The Most Fun Thing: Dispatches from a Skateboard Life

by Kyle Beachy

Perfect for fans of Barbarian Days, 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.

In 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.

What 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?

Contemplating 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 to find space for it as an adult, a professor, and a husband.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Essays, Sports, Biography, Biography Memoir, Pop Culture

320 pages, Hardcover

Published August 10, 2021

About the author

Kyle Beachy‘s first novel, The Slide (Dial Press, 2009), won The Chicago Reader’s Best Book by a Chicago Author reader’s choice award for the year. His short fiction has appeared in journals including Fanzine, Pank, Hobart, Juked, The Collagist, 5 Chapters, and others.His writing on skateboarding has appeared in The Point, The American Reader, The Chicagoan, Free Skateboard Magazine (UK & Europe), The Skateboard Mag (US), Jenkem, Deadspin, and The Classical. He teaches at Roosevelt University in Chicago and is a co-host on the skateboarding podcast Vent City with pro skater Ryan Lay and others.

Reviews

[Lee Klein · Rating 5 out of 5]

The recently released Tony Hawk doc dredged so many pleasurable late-'80s memories I decided to spend some time with this collection of memoirish essays with skating at its core. Honed language and images throughout. Blood and muck pooling around feet in the shower, nice work shirt stained when a skating scab reopens on a lectern. Intimate one moment, almost reportorial another. Inclusion of DeLillo quotation from End Zone about the specified language of the sport. Worth it for the unexpected chapter on "fun" centered around DFW, including a report of an encounter with the man regarding the sagehen. Seems less about the skateboard than about life, and should appeal to anyone interested in the contemporary essay.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book - and in the end I do… but. I feel like reading this was kind of like watching Kyle try to learn his shove-it off the Picasso: there are real moments of beauty. There’s also a lot of intellectual fumbling & stumbling. He’s also the first writer I’ve read who understands that for so many creatives — skateboarding was one of the only physical outlets that let us be ourselves, express ourselves. He does a wonderful job celebrating that 🤘🏽

[chantel nouseforaname · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone wants to lay waste to the racist, misogynistic, fascist, demagoguery in their industry, no matter what industry, and I’m not mad at it at all! The world of skateboarding and skate journalism isn’t immune. I’m here for it. It creates a more interesting and inclusive space for all. Especially seeing the diversity of people who have taken up skating from young/teen girls to moms out-skating their kids - the lens is broadening.

Now, I’m not a skater, however being a life long thrash-metal fan and Vans (and Cons) aficionado, purely for style and comfort, I’d be remiss to state that I didn’t pay attention, albeit casually, to the culture from a curious sometimes close, sometimes distant, point of view.

The thing that drew me into this book was the cover: the broken board and the intense symbol that it presents. I’m glad I judged this book by its cover because it was really insightful. It covers many hot topics from a skateboarding standpoint.

Author Kyle Beachy doesn't skimp on his love of skating and his love for its shifting dynamics. He loves his industry, he loves his culture and he’s not afraid of discussing the beauty and ugliness of his industry. He’s introspective and reflective and he’s humble. He's also sometimes pedantic, yes.

The Most Fun Thing is a fun book to read and enter into a mental back-and-forth with. Beachy is well-versed and critical when it comes to the threads of racism prevalent in skate culture, he's passionate about racial justice and the importance of making space. He has a lot to say about the importance of building the community and returning the culture of skateboarding back to the youth, back to the people who make it what it is. Kyle Beachy discusses looking towards the new, and how to meaningfully move forward, he doesn't shy away from a lot of ugly white supremacist, harmful anti-LGBTQ bullshit and tomfuckery that some pro-skaters, magazines, and more have engaged in. He talks about how small the community is and how scared those with influence in the community are of their most notable skaters/artists. He shares how that's gotta change and he blows up that quietness and names names and I respect it.

There were some asides and tender moments and moments where he discussed other things such as his future, his marriage, and his life. While some folks may not be into that because they didn't want that memoir aspect, I think that addition, while it unraveled the book a little, was special. I love memoirs tho.

This was a really enjoyable read if you have any part of a passing interest in skateboarding, skate-culture or if you’re looking for something completely random to read. It led me to a couple of pretty awesome skate videos too about some of the culture's biggest names who have passed on but have not been forgotten by the culture: Dylan Rieder and Jeff Grosso.

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't finish. The essay on Nike was pretty interesting, and I foolishly thought the rest of the book would be similar. Alas, it's one of those books unmistakably written by a writing instructor/lover. The book goes all over the place, more often than not far away from skateboarding. And too often talking about the writing process itself. Maybe the tagline, dispatches from a skateboard life, should have made it clear to me, but this book is not about skateboarding. It is about the author, about their nostalgia, and waxing philosophically about who the hell knows what next.

I particularly disliked the David Foster Wallace chapter, it felt very out of place. But I think the truth is that the chapters actually focused on skateboarding are out of place in this memoir.

[Edcallow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes you find a book that feels like it was written specifically, entirely, with you in mind.

I didn’t know I needed a book about skateboarding that quotes Barthes, Sontag, Zadie Smith and Don Delillo. A book that tries to understand skateboarding as a way of seeing, a way of moving, a way of being. A collection of essays which are sharply observational about the physical and mental pains that are part and parcel of devoting your time, energy and shins to a useless wooden toy. For those essays to be put together, like a skateboard video, as a compilation of parts, skits and lifestyle snippets mixed in with the skateboarding. I didn’t know I needed a 50-50 to be described as Knaussgardian.

The Most Fun Thing reads like trying to film a four trick line through a David Foster Wallace essay. It reads like Josh Kalis took a prestigious MFA course. It reads like Rachel Cusk can backside tailslide. It reads like Paul Auster got locked in the Slap message boards for a few years. (That may sound like an insult but I promise that I can offer no higher praise.)

Can this even be something that an audience could be expected to want? A book about skateboarding for literary fiction aficionados. A book about literature for skateboarders. A book ostensibly about skateboarding which is *actually* about love, time, patience, capitalism, stages, art and suffering. Who is this for? Beachy himself grapples with this question throughout, and nowhere moreso than in the Chekovian short story that makes up chapter 30, The Monk’s Posture, in which a woman passionately, academically pontificates on a topic none of her friends can relate to, eventually losing them all to apathy and inattention.

But if skateboarding has gotten its maple, steel and urethane teeth into your bloodstream, if you understand there’s a sincerity at work in play, if you think pursuing desire is worth pain, frustration and heartbreak, then I think this book might be for you.

[Spencer Wait · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not an expert in writing, so it feels wrong to review this book, since much of his style was lost on me. However, I came into this expecting much more content about skateboarding but was given much more about philosophical questions and ideas. The segments about skateboarding, both the writer’s experience and skating’s history, were quite fascinating and captivating. The parts of the book that went on about writing techniques, other authors and their styles, seemingly unrelated (to skateboarding) theories and philosophical ideas, were hard for me to get through. I enjoyed the book as a whole. However, it seems more suited for someone interested in skateboarding but also writing and philosophy, which the latter two aren’t really my cup of tea.

[Ian Thomson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully written compilation of musings on life, love, work, etc, even for someone who isn’t serious about skateboarding. Some sections a little deep in detail with the skate world, but all enjoyable, with teachings to be drawn.
Beachy is an impressive wordsmith, and I’d be happy to read anything coming in the future.

[Bonnie Hardy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like so many writers, Beachy got it wrong. A woman who has no clue about skateboarding…loved this book. Writing through memoir, syntax, and tricks he’s pushed the boarders of what’s possible. I am a fan.

[Kaley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked and cared about this book more than I expected to — I bought it for my brother as a gift, but when he told me he already had a copy, I decided to read it myself. There’s a lot of technical skateboarding talk but a ton more expression of the human experience that makes it still feel tethered to reality for a non-skater. I really enjoy Kyle’s writing and how he’s able to evoke tangible emotion in such short moments in time — making tea for his wife in the wake of a divorce or busting his elbow skating, then walking back home in the rain, bloodied. I put this book down for a while but I’m glad that I came back to it. This was an interesting read that had fun anecdotes and ultimately just felt really fucking human.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the reviews here will say parts of this book are impenetrable if you don't have any skateboarding knowledge or experience, but for me that's part of the appeal. I love reading passionate, thoughtful books about things I have absolutely no experience with. Give me all the unfamiliar terminology and minute details you can! Plus, a lot of this is just about culture and life and the ebbs and flows of both, with skateboarding acting as ever-present undercurrent.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

really enjoyed the essays that braided reflections on skateboarding with personal narrative and literary criticism. i am a sucker for a dfw essay and beachy's skating in the midwest/ pale king piece works.

also loved the essays on Verso and Dylan. that are basically critical analyses of skate parts - maybe this writing exists elsewhere, but this is the first time i've encountered it, and they gave me quite a thrill.

just learned on ig that grand central opted not to give this a paperback release. major party foul!

though the collection is a little uneven and i'd edit out a few of the less rigorous recycled blog chapters, it still rips enough to deserve a softcover run.

[steve oakham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really excited to read this book but the writer made things really difficult.
There were moments of excellence that n this book but there was also a very jumpy narrative throughout the book, where I wasn’t sure if I was reading about skateboarding, learning about the writers complicated and fractured relationship or trying to understand the overly complicated way in which sections of the book were written.
I was left really confused on whether I liked the book or not.

[Gary Sogar · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the first two thirds of the book the author gives us keen insights into skateboarding culture, relationships, and life in general, but mixes in baffling metaphors, obtuse philosophy, and literary pretentiousness. However, in the last third of the book he dispenses with those complaints (mostly) and it becomes a more readable and enjoyable book.

[Kelly Roberson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think you have to have an insiders knowledge of skateboarding to get all that you can out of this lyrical yet ultimately for me inaccessible book.

[Lance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts off strong but starts to become repetitive and drag. Took me forever to finish it. Some good Chicago nuggets and LOTS of great quotes from other authors.

[Jaimie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confession: I’m not a skateboarder. Aside from a few lines cut down the hallway of my bff’s house on a board borrowed from her little bro ca. grade 10 (Green Day’s recently released American Idiot blasting in the background), I have little to no inclination to actually put Vans to grip tape. (Hear the soles of my shoe collection sighing in relief). And yet, my need to occasionally delve into skate-adjacent material remains. The dives may be arbitrary at best (I devoured Transworld, but missed Thrasher; watched Ryan Sheckler, but passed on the Jackass crew; had the Vans gear for years, but HUF is a new appreciation), but the world of skateboarding has always been on my peripheral. Can we blame at least a part of it on Avril Lavigne’s over-played (but absolutely addictive) “Sk8er Boi” and the ever-frustrating appeal of the boys we shouldn’t want? Maybe (/yes). But I digress. After stumbling on a random book about skateboarding footwear at the local second hand shop ($99 price tag, pass!), my interest in finding some more accessible books about the lifestyle surrounding the sport was once again piqued. A recent article from Jenkem was timed perfectly, and stood Beachy’s autobiographical collection of essays large, citing it as readable for the outsider but authentic enough for the insider. Perfect. From the get go, I had a good feeling about the book; something about the tersely simplistic chapter/essay titles was perfection (and tongue-in-cheek) in exactly the same way that skate-influenced art can be, if you look at it the right way. From there Beachy deep dives into the writing that he’s done over the last decade, which uses skateboarding as a recurring motif for interrogating literature, art, and culture, leading us to a critical analysis and reflection of life (or at least his life) in general. He begins with an explanation of writing (a chosen mode that has occupied his life) and of skateboarding (a slightly more accidental mode, that, flailing body notwithstanding, he is unwilling to abandon), rolling quickly into an easy dialogue. We are drawn in by momentary characters who are given just a chapter’s worth of play, before our narrator moves on - leaving us with tantalising glimpses in a reminder that the focus is less about the skaters and more about “the fun thing.” As we read on the essays become seemingly more random, devolving in the centre of the narrative arc to the jargon and insider-neuroses that makes most skate writing unapproachable and reflecting what we might imagine mirrors the narrator’s increasing personal crises. And yet, these awkward epistolary moments still hold some interesting truths; herein we see him tackle the strange beast of skate “celebrity,” curse out the misogyny and racism that are still all too common, and wax eloquent about the artistry and eventual/potential disillusionment of trying to land an impossible trick. These passages may not be as easily quote-able as the earlier sections that had me snapshotting paragraphs, but they eventually bring us full circle to the relatively neutral narrative ground of the finale. The final essays slide back into observations that centre more on the “real life” themes of the collection, relying on a personal and open tone that brings us back into a more conversational place with the author’s dialogue. We’re once again seeing him skate through the city streets while dissecting his marriage - a literal full circle journey from the opening litany, but one which has seen joy, pain, rage, hope, and not just a little fun along the way. “Oh, that rules.” We agree: it does.

[Cail Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This took longer than I anticipated. Well-worth reading, even if you don’t skate (I do not). Read parts out loud to my son.

It reads like a trick Beachy is attempting to land, and when he does, hoooo boy it’s impressive. We raise our arms and cheer. We press on, waiting for the next one, enjoying the process, the destination less important than being present.

The essays from skate magazines did not often flow well, so give yourself a pass to move on if one isn’t connecting. Beachy is very smart, but falls pray to the dance of his pen, and the references he can pull. If you read books and you skate, you’ll love it.

I highlighted passages. Many passages. Thoughts on gift-giving, story critique, on being, marriage and desire. I will return to these and reflect.

Go listen to his episode on Concavity Show, and damn now I want to read his skateboarding novel, his white whale.

[Shawn Robare · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book, but there is something about the way Beachy weaves a personal memoir into reworking skating articles that he wrote over the last decade that was jarring. I feel like he either needed to commit to the memoir through the lens of skating, his personal skating that is, or write a more comprehensive book on searching for the soul of skating. There are moments of beauty, but it’s a choppy read.

There’s also something about the style of his writing that feels like it’s desperately trying to elevate the culture of skating, but that desperation borders on pretension. There are way too many times when the narrative becomes needlessly poetic and flowery.

[Libby]

I’m married to a man who very much loves to skate and has a long history of doing it recreationally. I grew up in the 80s and 90s when the sport was essentially counterculture. Skateboarding was (is) looked down upon and those who engaged in the pastime were delinquent, bound for trouble. He’s already helped educate me on why this view is incorrect, an unfair presumption, etc. But this was a helpful book for me to open my eyes more to what he finds so engaging. It’s a series of essays on skate, marriage, life. It gave me a good background and more understanding for the misconception of folks who really do consider it the most fun thing.

[Oliver Smyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a book about the "most fun thing", reading it was decidedly the opposite. The chapters on skateboarding are brilliant, and provide keen insight into the composition of parts and the community's reactions to certain skaters, but these nuggets are only earned after enduring the author's own endless reflections on their own writing and marriage. The David Foster Wallace chapter was almost enough for me to give up entirely, and then all the criticisms I had of it were voiced by the author himself in the next chapter, as notes from others that he has purposely ignored.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this for my son for Christmas and tore through it myself. It was both a trip down memory lane, revisiting the days when my house was full of skater boys, and an unexpectedly moving literary experience. Beachy's voice is singularly passionate and sinuous. I love the way he loves skating, and I love hearing him talk about it. I found myself watching skateboarding videos at 3 am, it's that good.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't expect this to be so literary, and the only things I didn't enjoy about that stem from my own conflicts with/skepticism of the literary space. On the flipside the things I did enjoy about it stem from my own beloved literary genealogy (DFW! DeLillo! Woolf!). Both the skating angle and the literary angle feel nostalgic and alert, which I think masks fear, which I might say could be tapped into a bit more here, but also which seems like a core element of skating -- fearlessness.

[Holly M Wendt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wide-ranging tour de force that addresses essential questions about ways of being (as a writer, as a partner, and, of course, as a skateboarder) in prose both pointed and erudite. If you, like me, know almost nothing about skateboarding, this book will teach you. It will demand your attention and reward it.

[Håkon Jarle Sveen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kyle Beachy takes skateboarding very seriously; but knows it's all about having fun, and then seriously tries to convey what having so much fun on that wheeled toy actually means. It's different essays about a lot of different aspects of skateboarding, written in a raw, honest, original and FUN way.

If you have any interest in skateboarding, could you ask for more?

[Andy Bon Bon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Somewhere in between the pounds of sprinkled fairy dust are thoughts with ideas. Definitely not worth wading through the pretentious nonsense though. As a lifelong skateboarder I’m pretty disappointed.

[Brian Denison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sometimes beautiful, often pretentious, pinkies-up take on skateboarding and life. I suggest skipping over any high fallutin' stuff straight to the next chapter. Best chapter was about Dylan. Still enjoyed, but sometimes only through the stubborn stick-with-it-ness us skaters all share.

[Joshua Bohnsack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I interviewed Kyle Beachy for Newcity Chicago. Read the interview here: https://lit.newcity.com/2021/08/09/na...

[Susan Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read but not really my cup of tea.

[Sara Goldenberg · Rating 1 out of 5]

Had high hopes for it but did not love

[Lisa Wells · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unexpected good read. If you were a skateboarder or have one in your life, and like a good story, this one is for you.