Chipped

Praise for Chipped:

"The essays are poetic, compassionate, and vulnerable, drawing rewardingly original connections among a host of seemingly disparate topics . . . Vadi clearly takes great pleasure in the vocabulary and syntax of skateboarding; at times, this pleasure feels contagious, even for non-skaters . . . [A] largely illuminating collection about skateboarding, race, and relationships." —Kirkus Reviews

"To José Vadi, one of our great poets of the overlooked and ignored, it’s not just a skateboard. It’s a medium for dreaming, for chasing down histories of public space and private rebellion, for measuring ourselves against the wide-open visions of youth. Chipped is a treasure.” —Hua Hsu, winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Stay True

"Continue the line that runs from Sun Ra to contemporary skateboarding and you'll arrive at the brilliant, searching essays of José Vadi. Chipped is a masterpiece of both the form and his subject." —Kyle Beachy, author of The Most Fun Thing

"A skateboard is a simple plaything from which a vibrant global culture emerged. With Chipped, José Vadi takes us under the hood of its animating force, deftly weaving the personal with the world to show us how all the infinitely beautiful and complicated things that make us human coalesce to breathe life into this toy. A piece of wood with wheels that can, if you let it, take you everywhere and show you everything.” —Cole Nowicki, author of Right, Down + Circle and Laser Quit Smoking Massage

"In these vibrant texts, José Vadi shows how skateboarding is not a sport, but an attitude, a culture, a way of thinking. A compelling collection of insights, musing and observations." —Iain Borden, author of Skateboarding and the City: A Complete History

“A luminous reflection on the many ways that skateboarding changes the way we see the world from one of our most attentive eyes and ears.” —Ted Barrow, writer, art historian, and skateboarder