Waterstones The Mutt
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Price: £9.99
Brand: Waterstones
Description: 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. Waterstones The Mutt - shop the best deal online on thebookbug.co.uk
Category: Books
Merchant: Waterstones
Product ID: 9780060556198
Delivery cost: 2.99
ISBN: 9780060556198
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Author: Christoffer Frank
Rating: 5
Review: "The Mutt" is a nickname given to Rodney Mullen as a kid, because of his rugged hair and small dog-like appearance. This is his autobiography, co-written by former pro skater turned writer Sean Mortimer, who helped Tony Hawk with his autobiography "Hawk: Occupation: Skateboarder" a few years earlier. Rodney starts the book off by acknowledging the people who helped him complete it, and with an introduction detailing his feelings during the finals of the 1983 world championship freestyle skateboarding contest. The contest that was supposed to be his retirement from skateboarding, a promise his father made him do. Rodney's father was a successful businessman and a respected dentist, also an intimidating former boxer who served as a bombardier during the Korean War. When he told Rodney skateboarding was just a waste of time and that he should focus on more meaningful activities, that was the law. As long as he lived in his house he'd do what he was told. Rodney's father is a recurring subject in the book, and Rodney's attempts to make peace with him. It deals with serious matters in life; finding a place to belong when you feel like an outcast, even in your chosen profession. It deals with tragedy and self-destructive behavior. But it's also an extreme success story, with Rodney winning contest after contest, inventing countless new tricks, and travelling the world doing demos for the likes of Converse and Swatch. Each chapter gives us more understanding to the genious that is Rodney Mullen. How he grew up in Florida, became sponsored by the biggest skateboard company in the 80's, started his own company which became the biggest in the 90's, making him a multi-millionaire, all while being an introverted insecure freestyler and math geek. Freestyle skateboarding was something (and still is, for that matter) looked down upon by the "cooler" kids, who favored vert (ramp and pool) and street skating. Rodney was the king of freestyle, being virtually unbeatable for a whole decade, before retiring from competition at the dawn of the 90's. I must admit that I'm not an avid reader, but I read this book quicker than any book I've ever read. Every time I picked it up I had a hard time putting it down. Being a skateboarder myself I was already somewhat familiar with Rodney's story. That didn't make it any less enjoyable though, especially since it's written in such a warm and humorus way, often making fun of serious issues. Every other page or so has a picture from his well-documented life, adding flavor to an already amazing book. I'd even say it's the best damn book I've ever read, and would recommend it to anyone who's ever heard of Rodney Mullen, or skateboarding for that matter! 5 out of 5 Franks!
Author: NickW
Rating: 5
Review: The Mutt was one of my skateboarding idols when I started riding in 1987, and this book just shows the dedication and hard bloody work it took him to get where he is today. He got addicted to skateboarding when aged 11, and this book is written with so much humor. If you're a skateboarder, you'll love it. If not, you'll love it anyway, especially if you've always thought of yourself as a bit of an 'outsider' :-)
