Book Review: When Skateboards Will Be Free

When Skateboards Will Be Free
9.5 of 10
Author: Said Sayrafeizadeh
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I don't buy a book based on its cover art (like I do with music sometimes). But I often fall prey to a book's title. So when I came across When Skateboards Will Be Free at Amazon, I couldn't help but toss it into my cart. I was so captivated with the book's title that I bought it unknowingly of what it was really about. A non-fiction, I thought it was a documentary of the skater culture. But after I had read its synopsis, and saw its subtitle, I realized that the book is about the author's political childhood rather than extreme sports.

I wasn't disappointed when I found out what Skateboards is about, however. It actually piqued my curiosity due to its synopsis and title not adding up together. It's the kind of book that you would want to read just to learn of how or why the author chose such title. Luckily, author Said Sayrafeizadeh was quick enough to quench my curiosity and revealed the origins of his book's title in the first chapter. It's a dream, a political one, of a coming revolution that the author and his mother had clung to during most of his childhood.

The book, of course, doesn't stop from being interesting after the first chapter. In fact, it is only an appetizer since Sayrafeizadeh seems to have emptied his memory bank just to fill this book with funny and depressing anecdotes from his childhood. An Iranian-Jewish descent, Said Sayrafeizadeh is born to parents who are members of the Socialist Workers Party. So his childhood is full of mishaps and adventures like stealing grapes during the Grape Boycott, trips to Cuba to learn about living under a socialist government, or losing friends by supporting the Iranian Revolution.

When Skateboards Will Be Free is probably the only book that I didn't regret buying because of its interesting title. It tells a very beautiful story that will let you glimpse into a life of a socialist in a capitalistic world, of a child with a different ideological upbringing. It's heartwarming as well as heartbreaking. It actually made me appreciate my life as a kid and all the things I had even more. But, at the same time, it also made me envious of the author's unique childhood. If you're looking for a book with an amazing story, then look no further and grab Skateboards.

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Pages of Summer

Time's so fast. I remember myself being bundled inside a huge winter jacket -which feels almost like a sleeping bag- just a few weeks ago. But when I got out today I was baked, on my black Fender t-shirt, underneath a blazing sun. Honestly, except seeing sweat-drenched girls on short shorts and tight tank tops, I don't really care about summer. It's hot and I've live 2/3rds of my life on a place where it's always hot (and no, it's not hell). I like autumn much better. It's cold but not that cold. It doesn't rain all the time too. Plus, you don't have to use heating or cooling.

But, before I stray off the topic, I have a remedy to stay off under the hot sun this summer: Reading. I just received all the books I've ordered from Amazon (using the certificate I got as an award from work) for my summer reading. Just in time too because I'm about to be done with The Book of Dead Philosophers. Anyways, here are the books that I got:

Genesis
It's the first book with a dystopian setting I've heard of this year. Plus, it's being compared to the works of great dystopian fiction writers like Aldous Huxley, Margaret Atwood and Philip K. Dick.

When Skateboards Will Be Free
The book's title prompted me to check it out. Because, at first, I thought it was about the skater culture. But it's even better than that when I read its synopsis. It's a memoir of a kid who's into politics and revolution.

Lowboy: A Novel
This book is about a mentally-ill 16 year old boy who's off his meds, thinks that the world will end and he's the only one who can save it. That, and also the author being compared to writers like Junot Diaz and J.D. Salinger, made me by the book.

I'll probably be able to start with these books earlier than I had hoped. I think I'll start with Genesis and end it with When Skateboards Will Be Free, or vice versa.

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