Meet the alternative American sports-skateboarding, snowboarding, BMX biking, and motocross-and the lifestyle, history, music, and million-dollar industry behind them.

Once a fringe underground culture, extreme sports are now the stuff of car commercials and Olympic competitions. How did they get there-and how does it feel to be in the middle of it all? The first comprehensive account of the rise, culture, and business of action sports, Amped plunges readers into the world of snowboarders, skateboarders, stunt bicyclists, and motorcycle riders. Readers will find themselves aboard a skateboarding bus tour with superstar Tony Hawk, behind the scenes at the X Games and snowboarding contests, at the sidelines witnessing the first-ever double backflip on a motorcycle, on the road with the Warped Tour, and in the offices of multinational corporations that have tapped into the vast amounts of money to be made from those who participate in and watch these nontraditional sports.
Based on interviews with more than one hundred athletes, pioneers, personalities, managers, business executives, extreme-rock musicians, and, most importantly, the adolescent amateurs who are the heart of this movement, Amped is not merely the story of an alternative world of sports now four decades old. It's the tale of a vast and flourishing culture that continues to reject old-fashioned stick-and-ball sports in favor of an individualistic form of expression. The story of extreme sports speaks volumes about Generations X and Y and their divergent views on life, creativity, gratification, and identity.
David Browne is the music critic for Entertainment Weekly and the author of Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley (HarperCollins, 2001). A former reporter for the New York Daily News, he has contributed to Rolling Stone, the New York Times, New York magazine, Sports Illustrated and other publications. He lives and very occasionally skateboards in Manhattan.
Praise for Dream Brother: "Expertly reported…in engrossing detail."-Rolling Stone "As probing and poetic as its subj