several timeless images from his years shooting for SLAP and Transworld Skateboarding Magazine that will be familiar to the initiated. In addition to his stunning action shots are plenty of portraits and unguarded, candid moments that span from the late ’80s up through 2004. The book reveals a raw, unapologetic perspective of a world that no longer exists.

Also included in the book alongside Pete’s imagery are quotes and anecdotes from legends like Tony Hawk, Arto Saari, Jamie Thomas, Guy Mariano, Nyjah Huston, Geoff Rowley, Stevie Williams and others. Although still a working photographer, Pete moved on from his career in skate photography in 2004 and is currently living in Brooklyn.

Tony Hawk: Professional Skateboarder

Tony Hawk: Professional Skateboarder
  • Age Range 10 up Skateboarder. In the 1999 X Games Skateboarding First 900 Degree Arial Turn
  • Hawk, Tony (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)

In this young adult autobiography, Tony Hawk shares the stories from his life that have helped him become a skateboarding hero.

Hawk speaks of being a super-competitive ′demon′ child who found peace while on a skateboard. Classmates teased him because of his interest in an ′uncool′ sport. Instead of retaliating with violence, he practised even more. With his story, he will inspire a younger generation of fans to stand up for what they believe in and follow their dreams.

DogTown: The Legend of the Z-Boys

Sale
DogTown: The Legend of the Z-Boys
  • Hardcover Book
  • Friedman, Glen E. (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)

In the early 1970s, the sport of skateboarding had so waned from its popularity in the 1960s that it was virtually nonexistent. In the DogTown area of west Los Angeles, a group of young surfers known as the Zephyr Team (Z-Boys) was experimenting with new and radical moves and styles in the water, which they translated to the street. When competition skateboarding returned in 1975, the Z-Boys turned the skating world on its head.DogTown: The Legend of the Z-Boys is a truly fascinating case study of how an underground sport ascended in the world. These are the stories and images of a time that not only inspired a generation but changed the face of the sport forever.

This volume has been described as “the DogTown textbook” and an indispensable companion piece to the Sony Pictures Classics filmDogtown and Z-Boys. Now spanning 1975–1985 and beyond, the first section of the book includes the best of the DogTown articles written and photographed by C.R. Stecyk III as they originally appeared inSkateBoarder Magazine. The second half compiles hundreds of skate images from the archives of Glen E. Friedman–many of which appear in the movie. (Stecyk and Friedman acted as executive producers and advisors for the film.)

The Skateboard Art of Jim Phillips

Sale
The Skateboard Art of Jim Phillips
  • Used Book in Good Condition
  • Phillips, Jim (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)

This retropspective on Jim’s skateboard art bobards the reader wtih colorful skateboard decks, logos, ad art, ad layouts, photos and stickers to illustrate the history of skateboarding from the urethane revolution up to the present. You are invited for a ride, an inside view of Phillips Studios, to observe the wacky world of his crazed studio artists, and examine their graphic assignments. The story traces the roots of skateboarding with more than a half-century of Phillips’ involvement. It provides insight into the creative evolution of the sport and the worldwide interest and influence that has occurred from this California artist.

The Mutt: How to Skateboard and Not Kill Yourself

Sale
The Mutt: How to Skateboard and Not Kill Yourself
  • Mullen, Rodney (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 288 Pages - 08/02/2005 (Publication Date) - It Books (Publisher)

The world–champion freestyle skateboarder and the man who brought the ollie – the trick that revolutionised the sport by taking it from the ground to the air – to street skating shares the history of skateboarding, as he tells the dramatic story of his life.

At the age of 13, Rodney took the freestyle skating world by storm. He won 35 world titles in less than five years. But through it all, his father looked down on his son’s love for skating and pressured him to walk away from the sport and leave behind his fans and status as the most famous skateboarder of his era. After years of stress and conflict, Rodney gave in and promised his father he’d quit for good. But by the time he finally broke free from his suffocating and abusive home life, the popularity of freestyle had waned and given way to vert and street styles. So Rodney picked up his board and started from scratch. With the help of mentor Mike Ternansky, Rodney used his freestyle background to usher in a whole new era of street skating.

Today Rodney is more popular than ever. The videos in his series Rodney Versus Daewon are among the most popular skateboard videos ever produced. He won the 2002 Transworld Skateboarding readers’ choice award for favourite street skater and is the most popular character on the top–selling Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater video games.

The Disposable Skateboard Bible: 10th Anniversary Edition

The Disposable Skateboard Bible: 10th Anniversary Edition
  • The Disposable Skateboard Bible
  • Hardcover Book
  • Cliver, Sean (Author)

Celebrate the 10th anniversary of the greatest skateboard deck compilation with this special print edition of The Disposable Skateboard Bible.

Now in its 10th printing, this book truly has become “the bible” of pre-millennium skateboard decks. The author’s industry insider status 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 Stacy Peralta bring context to the aesthetic mayhem.

The boards within The Disposable Skateboard Bible are broken down by decade: (beginning in 1960) documenting some of the earliest deck designs; through the 70s and the game-changing advent of urethane wheels; the 80s with its ups and downs, big decks and mass-market popularity; finally the graphic chaos of the 90s through the turn of the millennium.

Silver. Skate. Seventies.: (Photography Books, Seventies Coffee Table Book, 70’s Skateboarding Books, Black and White Lifestyle Photography)

Sale
Silver. Skate. Seventies.: (Photography Books, Seventies Coffee Table Book, 70's Skateboarding...
  • Hardcover Book
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 128 Pages - 10/22/2019 (Publication Date) - Chronicle Chroma (Publisher)

In the 1970s, photographer Hugh Holland masterfully captured the burgeoning culture of skateboarding against a sometimes harsh but always sunny Southern California landscape. This never-before-published collection showcases his black-and-white photographs that document young skateboarders sidewalk surfing off Mulholland Drive in concrete drainage ditches and empty swimming pools in a drought-ridden Southern California. From suburban backyard haunts to the asphalt streets that connectedthem, this was the place that inspired the legendary Dogtown and Z-Boys skateboarders. With their requisite bleached-blond hair, tanned bodies, tube socks and Vans, these young outsiders evoke the sometimes reckless but always exhilarating origins of skateboarding lifestyle and culture.

SaleBestseller No. 1
Four Wheels and a Board: The Smithsonian History of Skateboarding
  • Hardcover Book
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 240 Pages - 11/01/2022 (Publication Date) - Smithsonian Books (Publisher)
SaleBestseller No. 2
'93 til: A Photographic Journey Through Skateboarding in the 1990s
  • Hardcover Book
  • Thompson, Pete (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
SaleBestseller No. 3
The Mutt: How to Skateboard and Not Kill Yourself
  • Mullen, Rodney (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 288 Pages - 08/02/2005 (Publication Date) - It Books (Publisher)
SaleBestseller No. 4
Skate the World: Photographing One World of Skateboarding
  • Hardcover Book
  • Mehring, Jonathan (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
Bestseller No. 5
Thank You Skateboarding
  • Roberts III, Ricky (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 74 Pages - 01/31/2020 (Publication Date) - IP (Publisher)
SaleBestseller No. 6
Impossible: Rodney Mullen, Ryan Sheckler, And The Fantastic History Of Skateboarding
  • Louison, Cole (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 304 Pages - 07/19/2011 (Publication Date) - Lyons Press (Publisher)
SaleBestseller No. 7
PUSH: J. Grant Brittain - ‘80s Skateboarding Photography
  • Hardcover Book
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 224 Pages - 11/30/2021 (Publication Date) - Gingko Press Inc. (Publisher)
SaleBestseller No. 8
Skateboard Tricks: Step By Step Instructions & Videos To Help You Land Your Next Trick!
  • Boyd, Jack (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 78 Pages - 02/25/2021 (Publication Date) - Spotlight Media (Publisher)
Bestseller No. 9
Skateboard Design Sketchbook One: An Activity Book for Creative Kids, Teens, and Adults
  • JustSkateJournals (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 100 Pages - 08/17/2019 (Publication Date) - Independently published (Publisher)
Bestseller No. 10
101 Strange But True Skateboarding Facts: Incredible and Surprising Events
  • Brothers, VC (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 110 Pages - 06/08/2023 (Publication Date) - Independently published (Publisher)

© 2023 ReactDOM

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.