Hawk: Occupation: Skateboarder (Skate My Friend, Skate)

A hyper-active California brat, who found an outlet for his manic will to win--and an escape from High School bullying--down at the skatepark, little Tony became Hawk, and a pile of competition wins and signature moves later, finds himself knee-deep in endorsement dollars, hurtling round the world on a non-stop lipslide to superstardom. Sounds like fun? Of course it does, but remember, children, Hawk's How to know if you're a skateboarder, rule 5--you wake up in an ambulance with your front teeth missing.

Ligaments are usually torn, or at least a few inches longer than nature intended. I knew one skater who asked his doctor if his ankle should be able to move around "Like this". He then proceeded to bend his ankle to the side, and his ankle bone (that little ball on the side) split in two--his ligament had been torn in half years ago. The doctor started laughing.

There's no doubt that a gradually disintegrating body played some part in his decision to retire from competition--that and the moronic demands of the money men and the legions of fans for whom extreme skateboarding is just the latest MTV thrill, rather than a way of life--but the bottom line according to Hawk is that all the business of being number one was just background noise anyway.

The chronological "Hawk's tricks" directory is a nice touch, and reads like a history of the sport itself, but despite the meaty portion of the book given over to pictures, newcomers will be none the wiser about how he does it. This isn't an instruction book by any means: more of a "why to" than a "how to"--with Hawk strong on the joys of being in the international brotherhood of the board--and seasoned skateboarders will revel in this affirmation. --Alex Hankin