My Thoughts on Others' Thoughts: A Review of "Stalefish"

Skateboarding, and skateboarders, owe an obscene debt of gratitude to Stacy Peralta. In his years as a professional skater, he may not have given us the frontside or backside airs, as did his peers Tony Alva and Tom Inoyue. At best, as a pro Peralta gave skateboarding backside 540 bertlemanns, frontside lipslides, and the knowledge that skateboarders, and skateboarding, could be marketed to the masses. As Peralta himself put it, it was behind the scenes where he truly flourished.
Perhaps it was the tutelage of Craig Stecyk, arguably one of the first skaters to become well-known and to make a career out of documenting skateboarding. Maybe it was Peralta's own ability to segue from having a career by skateboarding into having a career because of skateboarding. Maybe it's entirely ineffable. in the end, though, one cannot deny that Stacy Peralta has a unique ability to see where talent lies in a person, and to know how to guide said person toward cultivating that talent, honing it to the point of greatness.
The book Stalefish: Skateboard Culture from the Rejects Who Made it, was not written by Stacy Peralta, but rather, was penned by Sean Mortimer. One may be inclined to ask me why I just spent two paragraphs waxing poetic about Peralta as a means to preempt my review of a book that he did not author, which is valid. Mortimer, the author of Stalefish, as well as co-author of Tony Hawk and Rodney Mullen's autobiographies, rode for Powell Peralta as an amateur in the late '80s. As Mortimer once recounted in an interview, Peralta once overheard his musings as he shared an observation of a particular event. Peralta suggested Mortimer try his hand at writing, and for anyone who has read any of his works, this was yet another shining example of Peralta's innate eye for talent.

Stalefish the book is a few years old now, but is still, in my opinion, entirely worth reviewing, as I feel it to be somewhat underrated when cast in the gargantuan shadows of Occupation: Skateboarder and The Mutt. My girlfriend got me the book as a Christmas gift last year, and I am casually re-reading it now for what I swear is the tenth time.

The book is, more or less, a collection of anecdotes. The cast of contributing skaters is an astounding one that runs the gamut of skateboarding's past and present, as far back as Jim Fitzgerald and as contemporary as Chris Haslam, with a litany of others in-between: Russ Howell, Stacy Peralta, Steve Olson, Dave Hackett, Salba, Lance Mountain, Tony Hawk, Rodney Mullen, Tommy Guerrero, Kevin Harris, Mike Vallely, Bob Burnquist, Jamie Thomas, and Daewon Song round out the rest of the cast of characters, ensuring that no era or discipline is left unturned or unappreciated.
The stories themselves are not exactly autobiographical per se, as each chapter of the book focuses on a different aspect of skateboarding, and whomever has a tale or two to contribute as a means to chime in on the topic does so. In spite of the inherent looseness of the book's format, there is, understandably, some repetition in material for those who have read the Hawk and Mullen autobiographies. This is, of course, not necessarily a downside, which leads me to my next point.
What makes this book truly great, aside from instantly appealing to any and all skate-history nerds like myself, is that it is a collection of great stories being told by many of skateboarding's great storytellers. Anyone who has ever listened to Steve Olson say so much as three words will tell you that it is impossible to read anything he has written without hearing it in his voice, and that is not a bad thing. Most, if not all of the skaters interviewed for this book are so unique in their capacity to tell stories that one cannot help but hear their voices, be it Olson's cavalier slur, Mullen's excited mumble, or Mike V's intensity, every word truly jumps from the page, reverberating in the reader's head like the opening track of a favourite record.
While I cannot say enough great things about this book, no amount of my rambling will do it near as much justice as going out and giving it a read, and maybe later, nine more for good measure.

Stalefish is available for purchase here.