The Impossible: Rodney Mullen, Ryan Sheckler, and the Fantastic History of Skateboarding

Since it all began half a century ago, skateboarding has come to mystify some and to mesmerize many, including its tens of millions of adherents throughout America and the world. And yet, as ubiquitous as it is today, its origins, manners, methods, and mystique are little understood.

The Impossible is the first book to get skateboarding right. Journalist Cole Louison gets inside the history, culture, and major personalities of “skating.” He does so largely by recounting the careers of the sport’s Yoda—Rodney Mullen, inventor of most of the tricks performed in street skating today—and its Luke Skywalker—Ryan Sheckler, who became its youngest pro athlete and a celebrity at thirteen. The story begins in the 1960s, when the first boards made their way to land in the form of off-season surfing in southern California. It then follows the sport’s spikes, plateaus, and drops—including its billion-dollar apparel industry and its connection with art, fashion, and music.

In The Impossible—whose publication will coincide with ESPN’s 2011 Summer X Games—we come to know intimately not only skateboarding, but also two very different, equally fascinating geniuses who have shaped the sport more than anyone else.